The US Army on Wednesday launched a years-in-the-making rebrand, including two new recruiting commercials, as it aims to increase enlistment numbers after failing to meet its recruiting goals last year.
“The Army at the end of the day is here to fight and win the nation’s wars, and we wanted to reflect the Army that does that. And that’s the Army that I see when I go out and visit installations, whether it’s here or whether it’s overseas,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told CNN on Tuesday. “These commercials were really based on the market research we’ve been doing about, what do people think about the Army, what do they think they know, what don’t they know, and how do we start telling that story through these ads?”
That mission couldn’t come at a more important time for the Army, as the service has kicked itself into high gear hoping to address its 2022 recruiting shortfalls – which saw the Army 15,000 recruits short of its goal – and get more young Americans into uniform.
“It took us more than a year to get into that situation that we’re in, in terms of the recruiting landscape,” Wormuth told reporters at a Defense Writers Group event last month. “And I think it’s going to take more than a year to turn it around.”
Indeed, Wormuth said Tuesday that the new goal the service set for this year of 65,000 recruits is, admittedly, “a stretch goal.” It’s 5,000 more people than the Army attempted to recruit last year.
But she added that so far, the service is already ahead of where it was last year in terms of recruitment, pointing back to various initiatives the Army has undertaken, like incentivizing soldier referrals and launching a prep course for individuals who want to join the Army but can’t yet meet the standards.
At least part of the Army’s effort now includes the brand refresh, and the new…
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