US Admits Problems Recruiting Soldiers: Is Army Now Turning to Influencers?

One day, Instagram influencer @haylujan surprised her followers. It turned out that she was already serving in the US Army. The post, which has since been deleted, stood out from the rest on her profile, which boasts more than 133,000 followers. After her revelations, more and more military green began to appear on Lujan's profile.

Haylujan's Instagram* account used to show six posts typical of a teenage girl - lots of selfies, flowers, candy, and parties - for every one or two army-related posts.

But by November 2022, the profile was completely geared toward military content: videos showing army ration packs and the image of a "bad girl" in a military uniform. She also shared memories of partying with soldiers, poses with guns, and even does sh*tposting with a helmet on the sink next to cigarette packs. Many of the abovementioned posts, however, disappeared from her account by the time of publication.

On her TikTok account, the changes were even more noticeable. The videos show her wearing a uniform and performing combat actions, such as descending a rope, accompanied by the platform’s disclaimer saying they are performed by professionals.

Haylujan TikTok account caught the attention of the US media, which accused her of being part of a military propaganda strategy. The girl published a punchy and ironic video in response that quickly combined the logos of mainstream US media with photos of miniature military models, weapons, and selfies, ending with the powerful phrase: "No one escapes propaganda."

Screenshot from from @haylujan TikTok video

© Photo : TikTok/ @haylujan

Army No Longer Appealing

The US Department of Defense has acknowledged that it is facing a recruitment problem, as it has struggled in recent years to meet its goal of attracting new people to its armed forces.

In 2022 alone, the US Army planned to recruit 70,000 people. By June 2022, the Army had lowered its projections to 60,000, and by the end of the fiscal year in September, that number had fallen short, with only 45,000 enlisted.

In this regard, the Pentagon argues that the decline in recruits is due to the absence of recruiting offices in high schools during the pandemic. However, the downward trend has been steady for the past five years.

According to The Economist, 2022 saw the lowest enlistment figures since 1973, when military draft ended. The media mentions that political polarization is a factor affecting the image of military institutions.

Last January, US Congressman Adam Smith, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, acknowledged that the US military was struggling to recruit young people.

“We definitely at this point have a recruitment problem, we've got a plan to deal with it, and I think one of the biggest things to remember the biggest reason we have a recruitment problem is because of two years of pandemic,” the Democratic lawmaker said.

“We can develop all of the most high-tech new weapons systems, like we are working on right now, but if we don’t have the kinds of talented motivated individuals to use those weapons systems, we won’t be able to do what we need to do,” Secretary of the US Army Christine Wormuth said at a convention hosted by CNBC in September.

One of the problems identified by Wormuth herself is the army's image in the mass media, which changes depending on the administration in power.

“I think where it’s maybe more of an issue is with parents, you know, who who may be watching the news and kind of seeing how the Army sometimes can be turned into a little bit of a political football. And I think the way that we navigate that is just to continue to stress to young Americans and to parents and other kinds of influencers, that the army is apolitical and when you join the army, you swear an oath to the Constitution,” Wormuth said.

 

As per recent estimates, 75% of Americans aged 16-28 are unaware of the history and work of the armed forces and only nine percent of young pepole are interested in joining the military.

In an interview with Sputnik, Jeremy Shepherd, a political scientist and creator of the Gringo Interventions podcast on YouTube, where he discusses US military operations around the world, said that he believes the chapters of history such as 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are issues that already seem distant to the youth, especially because of the lack of interest and the consequences [of these wars].

"People don't usually think about it [the military] that much because as the percentage of population in active duty has gone down, they probably don't know anyone who is doing it. We may know someone who served in the past, but it's less and less common these days," Shepherd believes.

The YouTuber points out that the concept of the "citizen-soldier" was invented during World War II to strengthen national unity, but in the absence of a specific war or enemy, the idea of supporting the army in this sense loses its meaning.

"It existed during World War II because it was necessary. 10% of the population was in some part of the armed forces, and the rest of the country gave away their old tires and extra copper [...]. That changed a lot, especially after Vietnam, when they decided they didn't want to send hundreds of thousands of soldiers anymore. Then they decided to do it on a few occasions, but the new doctrine is that of 'small wars'," the researcher explained.

Add to this the fact that in the last 20 years the United States has dealt well with some operations such as in Afghanistan. Although the image and respect for the institutionalism of the army is maintained in some parts of the US, Shepherd says the fact that many young people know how their relatives were treated when they served in the military is also a deterrent to new generations.

He recalls Mao Zedong's phrase that US imperialism seems very powerful, but in reality it is a paper tiger: something that seems dangerous, but is not.

 

"It looks very strong on the outside, but the people on the inside don't support it as much, they don't fight for the ideology. What we saw, especially in Vietnam, is that the American public can't stand it, the less they know the better. If you bring in a lot of coffins with flags on them, it looks very bad in the news," Shepherd said.

Similarly, the mental health issues reported by active-duty service members in recent years have not helped the army's image. According to the Department of Defense, suicide rates among active-duty service members increased by 40 percent from 2015 to 2020, which demotivates Generation Z (born between 1996 and 2010), who are characterized by prioritizing mental health.

Influencer Factor

This is where social media comes into play for the US Army.

Given the ineffectiveness of old recruiting methods such as phone calls and in-school centers, the most realistic option is the more direct and targeted marketing that digital platforms allow.

Michael Strobl, the assistant deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs for the Marine Corps, testified during a Senate panel last September that recruiting efforts have to be upgraded to the reality.

“Current recruitment efforts rely too much on an outdated, ‘telephone book-era’ method to recruit youth through high school directories rather than focusing on social media,” Strobl said.

Screenshot of Haylujan's TikTok

© Photo : TikTok/@haylujan

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy Stephanie Miller, for her part, agreed that in order to balance the army's media image, they need to work on personalized content: "What we really want to be able to do here is to be able to provide more personalized and tailored content."

"What we are really right now is a blunt force instrument and we want to be more strategic. We want to be able to kind of package our messaging so that it can resonate with greatest effect to a generation where we count seconds in terms of being able to capture their attention."

While the US government has not acknowledged that influencers like @haylujan are part of its propaganda strategy, the Department of Defense has faced controversy over its interference with platforms like Twitch, a popular social network for streaming mostly young people playing video games, with many so-called e-girls, female players who wear costumes, usually revealing, in their streams.

Screenshot of the Haylujan TikTok video

© Photo : TikTok/@haylujan

In 2018, the popular US Marine Corps livestreaming team on Twitch's Goats & Glory channel disappeared after some users threatened to sue them for deleting user comments against the military. Although the US government denies using the platform for recruitment, media outlets such as Vice have gained access to a manual that allegedly outlines strategies for military streamers to capture the attention of young gamers, many of whom are addicted to games that have been accused of military propaganda, such as Call of Duty.

In the wake of this revelation, the Goats & Glory channel was shut down, as well as a channel featuring National Guard troops.

“Twitch is just the modern incarnation of the shopping mall, as far as what they mean to a recruiter. These are shaping operations. It’s the same reason Coke places Coke bottles in movies. You aren’t literally going to buy a Coke because you just saw it in a movie, but it’s entering the consciousness. It’s a part of the recruiting process even if it’s not literally recruiting people,” former army recruiter Marty Skovlund Jr. told Wired.

This fine line that military green infiltrates the daily lives of young people creates confusion and uncertainty between what is real and what is not, as in the case of the influencer @haylujan, who introduces her subscribers to the daily life of the military through sh*tposting that can serve as propaganda.

“There is this wider doubt of reality, and a communal sense of chaos and unreality, so it follows that internet culture would play into that and discuss it, and perpetuate it. By making people doubt what is real – are these girls actually in the Army? Are the stunts real? Are their faces real? Is the war real? They just add to an overall confusion and disassociation and can lead to desensitization, ultimately,” Dr. Christiana Spens, author of The Fear and Shooting Hipsters, agreed.

 

Army's Exigency & Privacy

Beyond the propaganda and the message that the military sends to young men, there is another problem that the United States faces: its own standards for the acceptance of recruits.

According to Christine Wormuth, only 23 percent of young people between the ages of 17 and 24 meet the physical requirements for enlistment in the armed forces.

In addition, the US military has another growing problem: the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Despite legalization in 21 states, the military continues to prohibit the use of marijuana and the recruiting of cosumers.

"It's still a conservative institution. We've seen the legalization of marijuana in the last few years, but if you're in the military, you smoke once and you get caught, boom, you can get kicked out, you can get your money taken away, you can get arrested [...]. People who want to join the Army aren't going to get in for one case or a thousand cases because you've been arrested once for smoking pot, for this or that thing," Shepherd said.

To Shepherd, the key factor is that despite the promise of good pay and benefits, the military is not attractive in a competitive job market where a military education is not a competitive skill upon leaving the military, even for skilled positions in engineering, mechanics, computers, and other fields.

"The army has already privatized many services [...] an independent contractor does it. If I used to work as a sergeant and make $40,000 a year, now he does that but makes $200,000 for the same job, but in the private sector," the political scientist explained.

@lunchbaglujan #duet with @globulist #Stitch ♬ dumb dumb - mazie

Privatization can also be seen on the battlefield. According to an article by researcher Maria Julia Arango, published by the UN Association of the Argentine Republic, since 1990, when there was talk of "the end of history" with the end of the Cold War, the US and various powers become increasingly reliant on private military companies. This then reached the point where it is estimated that during the Gulf War, there was one private contractor for every 100 American soldiers, one for every 50 in Bosnia, and one for every 10 in Iraq. In fact, the authors of the article estimate that there were between 20,000 and 25,000 private military contractors in the Middle Eastern country.

This is a reality recognized by the Department of Defense. According to Christine Wormuth, the military faces a huge challenge: to make itself an attractive career option.

“We're competing for talent just like all of the folks in industry are, and the job market is hot right now.” “Wages have gone up a lot, and that’s great for Americans, but it’s making it harder for us in the Army to compete,” Wormuth admitted.

*Instagram is banned in Russia over extremist activities.

by Mariano Yberry
Correspondent in Mexico