Navy

         

          Last week I did the Air Force and this week I'll talk about one of the oldest branches in the US military: The Navy. The Navy is the one Branch I have had no experience with and yet I am connected with the closest after the Army. I never have dealt with Naval recruiters however my room mate is in NROTC here at PSU and a friend of mine who I am certain is reading this post is also a midshipman here.  So the information I will be receiving will not be about the recruiters themselves but the other strategies of recruitment the Navy has perfected.
           First thing I want to say is that the Navy is very good at using history to it's advantage. After the Army the Navy is the oldest branch in US history (the marines were founded around the same time however they are officially considered a sub-branch of the Navy).  The Navy has been influential in almost all of the US wars up until the 1960s where their role has substantially diminished since.  The Navy used to be the main tool in global warfare especially, beginning before the founding of our country where the main form of intercontinental transportation was by ship. Since the invention of commercial airlines in the 60s the Navy has had less of a role because their aren't as many ships transporting people anymore. That being said the Navy has been historically the most important branch.  Most of our wars consist of extensive Naval use from the Revolution up until WWII.  From the Bon Richard of John Paul Jones in the American Revolution to the Great White fleet of the Spanish American War the US Navy has been a dominant force in the sea. Many people have grandfathers who served in the Navy in WWII, a war where the Navy was the leading branch of the war especially in the Pacific theater. Therefore it is safe to say that the Navy doesn't have to have as extensive a recruitment program because half of their recruiting comes from history textbooks.
           When I asked my room mate about his decision to join the Navy, he told me exactly what I expected. He wasn't joining because he talked to a recruiter but because he had a family history.  Unlike other Branches the Navy seems to stress the generational affect. What I mean by that is in many of their commercials and advertising they talk about peoples parents or grandparents who may have served and they play on peoples drive to emulate the important men in their lives. So along with the history the Navy has to bring to the table they are also able to play up the emotion by discussing peoples loved ones who served there country. Not all other branches have done this. I have a history of the army in my family and not once have i ever heard that discussed by Army recruiters or advertising.
          The other main form of recruitment I want to discuss is the Naval commercials. Of all the Branches I would say the Navy has the best commercials.  Like I said before they use history a lot, showing images of WWII sailors on their battleships. However, since the Navy has had a decline recently in Use the main focus of recruiters seems to be on the other things the Navy does. The Navy is the most universal branch. It currently  flies more than the Air Force, works artillery more than the army, and the SEALs do more special ops operations than all the other branches put together. The Navy is a water-born branch which means that whereever there is water they can do combat and in many cases they are the only ones suited for the job. For example any fighting in the swamps of the tropics are fought by the Navy, usually by the SEALs. These images are the images they play. On of my favorite commercials is the one called "the Call to Serve" A narrator with a stong deep voice talks about what it means to be called to serve as they show images of the Navy both past and present. In the background they are playing Anchors Away the song that most people correlate with the US Navy.
           Lastly I want to breifly mention the Navy's phrase: "a global force for good."  This describes the Navy in a nutshell. It is the only military force that before WWI would fight outside of the US. It has bases all over the world however its primary bases are in International waters; namely on it's boats. the Rhetoric of this phrase is phenomenal. It is basically saying that by joining the Navy you have the ability to travel the world doing good and helping the world.  This is a pretty appealing sentiment to a lot of people.