FORT DIX, NJ –
Sgt. Ammie Acosta adjusts her helmet before a film crew starts filming an Army Reserve commercial.
U.S. Army Photo By Sgt. Timothy Yao
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WASHINGTON — From dramatic images of Soldiers leaping from aircraft to footage of troops traversing dense forests or harsh deserts, Army commercials have celebrated military service since the establishment of the all-volunteer force.
The Army News Service looks back on some of the Army’s most memorable commercials and campaigns over the past 50 years.
Be All You Can Be
A familiar slogan played across bulky television sets in the 1980s and 1990s evoking feelings of pride and patriotism.
“Be all that you can be … get an edge on life, in the Army,” the rousing recruiting jingle popularized during the childhoods of Generation X and millennials returned when the Army adopted the nostalgic marketing campaign for a new generation in 2023.
The original phrase proved so successful in the 80s that it became the Army’s longest running advertising campaign from 1980 until 2001.
The Army looked to boost the service’s image following varied media depictions after the Vietnam War. To address recruiting shortfalls after the war, the branch wanted to create an inspiring campaign in the 1980s to encourage more to enlist in the service, according to the Army Historical Foundation.
“We do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day,” a voice in the commercial quips.
The Army’s longest running ad campaign was the “Be all you can be” commercials that ran in the 1980s and 1990s.
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The Army wanted to target a more capable, higher quality recruit capable of operating advanced technology.
The Army also aired ads to find recruits for its renowned elite fighting force, the Army Rangers. The 75th Ranger Regiment boasts some of the most disciplined, athletic Soldiers capable of executing complex special forces missions. To attract the most fit and dedicated recruits, it depicted a Soldier in a voiceover talking about the challenge of joining the Rangers.
In one 30-second commercial the Soldier says, “A Ranger never takes the easy way out. That’s why getting into the Rangers is tough and the training’s tough. So, it makes me feel like I’m part of something really special.”
Finally, the ad couples with a song and “Be all that you can be,” tag line.
More than three decades later in 2023, the Army aired a more contemporary version of the iconic ad, featuring Soldiers in the field, on the range and inside barracks. The ad opens with dawn breaking over a rugged arid desert in the American southwest then flashes to a scene over quaint rural view of a small New England town.
Different Soldiers, along with Army senior leaders echo the slogan across different regions of the branch.
Former Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth said the Army faced its most challenging recruiting landscape in the post-pandemic years. Wormuth, who spent much of her adolescence in the 1980s, adapted a contemporary version of the campaign, which focused on 15 cities and assisting new recruits with the application process.
“At a time when political, economic and social factors are changing how young Americans view the world, the new Army brand illustrates how service in the Army is grounded in passion and purpose,” said Wormuth. “We want a new generation of Americans to see the Army as a pathway to the lives and careers they want to achieve.”
Army Strong
The Army looked to reinvigorate its recruiting in the middle of the Iraq war. In 2006 the service changed its marketing from “An Army of One” to “Army Strong,” to attract potential recruits to the idea of becoming physically and emotionally strong while building strong character.
During one ad, Soldiers in different career fields look sternly into the camera and recite the Soldier’s Creed. The footage shows Soldiers working in the field; with some embedded in grasslands, a tank commander, a pilot, an Army athlete and in formation.
The campaign began to be removed from Army advertising in 2015 before being fully phased out in 2018, due to declining recruiting numbers. The campaign enjoyed some success in its early years during the “surge,” when President Bush committed an additional 20,000 troops for security operations in Iraq.
This banner showcased the Army’s marketing campaign from 2001-2006. The service later moved away from the idea to focus more on the team aspect of the Army.
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An Army of One
In the early 2000s the Army looked to appeal to individual excellence and strength, qualities marketers felt appealed to Generation X.
The campaign lasted only about five years in part because some Army leaders felt it favored individualism over the collectivist team environment of the military, wrote then-Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips.
During one commercial titled “Dog Tags,” a lone Soldier can be seen jogging in the middle of a barren desert. The Soldier’s dog tags dangle from his uniform. “I am an Army of one,” the Soldier begins. “With technology, with support, who I am has become better than who I was.”
“And I’ll be the first to tell you, the might of the U.S. Army doesn’t lie in numbers, it lies in me … I am an Army of one.”
Warriors wanted and ‘What’s your Warrior?’
Following Army Strong, the Army would adopt two short-lived campaigns. In the first campaign, “Warriors wanted” the Army hoped to use the ads to build a modern, deployable lethal force. The campaign, led by then Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel Dailey focused on appealing to Gen Z.
A series of new ads made their debut on social media and television sets in the fall of 2018. It featured images of Army Rangers lowering themselves from a helicopter and into combat.
The service followed Warriors wanted with “What’s your Warrior,” a more focused version of the Warriors wanted campaign. The Army focused on individual talents and skills Soldiers will hone and learn.
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