Teaching the Article
Exercise 1
Duty or Opportunity?
Every modern society has debated the question of who should serve in its nation’s military. The documents below—an instructional film used in high school classrooms in 1951; a recruiting advertisement from 1948, when the military briefly returned to all-volunteer status; and print and TV advertisements for the post-1973 all-volunteer army—offer two distinct ways to approach that difficult question. The first two documents portray military service as a citizen’s duty. The advertisements for the all-volunteer army portray military service as an option and emphasize the opportunities the army offers to the nation’s youth.
Questions
- How do the 1948 recruiting ad and the film Service and Citizenship (1951) portray the relationship between citizenship and military service?
- If military service is defined as a duty of citizenship, but only men are drafted, how should we understand women’s status as citizens? How does Service and Citizenship portray women’s proper roles?
- Why do education and job training play an important role in several of these documents?
- What sorts of opportunities do the all-volunteer army recruiting advertisements present? Is it misleading to focus on opportunities rather than the possible sacrifices sometimes demanded in military service?
- Is military service a category of its own, or is it similar to other important but high-risk jobs such as fire fighting?
Sources
A. Service and Citizenship, 1951 film for use in high school classrooms
B. Army recruiting advertisements
- “I need you again,” 1948
- Today’s Army: “We care more about how you think, than how you cut your hair,” c. 1971–1973
- Today’s Army: “When was the last time you got promoted?” (women) c. 1971–1973
- Today’s Army: “When was the last time you got promoted?” (men) c. 1971–1973
- Today’s Army: “Take the army’s 16-month tour of Europe,” c. 1971–1973
- Today’s Army: “If you think you’ll miss the guys, bring them along,” c. 1971–1973
- Today’s Army: “You get 12 matches, a knife, some twine, and 3 days to enjoy yourself,” c. 1971–1973
- Today’s Army: “We've got over 300 good, steady jobs,” c. 1971–1973
- Join the People Who’ve Joined the Army: “Some of our best men are women,” c. 1973–1978
- Join the People Who’ve Joined the Army: “Country music,” c. 1973–1978
- “Join now. Go later. Up to four months later. Your future, your decision . . . choose army,” c. 1967–1971
- “This Is the Army” (men), 1979–1980
- “This Is the Army” (women), 1979–1980
- “Be All You Can Be,” 1981
C. “Be All You Can Be,” television commercial, 1980s–1990s