who joined to gain independence, serve his country, get an education, and see the world; a young
white woman who joined for the challenge the Air Force provides, to gain skills, earn money for
college, and see the world; and a young black man with an interest in mechanics and a
fascination with airplanes, a track and field athlete who’s father served in the military. My print
ad sample contained two flight plans—those of the two young men—each of which appeared in
my sample a number of times.
Each of these ads shows the young man’s face, looking off into the distance and also
includes a row of small pictures along the bottom of the page with images of aircraft, leisure,
travel (the coliseum in Rome, Asian architecture), and airmen and officers (including a couple of
women) in dress uniforms and in camouflage. The elements of each flight plan include such
markers of personal fulfillment as earning respect, leaving behind small town life, making one’s
family proud, as well as references to travel, education, and personal skills. One of the flight
plans includes, “Be better with the computer than my girlfriend is.” With this statement, the Air
Force at once acknowledges that women can be good with computers, which makes the Air
Force seem forward-thinking and may appeal to women, but it also puts the young man in a
position to be better than his girlfriend, putting him past her, skill-wise, and it shows that a young
man associated with the Air Force is able to attract women.
As the Army and Navy launched major new campaigns in 2001, the Air Force also
developed a new slogan, “Cross Into the Blue,” and rolled out new ads. This campaign, which
focuses on technology and has a slick, cutting edge look tries to imbue the potential recruit with
a special-ness that the Air Force is able to recognize, using the line “We’ve been waiting for
you.” In one TV commercial, a group of snowboarders passes a “trail out” sign. One of them
whips out a GPS device and points them in the right direction. Then we see that young man in
an airplane cockpit as a bomber pilot. In a similar ad, scenes of a snowboarder morph into shots
of an FA-22 Raptor. These ads combine physical adventurousness with scenes of military
prowess. In another TV commercial, a man in the passenger seat of a police car directs the
police officer to a group of teens on a street corner, and he picks out a young man who is waved
over to the car. The passenger then asks the young man, who seems to be his son, with help
fixing his laptop. The use of the police officer gives the young man a slight air of danger, though
he is clearly smart, skilled, and not actually in trouble. The final two “we’ve been waiting for
you” TV ads show a young man collecting food from his school cafeteria and giving it to a
homeless man, before he is presented in his Air Force persona directing a food drop out of the
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Convention