Army returning to “Be All You Can Be”

| March 7, 2023

The Army was the only military branch that fell short of its 2022 recruiting goal. One of the things that the Army is doing, in an effort to appeal to Generation Z, is revisiting “Be All You Can Be”. The “What’s Your Warrior” campaign apparently did not meet expectations.

From Fox News:

The Army is bringing back one of its most successful ad campaigns with the 1980s and 1990s-era slogan — “Be All You Can Be” — as it looks to appeal to Gen Z.

On Monday, the branch rolled out a new ad touting the slogan amid a slump in recruiting, as it recently came up 15,000 soldiers short of its goal of 60,000, Military.com reported.

“It has never been more important to recruit and retain the talented men and women who make our Army the world’s greatest fighting force,” the service’s top enlisted leader, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston; Gen. James McConville, the Army’s top officer, and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in a joint statement. “People are the United States Army’s greatest strength and our number one priority. They enable us to fulfill our very purpose: protecting our Nation by being ready to fight and win the Nation’s wars.”

The Army was the only branch of military to not meet its recruiting goal in 2022, though it was not the only branch to struggle. In fact, the Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy all suffered recruiting struggles that forced them to dig into their pool of delayed entry program recruits, which put them behind on their ability to meet 2023 recruiting objectives.

Fox News has more on this story.

Category: Army, Army News

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Andy11M

I really hope whoever came up with the “Be all you can be” slogan all those years ago is still alive and will still get royalties.
Strange the whole animate two moms commercial didn’t have the Gen Zers signing up in droves.

Anonymous

Would “Heather Has Two Mommies” motivate John Wayne?
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Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
Joe
Anonymous

Be All You Can Be was about being heroic, not identity politics– a crucial difference the new version misses:

HT3

You don’t sell the steak…
You sell the sizzle…
That’s what the Marines do!
The Army is at least going back to something that worked…
Emmas to Moms was a stinking turd of an idea

MustangCryppie

Check out the new and “improved” Be All You Can Be commercial. Definitely doesn’t have the pizzazz of the original. Watching it I felt like a school marm was lecturing me.

Green Thumb

This is the best these three clown have? How original.

What a fucking joke.

Smitty

I read where Christine (who never wore the uniform) said she will target women and immigrants because southern men (the traditional backbone of the army) are not joining. Strange, but look at the rest of Biden’s cabinet.

5JC

Austin is from Mobile. I seriously doubt that a significant percentage of potential recruits could pick most of the cabinet out of a lineup nor would it have any impact on a decision to join in the Army.

Smitty

My comment about the cabinet was to show how Christine is another diversity pick who has no relevant experience.

5JC

She interned at DOD, worked 20 years in DOD, NSC and DHS on policy and when not doing that worked at Rand. I mean sure, she is a silver spoon baby like most appointees but it is tough to argue she doesn’t have the relevant experience to implement defense policy.

She also has more experience than Harvey, Geren or McHugh did. Also the Sec Army isn’t a cabinet position. Most of the Sec Army’s never served in the military. The position was actually designed to be civilian after WWII so that Civilian leaders could interface more easily with the various services.

Last edited 1 year ago by 5JC
Fm2176

I can safely say that I’m glad I’m not on recruiting duty nowadays. I had the fortune of things getting better shortly into my tour, due to the rash of self-eliminations across USAREC. In April 2009 the CG released a policy of 38 hour work weeks (not counting PT or thee occasional weekend). Duty day was restricted to 0900-1700, with one day designated as family time with a release of 1500. It took a few weeks for the old school Recruiters and leadership to get used to abiding by it, but eventually they came around.

In 2014, my unit hosted some Future Soldiers and some of the Recruiters I talked to told me the time off policy was no more. When I first got to my recruiting station in ’08, failing to make mission meant that time and quality of life were taken away. If the station, company, or battalion failed to make mission you’d better hope you were at over 100%. I can only imagine the pain low-producing Recruiters felt when their entire 2-star command came up short by 25%.

Roh-Dog

Metaphorically, USAREC needs to be tied in a weighted burlap sack and tossed into the river, in Minecraft.

I’ve never seen such backstabbing, lying, cheating and downright useless wastes of oxygen. The fact alone they wore the same uniform as I made me want to jump from a highway overpass.

If the ‘army’ is so great why do they need salesmen?

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Fm2176

True, my first Station Commander (SC) had been demoted upward after being fired from his on-production SC gig in small-town Georgia. He went from a two-man station to the largest station in Baton Rouge, where he’d tell Prospects about his deployments to 14 countries, and would frequently invite young females to have a face-to-face talk in his office, which had the window covered by our “Now Hiring” banner.

There’s a huge difference between Detailed Recruiters (SQI “4”) and those who decide to become 79Rs. I’d say a minority of SQI “4” types like the assignment, and that a majority of 79Rs volunteered to convert based on promotion potential (I don’t know how many times I’d hear one talk about “never gonna make E7 in my MOS” or another boasting about “I made E7 in my MOS”), or the chance to avoid constant deploymentsand/or training.

5JC

Many of those self eliminates happened at my old unit shortly after I volunteered to go to Iraq to GTFO of there. It was absolute insanity and the leadership environment so deadly toxic, they actually were talking soldiers into killing themselves. If I ever end up in Hell, I know what tortures await me there.

The problem is that they take people that have a real live missions of killing people and breaking things to get things done and then tell them to go be used car salesmen. This doesn’t really translate well. They would be better off scrapping the whole system and replacing all the recruiters with civilians who are trained as sales people and recruiters and then keeping a few Soldiers around as SMEs.

Fm2176

I was fortunate in learning how to game the system. I did extremely well in Recruiter School but got to my station and just, well, sucked at life. So I quickly started BS’ing, using the USAREC Portal to qualify my attempts at production. I even had my CSM tell my 1SG that I was the hardest worker in the battalion but just couldn’t write a contract. My calendar was always perfect, all contact attempts were logged, and appointments were made but often either canceled or proved unsuccessful. My big revelation to how hit or miss recruiting is was having a Brigade trainer ride with me one week and insist on posting local businesses and spreading through networking; the following week a battalion trainer told me to forget that nonsense and pull 3-4 good hot knocks a day. Meanwhile, some buddies who had gone through the school with me and were recruiting in walk-in markets had already earned their Gold Badge.

Hack Stone

Yeah, they sure do know how to push their Recruiters to the edge. If Hack Stone was packing heat while on Recruiting Duty, he would have killed the SNCOIC of the office. This guy almost went that far.

https://www.inforum.com/newsmd/former-marine-recruiter-gets-2-years-in-prison-for-burning-down-recruitment-center

26Limabeans

Will there be a list of things you cannot be?
Some people need to know up front.

SFC D

Thou shalt not be a white Christian cisgendered heterosexual conservative republican second amendment supporting male that believes in equal rights and equality above equity, for they are the root of all that is evil in today’s amerika. Resistance is futile.

AZRobert

Gen. Washington weeps…

BlueCord Dad

Maybe he does, but I prefer this take😎

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Roh-Dog

Resistance is futile”?

I read/hear that and my brain converts it to “victory or death!!”.

Willing to bet Big Pharma is fixin’ up a formula to ‘cure’ that aliment and The VA will make it compulsory.

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KoB

Don’t leave out, SFC D, as Smitty points out above, being a Southern Man. I mean, after all, EVERYONE knows that Southern White Men are all Redneck, Rebel Flag toting, Grand Weezards of a particular social klub.

I ask, again, if any of these previous failed recruiting efforts factored in the fact that maybe the youngsters have learned from the teachings of recent Veterans on the futility of endless wars where American Boys (and Girls) are shedding their blood in places where the local boys (and girls) should be doing their part in defending their own turf or changing the local grubermint into one that is more “of the people, by the people, and for the people”? You know, like the one that we USED to have in this Country.

We True Patriots will have to become one of those rifles behind that blade of grass. I’m still steadily stockpiling beans and boollits.

5JC

My copy of the Constitution so says “no standing Army”. It was a good idea to prevent a despotic state and to keep the US from sticking its nose in everything that isn’t our business. It worked for a really long time. If we needed an army we made one, otherwise we stayed out of it. After WWI the sharp pencil crowd started thinking about place nearby to conquer. That is when war became the dodge for us as well.

KoB

“…adventurous abroad and despotic at home…” Bobby Lee called it…and here we are.

Roh-Dog

At some point the People will have to be honest with themselves that We are in fact owned by dark forces…

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Anonymous

See this here (“You won’t have to say… well… I sat on my ass, listened to far-left bullsh*t and cared more about American Idol than I did about American freedom and security.”):

Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
5JC

Patton of course didn’t sound anything like George C Scott. He had a very Southern accent and quite a bit higher pitch. Scott knew he couldn’t do that so he went with his own voice. Certainly more people know the gravelly MidWestern voice than the original today.

We are sorrowfully missing him these days. He was a soldier’s, soldier and knew more about war than likely any other US General we have ever had.

timactual

“He had a very Southern accent”

Rather odd for someone born and raised in California–even southern California.

5JC

It is a little odd.

His line came from the Virginia though. His Grandfather was a Colonel in the CSA and KIA at the Third Battle of Winchester. After that, his mother moved the family to California. His father then returned to attend VMI, as did George III., before he transferred to West Point.

Patton’s great Uncle, William (also a VMI alum) died at Gettysburg commanding the right flank of Pickett’s Charge that annihilated the 7th Virginia. Most of his preceding generations lived interesting lives but none were as famous as III.

President Elect Toxic Deplorable Racist SAH Neande

Not too surprising.
WHen I was a census worker about 2000, I came across a young lassie with the sweetest SE accent, yet she had been born and raised in Utah.
Answer: both her parents were from the SE and she picked up her lovely accent from them, unhindered by the Utah locals.

She didn’t keep her harse in the born, or eat carn on the cob? Put bat-trees in her flashlight? If she liked something, it wasn’t her favor-right? I’m fluent in redneck (both the western and southern dialects) as well as Utah-ese.

Sam

I remember the New Action Army better. My invitation to join came to my home address saying: “Greetings from your friends and neighbors at Local Draft Board …” The rest is kind of a blur.

How could anyone refuse such courtesy?

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Anna Puma

This will add a whole new meaning to the Rainbow Division.

Roh-Dog
SFC D

My grandpa was a SGM in the 42nd, WWI. I don’t think he’d approve of what his patch or army has become.

KoB

A picture and some info about the Monument placed in Macon Georgia, Sacred to the Honor and Memory of the Warriors from that City who served with the 151 FIRST Machine Gun Battalion, who died in Service of their Country. Many of these lads were Sons, Grandsons, and nephews of Confederate Veterans. It has been reported that when the lads were marching to the front the Brits were calling out “The Yanks are here” some of them took offence at being called “Yanks” and fisticuffs broke out. These Southern Boys stood shoulder to shoulder, just as their older Compatriots did in the SP/A War did, with their “Yanks” Brother Warriors and gave the Kaiser’s Troops Hell. Heroes, one and all. A Foo of the Google on the 151 FIRST will lead one to much interesting articles and more pictures for any inclined to do so.

https://www.macon365.com/public-art/monument-commemorating-the-fourth-anniversary-of-the-signing-of-the-armistice/

7711C20

Don’t pick on my rainbow, of course when I was there we were still flying UH1C gunships.

Roh-Dog

I ain’t! They’re in my AO and an Infantry Unit from NY RIPed us in Kirkuk.

They had some damn good NCOs.

Claw

FSN for the UH-1C Hog is 1520-997-8862.

When you take the T53-L-13 engine from the H Model and put it into the Hog, the FSN turns into a Mike Model 1520-809-2631.

My first MOS (67N2F) in the Army before becoming a supply scrounger. / s

Sam

Sorry for the BIGNESS of the poster. I only meant to add a llink to the image, not embed it.

26Limabeans

There was a time when all it took was a good war to get
people to join.

timactual

Which war was that? We had conscription for every war since the Civil War, in which both sides used it.

SFC D

The ad that led the future SFC D astray…

26Limabeans

Yeah, same here.
But those guys were all smiling and happy and no incoming
rounds in the background. Wasn’t photography part of
Signal? I wonder if they produced that in house or farmed it
out to hollywood back then.
All white guys too. I don’t recall it that way.

SFC D

I don’t know who they’re supporting up there, that TSC-93 ain’t worth a damn by itself.

26Limabeans

Couple of decades after my time but the Shithook
departing overhead closed the gap.
No SATCOM for us. Just LOS stuff.

SFC D

That’s where the recruiters set the hook. Bait you in with TACSAT. They don’t tell you that LOS was part of the same MOS (31Q at the time of this ad).

Army-Air Force Guy

Cant say if it influenced me or not, but I wound up joining as a 31C (RATT) in the summer of ’88, and halfway thru AIT was told i was going to V9 ASI Satcom school (MSC-64).

SFC D

I was just slightly ahead of you at AIT (DEC 87-APR 88), and just down the road from the RATT rigs at beautiful Willard training area.

Army-Air Force Guy

Just missed ya! The only named training area I remember is Quad, the old ww2 barracks buildings near the PX were we learned fundamentals, typing (I took it in HS so I only spent a day or two in it!), antennas, UGC-74,etc.

SFC D

Brems Barracks, I think. Later became the Georgia Youth Challenge we discussed here a few weeks ago.

5JC

I guess I was just behind you guys. I did AIT at Gordon for a defunct MOS Dec 88-July 89. I then managed to show in Germany a few months before the Cold War ended. Instead I got to support DS as they emptied out Germany and sent numerous units there.

Jim

Had a TSC-93 onboard USS Tripoli LPH-10 for the final deployment of that ship in 1994. It was located on the forward portion of the flight deck, slightly to starboard.

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SFC D

Damn I would’ve loved that assignment! My uncle was the XO on the Tripoli when he retired in 1980.

JustALurkinAround

I recall all of the stupid Army sloganeering used to get people in during the WoT decades.

Ridicule of the “Army of One” campaign was swift and merciless by myself and others. Some fuck face tried to save face by claiming the “One” in Army of One stood for: Officers, NCOs, Enlisted. NOPE!! Oh, and by the way, you’re a fucking liar!

Another thing I enjoyed doing was walking around and asking others in a exaggerated, gravely voice what their “Warrior” was. Goddamn I relished the blank stares or nervous giggles.

Those pale in comparison to the thrill and giggles we’d all share when I’d ask a fellow Soldier or Contractor how many mommies he had. If the answer was one, I’d tell them it wasn’t enough and to get his ass out of this dyke’s Army.

Roh-Dog

Well,

In its battle to win the hearts and minds of recruiting-age Americans, the Army is replacing its main ad slogan — “An Army of One” — with one it hopes will pack more punch: “Army Strong.”

The new approach, the fruit of a $200 million-a-year contract with a major advertising agency, was announced Monday by Army Secretary Francis Harvey. He said “Army Strong” will be the centerpiece of a multimedia ad campaign to be launched Nov. 9, timed to coincide with Veterans Day weekend. (link NBC’news‘)

So ten fucking million a letter and the agency threw in the period at the end on the house!

What a bunch of hard charging patriots!

May g-d continue to bless 5th Avenue and keep their coke pure! Ah ham.

Last edited 1 year ago by Roh-Dog
Roh-Dog

Wholly sweep muddler maury, I may just be ‘tarded.

*twenty million a letter for the ten letters and free punctuation, no word on if any extended warranty was offered.

Brought to you by Carl’s Jr.

Anonymous

At least, in the old days, you could make ARMY BYOB with scissors.

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Roh-Dog

Sweet baby cheese us! Someone actually said this, out loud, for others to hear, and not ironically?:

I know you’ve all heard “Army Strong.” You’ll hear it as Maj. Gen. Kilgo signs off a speech, or read it at the bottom of my CSM Corner notes. You’ll see it as a hashtag on social media, and sometimes we’ll just say it in passing. You’ve probably all used it yourselves one time or another. But it’s important we recognize that Army Strong means more than you think. Army Strong does not mean carrying the weight alone, it means having the strength to accept support. It means holding up your team when you can, and letting them hold you up when you need. (armydotmil)

You’re correct, AoO was stupid, but I submit “Army Strong.” caused WAY more cringe-induced injuries.

JustALurkinAround

Concur. Honestly forgot about AoO. I chalk it up to the Warrior glee/idiocy, or having one mommy, or that the majority of my oxygen intake and CO2 expel is through an open mouth.

I’m almost a double-digit midget that will pack it in with ~ 25.5 AYFS.

Remarks complete…

Anonymous

Worse (much) than this (Hollywood broke the code) it inspired:

Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
5JC

She is no GI Jane but I would hit it.

timactual

Careful, it hits back.

5JC

I think AoO was worse. The commercial of the one guy running across the desert by himself? Where was he going all by himself? To join the Taliban? Because that is what happened the last time a guy ran off by himself across the desert.

Roh-Dog

Naw, man. Without Army of One we may have never gotten the Phish song of the same name:

Light up the city hidin’ so strange

You’d better take cover, it’s love at close range

Oh, solo mission, cover of dark

Army of one now, don’t let down your guard

….

Sit in a circle facing the sun

Soak it in while you can, winter is on

I got no answer, but you’ve got no call

Just can’t compete with the weight of it all

This song was in frequent rotation when on guard, behind glass, either spotting or on rifle. It’s ok mono’ed to one channel, same with most Dylan.

Kirkuk ’04-’05 was one hellva trip!

Anonymous

Meanwhile, the Russkies’ incentives and issues with the Wagner Group inmate conscripts are some what different:

“The only thing you have to do is once you get in the positions, you kill them. Everything the enemy has, we will allow you to take.”

“If you refuse to fight, people from Wagner will come and we’ll shoot you.”

Some fun, eh?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ve-screwed-russian-inmates-rebel-193912827.html

Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
5JC

I’m trying to imagine recruiting all the crazies and drug addicts that occupy the US prisons these days into the Army, about half of whom don’t have a HS education. Most of them have lived their whole lives as criminals and grew up that way. Then feeding them into a meat grinder to attack a fortified enemy with entrenching tools. I don’t think that would go well for anyone.

Av8or33

Semi guided, disposable cannon fodder. Russia, Germany and other countries had penal units. It does solve two problems at the same time.

timactual

“… the contracts they were initially shown upon recruitment didn’t contain the same terms that they were now being told of.”

LOL
I can empathize.

Jay

I swear, it could be raining titties and the Army would get hit with a dick. What do you expect though? This is the same outfit that spent 7 years and 4 BILLION developing the ACU….that lasted all of 9 years.

The Marine Corps spent about 320K developing MarPat

Anonymous

ACU, baby! /sarc
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Last edited 1 year ago by Anonymous
5JC

Yep, useful at Thanksgiving to hide on grandma’s sofa.

26Limabeans

Jill Biden could make it work in a dress.

Messkit

I can’t wait for the TV commercial:

“The US Army has the best surgical doctors on demand, so you can…..be all you can be.”

MarineDad61

Fake Army LTC ‘Nam Nurse Phony Silver Star Maggie DeSanti
returning to
Phony All You Can Phony,
Fool All You Can Fool,
Lie All You Can Lie,
Fake All You Can Fake,
Grift All You Can Grift,
and of course,
Fly For Free All You Can Fly For Free.

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Last edited 1 year ago by MarineDad61
rgr769

That is Maggoty Maggie with Carrasco. He has known she is a phony since he read the MP article on her over four years ago.

A Proud Infidel®™

She will soon enough face up to what she has done in her con games, just not in this life.

MarineDad61

rgr769 & A Proud Infidel,

Not sure Carrasco has known all along.
This will be verified soon, perhaps today.

I do know that Carrasco is now over 80,
and dealing with cancer.
That said,
no excuse, and no pass,
for harboring and enabling a phony.

After years at a different American Legion Post,
who makes no mention of her in years, since 2016,
Maggie DeSanti has found a NEW AL post to exploit.

See this morning’s updates over on the SV Banks article.

https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=138205&cpage=1#comment-3470772

USMCMSgt (Ret)

Maybe the Army should have revised the add to “Be All That You Identify to Be”. After all, isn’t the goal to make military service more appealing to “diverse” crowds of people?

Av8or33

Why would anyone join this shit show? Why would anyone let their kid join this shit show?
Be all you can be by getting an education, or a trade, work hard, make good decisions and be years ahead of your peers in today’s new military. If we end up in a real war this new military is going to get a lot of kids killed through incompetence and this DEI bullshit.