Social Views on the Military and Recruitment, Essay Example

The United States has always had a very high opinion of the military and the fine men and women that serve the country to protect the freedoms that normal citizens are able to enjoy on a daily basis.  Just as in the corporate world, the military is a business that can most often be considered non-profit.  The goal is to win any war the country faces and to protect the citizens of the United States.  In order to do this, the military needs constant funding and must have the human workforce necessary to fill the positions in each of the armed forces.  This may not always be an easy achievement as citizens are not always rushing to enlist with the nearest military recruiter.  There are many reasons for this, but most notably the perceptions and public opinion of the dangers of the military and the purpose behind such military operations and wars, like the highly controversial War on Terror, force many people to become wary of joining the military.  Recruitment efforts continue to work to increase the numbers of individuals that enter the military, but this has never been an easy task.  Almost one year ago, there were major discussions that the government may be forced to resort to the draft to maintain the required numbers of individuals for the human military resources.

Public opinion is very difficult to quantify because it changes as such a rapid speed.  An act such as the attacks on the United States during 9/11 forced thousands of Americans to gain a deeper appreciation for their freedoms and enlist in the military to help protect their friends, family and countrymen.  As further details came out about the problems with President Bush and the American government, fewer people wanted to risk their lives to join the military when they did not believe in the purpose for being in the Middle East.  Weapons of Mass Destruction had been a lie to force Americans to believe that countries like Iraq and Afghanistan were the enemies to our way of life, while the attacks were not country-based but rather the actions of a militant group in the Middle East known as Al-Qaeda.  As the death toll continues to increase in the Middle East, people do not believe that this war is the right thing to do.  This negative change in public opinion has greatly impacted the recruitment efforts needed by the military as this will be shown through the research in this report and through previous literature that has been published by academic professionals.

Literature Review

Much of the literature that is available on this topic suggests a large increase in the growth of recruiting efforts by the military.  Research has shown that advertising funding for the Department of Defense increased from $299 million in 1998 to $592 million in 2003, which is a total increase of over 98% (“Recruitment Advertising”, 2004, p. 136).  This large increase in military spending designed solely for recruitment efforts to fulfill the needs of the military personnel is likely a direct result of the change in public opinion and overall perceptions of the military.

Furthermore, recruiting efforts focus on three main areas that include sales, incentives and advertising.  First of all, a “sales force” of more than 15,000 recruiters, who are mostly located in the United States, recruit from the local population (“Recruitment Advertising”, 2004, p. 136).  In many cases these individuals serve as college admissions counselors because they help promote the education benefits and other incentives offered by the military (Carnevale, 2006, p. 33).  This brings us to the second recruiting initiative, which focuses on these recruiters promoting financial and other incentives that they can use to convince young adults to consider a military career.  As previously mentioned, these incentives can include enlistment bonuses and college benefits (“Recruitment Advertising”, 2004, p. 138).  Finally, the military recruiters use advertising to raise the public’s awareness of the military and help the sales force of recruiters reach the target recruiting population and generate potential leads for recruiters (p. 138).  We often view these advertising efforts through in-print and televised advertisements and catchy phrasing for the military such as “Be all that you can be” and “The few. The proud. The marines.”  These efforts catch the attention of young people and work to instill and Americanized responsibility to the country through military servitude.

However, these recruiting initiatives are no longer working at the proposed or expected rates due to a change in public opinion.  Today, thousands of parents and former military personnel serve as counter-recruiters to help educate families and students on the dangers of war and military combat and to showcase the actual statistics that may be clouded by the biased military recruitment efforts.  A provision attached to a 2002 education bill required that high school give the names of students to military recruiters unless parents opt out, but the opting out policies and procedures are often not readily available for high school administrators or personnel (“Parents push back”, 2005, p. 28).  This provision forced many individuals to become disenfranchised with the recruiting tactics of the military personnel and have caused a great outcry as of late against their efforts.  The counter-recruiters succeeded in influencing over 5,000 high school students to taken their names off of recruiter rolls, which other activist are fighting to include laws in the state and federal governments to promote and protect student privacy in such cases as military recruitment (“Parents push back”, 2005, p. 28).

Hypothesis

The goal of this research study is to support the hypothesis that recruitment efforts and retention are directly thwarted by a change in public opinion and the counter-recruitment efforts of the military.

Methodology

This research will be completed through the use of literature review and analysis of past academic works as well as the inclusion of questionnaires and interviews that will be performed to survey the opinions of local ex-military personnel and members of the community.

Conclusion

As the information has been shown, the recruitment efforts are likely to be greatly impacted due to a change in public opinion.  Public opinion has been altered towards the military as of late mainly because of military action, false statements by politicians, and overall dangers of the lives of men and women that serve abroad.  Further research must continue to be performed to analyze this issue on both sides.  Opposition to military recruitment must show the problems associated with dangerous recruiting tactics and false promises to America’s youth, while proponents of military recruitment must justify the continued increase in annual budgetary resources for recruiting efforts that continue to appear as though they have very little impact on changing public opinion.

References

(2004). Recruitment Advertising. Congressional Digest, 83(5), 136-160. http://search.ebscohost.com

(2005). Parents push back against recruiting tactics. National Catholic Reporter, 42(6), 28. http://search.ebscohost.com

Carnevale, D. (2006). Military Recruiters Play Role of College Counselor. Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(44), 33. http://search.ebscohost.com

DeFronzo, J., & Jungyun, G. (2008). Religious Adherence and Military Enlistment Before and After the 9/11 Attacks. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 41-13. http://search.ebscohost.com

Holmes, S., Lee, D., Charny, G., Guthrie, J., & Knight, J. (2009). Military Physician Recruitment and Retention: A Survey of Students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Military Medicine, 174(5), 529-534. http://search.ebscohost.com

Reichert, T., JooYoung, K., & Fosu, I. (2007). Assessing the Efficacy of Armed-Forces Recruitment Advertising: A Reasoned-Action Approach. Journal of Promotion Management, 13(3/4), 399-412. http://search.ebscohost.com