aimed at young women, like Seventeen. Life has historically had a broad readership where the
services could attempt to appeal to a large population of both men and women and potential
recruits and their parents. Sports Illustrated and Popular Mechanics both have a readership that
is predominantly male (though women’s interest in sports and sports magazines has grown over
the period of the AVF), while Popular Mechanics’ demographics are skewed toward a more
working-class population. Interestingly, when the Army created ads that seemed to be aimed at
women, it generally placed them in Sports Illustrated, perhaps guessing that athletic women, or
women interested in sports were likely targets. I’ve also gathered samples and descriptions of
television advertising, though less systematically than the print material, to fill out the image
crafted by each of the services.
Each of the services also produces other kinds of recruiting materials, like posters and
brochures, and, now, web sites, but these are viewed mainly by people who have expressed
interest in the armed services, by sending away for information, speaking to a recruiter, or
visiting a web site. The focus of this research is recruitment advertisements that are aimed at the
general public, through mass-circulation magazines.
ARMY
The end of conscription posed the biggest challenge to the Army. Of all the services, the
Army was the most reliant on conscripts, it needed the largest number of recruits each year, and
it suffered from the worst reputation, even aside from the antipathy generated by the Vietnam
War. Military sociologist Charles Moskos reports that:
attitudinal surveys conducted during the Cold War period showed Americans
consistently giving highest prestige to the Air Force followed, in order, by the Navy,
Marine Corps, and Army. These surveys also found specific stereotypes associated
with each of the services: Air Force, technical training and glamour; Navy, travel and
excitement; Marine Corps, physical toughness and danger; Army, ponderous and
routine. (Moskos, 1970:18)
In light of these challenges, in fielding a volunteer force, the Army has been more willing than
the Navy or the Marine Corps to utilize the services of women, and of all the services, the
Army’s recruiting materials have pictured women the most frequently. Throughout the AVF, the
Army has tried to tempt women into joining by offering them equal opportunity, but it has also at
times attempted to reaffirm the femininity of female soldiers. Overall, however, the Army is the
service most likely to present women as a regular part of the institution
4
Convention