Six hundred new enlistees and current soldiers were sworn into the Army during a televised NFL game Sunday with some 69,000 people in stands, given the oath of enlistment by Gen. Randy George, the service’s top officer.
The Army band performed the national anthem, Rangers rappelled from the stadium’s rafters, and the 82nd Airborne Division chorus performed “God Bless America.”
It was a bombastic show by the Army during the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings game — and what amounted to a televised recruiting pitch to millions of viewers. The game day event comes on the heels of the 82nd Airborne chorus’ showing on the “America’s Got Talent” TV show, which brings in about 6 million views an episode, making it among the most-watched and highest-rated shows in broadcast.
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For an Army trying desperately to appeal to wired Gen Z to fill the ranks, television is still remarkably relevant.
A report released Monday by Rand Corp., the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said that the Army should spend more money on television ads, finding that the service gets more bang for the buck in attracting potential applicants. The report found that putting more ads on television could be 10 times more beneficial than enlistment bonuses.
“Across all the different scenarios examined, the optimized model recommends an 80% increase in spending on television…
