6.3

Military Recruitment and the Media

All branches of the United States armed forces make extensive use of the media in recruiting soldiers to serve. In the following activity, investigate how the military uses social and print media to recruit individuals while considering whether the U.S. should continue to have all-volunteer military forces.

Recruiting soldiers to serve in the nation’s military offers an example of the complex political dynamics surrounding the government’s enumerated and implied powers.

The Constitution gives the federal government the enumerated power to raise armies and a navy. Article I states Congress has the power “to provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States.”

But, establishing a draft (mandatory enrollment in the armed forces) is an implied power that was used at different times in U.S. history from the Civil War to 1973. The first peacetime draft, the Selective Training and Service Act, was instituted in 1940 just before U.S. entry into World War II. In 1939, the U.S. army consisted of 174,00 soldiers. Between 1940 and 1947, 10 million men entered the nation's armed services (Training the American GI, National World War II Museum).

The U.S. military has been an all-volunteer force since that time with now more than 1.3 million active troops in six armed services: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force.

The official seal of the United States Space Force, approved by the President of the United States on 15 January 2020. White background is transparent. Date 24 January 2020
Seal of the United States Space Force | Public Domain

Presently, men ages 18 to 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System in case the draft were reinstituted. Women do not have to register and cannot be drafted, although all combat jobs in the military are open to volunteer women enlistees. Women presently make up 16% of all enlisted personnel and 19% of military officers (Demographics of the U.S. Military, Council on Foreign Relations, July 13, 2020).

There are multiple debates surrounding what Congress should do with its implied powers regarding military service.

Activity: Assess Media Use for Military Recruitment

Choose two of the following branches of the armed services: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force.

Present your findings and recommendation as a curated virtual collection (e.g., Wakelet, Padlet, Jamboard) of media (e.g., recruitment posters/YouTube ads) and your own commentary (as text, video, or audio).  

Additional Resources

Connecting to the Standards

  • Massachusetts Civics & Government Standards
    • Distinguish among the enumerated and implied powers in the United States and the Massachusetts Constitution. (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Studies) [8.T6.3]
  • ISTE Standards
    • Knowledge Constructor
      • 3a: Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
      • 3b: Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
      • 3c: Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
      • 3d: Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
    • Creative Communicator
      • 6a: Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
      • 6b: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
  • DLCS Standards
    • Interpersonal and Societal Impact (CAS.c)
    • Digital Tools (DTC.a)
    • Collaboration and Communication (DTC.b)
    • Research (DTC.c)
  • English Language Arts > History/Social Studies Common Core Standards
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7

This content is provided to you freely by Equity Press.

Access it online or download it at https://equitypress.org/mediaandciviclearning/military_recruitment.