We begin a report on military recruitment campaigns by analyzing the videos through which the United States and China attempt to attract new soldiers and shape the image of their armed forces.
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In a global context marked by rising geopolitical tensions, with a growing number of active conflicts and the risk of new escalations, defense has returned to the center of political and social debate. Governments in many countries have acknowledged the need to strengthen their military capabilities. In the case of NATO and European Union allies, this effort involves increasing defense spending and reducing strategic dependencies, largely driven by pressure from the United States to raise budgetary commitments.
However, the challenge does not lie solely in investing more in weapons or modernizing systems. It also involves expanding and rejuvenating the ranks of the armed forces– an objective that many countries now consider a priority given the current landscape. Without sufficient and qualified personnel, any increase in defense budgets loses operational effectiveness. The question is no longer just how much to invest, but how to attract and retain the human capital necessary to transform that spending into real capability. In this context, recruitment campaigns are becoming increasingly relevant.
“The war between Ukraine and Russia has been the trigger for these recruitment campaigns,” says Professor Alfonso López de la Osa, dean of the Faculty of Law and International Relations at Nebrija University.
This report –the first installment of a series of three– analyzes some of the most representative recruitment campaigns in the world and contrasts their messages with the expert perspective of López de la Osa, also a professor of Administrative Law and director of the Jean Monnet EUDEFENCE Chair on Security and Defense.
Before analyzing some of these videos, it is worth pausing on an element that has profoundly transformed how armies communicate with society: digital platforms, which have become a fundamental tool in these recruitment strategies.
“Social media are now an unavoidable communication channel. Any sector or company worth its salt is directly connected and uses them to make itself known,” López de la Osa indicates.
In the military sphere, he adds, these platforms help bridge the gap between society and an institution that in many countries is perceived as distant. They also project an image of modernity and present stories with which potential candidates can identify.
As a result, recruitment campaigns today no longer limit themselves to announcing available positions or entry requirements. Instead, they perform a function that goes far beyond simple advertising. From cinematic productions to messages centered on public service, national identity, or inclusion, the videos released by armed forces seek not only to recruit personnel but also to rebuild the link between society and the military while conveying a specific model of defense aligned with each country’s values and strategic narrative.
The outcome is a global mosaic of communication strategies ranging from Hollywood-style epic storytelling to direct identity-based propaganda, as well as campaigns that appeal to diversity, personal growth, or even humor.
“These campaigns must attract candidates, but they must also select the best people for the tasks required,” the dean emphasizes. Communication strategies therefore aim not only to expand the pool of applicants but also to filter profiles and align expectations with the identity projected by each military force.
This first installment focuses on two particularly significant models –the United States and China; The next will examine Russia and Ukraine, and the third and final part will look at several European countries. In addition, we will later publish the full interview with Professor Alfonso López de la Osa on which this analysis is based.
After twenty-five uninterrupted years of conscription, the United States ended mandatory military service in January 1973 following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords and the end of its involvement in the Vietnam War. “I wish to inform you that from now on the Armed Forces will rely exclusively on volunteer soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines,” announced then-Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird.
Since then, the country has maintained a fully voluntary recruitment system in which each military branch sets its own enlistment requirements. Nevertheless, male citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are legally required to register with the Selective Service System (SSS), a database that would allow the reintroduction of conscription in the event of a national emergency.
The model is also supported by a broad policy of incentives designed to attract and retain talent, making a military career competitive with the civilian job market. These include enlistment bonuses, access to funded university education, specialized technical training, healthcare coverage, and housing assistance.
According to López de la Osa, these incentives are accompanied by strong social prestige. “They are considered genuine heroes. This phenomenon encourages patriotism without it being seen as outdated or anachronistic. After all, the United States is a military power,” the academic notes, contrasting this level of recognition with what is often seen in Europe.
In this context, recruitment depends heavily on communication and military marketing campaigns aimed particularly at younger audiences. For decades, the U.S. Armed Forces have relied on highly impactful audiovisual productions to attract new recruits, combining cinematic aesthetics, personal stories and messages that appeal both to individual development and service to the country.
The central idea is clear: enlisting not only opens personal opportunities but also allows individuals to become part of a collective mission linked to the defense of the United States and its values.
One of the most recent examples is the U.S. Army’s 2023 recruitment video, which revived the iconic slogan “Be All You Can Be.” First introduced in 1980 to improve the image of military service after the Vietnam War and address recruitment difficulties, the slogan became one of the most successful campaigns in U.S. military marketing. It remained active for more than two decades –from 1980 to 2001– making it the longest-running recruitment slogan used by the U.S. Army.
In the 2023 relaunch, the video begins with a question that shapes the entire narrative: Why is the United States considered the land of opportunity? From there, soldiers of different genders, backgrounds and ranks explain the possibilities the army offers to redefine oneself, overcome challenges and develop one’s full potential.
The message also highlights the resources available to soldiers: “the best tools, the best training and the most advanced technology in the world.” All of this revolves around the historic slogan –”Be all you can be”– which presents the military career as a path to becoming the best version of oneself. At the same time, the advertisement integrates a patriotic appeal by linking this individual development with service to the nation and the defense of its interests.
The campaign thus recovers the spirit of the original slogan while adapting it to the sensibilities of a new generation, to whom the Army presents itself as both a top-tier military institution and a space for personal and professional development.
This approach aligns with one of López de la Osa’s reflections on the opportunities offered by a military career. “Employability in the military sector is evident across all operational domains: land, sea, air, space, cyberspace and the cognitive domain,” he explains. The advertisement translates this diversity into a clear promise: the army is not only the guarantor of national defense but also a vast ecosystem of professional opportunities.
A different approach can be seen in this recruitment spot by the U.S. Marine Corps. The staging is even more spectacular and cinematic than that of the Army, featuring scenes of military operations, helicopter insertions, combat in multiple environments and a faster, more intense visual rhythm.
But the difference is not merely aesthetic. While the Army campaign emphasizes opportunities and career paths, the Marines’ advertisement focuses on the demanding nature of belonging to an elite force designed to fight for the nation “with the determination to win together.” The campaign slogan –”Made for This”– suggests precisely that: only certain individuals are built to assume that mission.
The voiceover summarizes the idea at the end of the advertisement: “Because you don’t join the Marines; you become one.” The spot closes with the Corps’ historic motto: “Marines. The Few. The Proud”, which underscores the selective nature of the force and the pride associated with being part of it.
Together, these two campaigns illustrate two different ways of addressing potential recruits:
the Army as a space for opportunities and personal development, and the Marines as a selective force defined by demanding standards, pride and strong esprit de corps.
China operates a military service system that combines compulsory conscription with voluntary enlistment, the latter being the main pillar of the model. Legislation formally maintains mandatory service for citizens aged 18 to 22. In practice, however, it has not been widely implemented since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 due to the high number of volunteers who supply the ranks of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Nevertheless, since January all 18-year-old men have been required to register in the country’s military registry under a new regulation that introduces controls to verify compliance with this obligation. The regulation also includes economic penalties and administrative restrictions –potentially affecting access to education, public employment or certain civil procedures– for those who fail to comply. Even so, this registration remains a preliminary step: actual entry into the armed forces continues to be based on voluntary enlistment.
In this context, the PLA’s audiovisual campaigns aim not only to attract new recruits but also to highlight to society the role of the military in defending the state and the nation. In recent years, Beijing has intensified the production of such propaganda and recruitment pieces, widely distributed online, on social media and even in cinemas across the country.
One example is the short film “Homeland and Borders,” released in 2019. The production pays tribute to border troops by portraying their daily life in locations such as Shenxian Bay, Heweitan and Hongqilafu, where climatic and geographic conditions make territorial surveillance particularly demanding.
The narrative does not revolve around military power or combat scenes. Instead, it focuses on the dedication of soldiers stationed in remote border posts, whose sacrifice is presented as a guarantee of the country’s security and stability. According to sources within the PLA, the film’s release followed a direct recommendation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to “publicly honor military service.”
The narrative changes in another advertisement released the same year as part of a recruitment campaign. The video features cinematic aesthetics accompanied by an epic soundtrack, with rapid editing and a succession of visually striking images that depict different stages of the process of joining the army: from the medical examination prior to enlistment to training, physical preparation and the deployment of units in various operational environments.
Military maneuvers, exercises and scenes evoking war, threats or crises follow one another to convey an image of discipline, readiness and permanent capacity for response. The message is summarized in the slogan itself: “We Will Always Be Here.” It presents the People’s Liberation Army as a force that is constantly present and ready to protect the country.
Despite their strategic rivalry and ideological differences, recruitment campaigns in the United States and China share several visual and narrative features. Both rely on cinematic staging reminiscent of major film productions and on carefully crafted portrayals of modern, highly professional and effective armed forces. Both also use rhetoric appealing to patriotism, service to the nation and the need to protect the country.
However, the message they convey is not the same. In the United States, enlistment is often presented as a way to combine patriotic vocation with personal development. In Chinese campaigns, by contrast, the narrative places greater emphasis on national duty, collective cohesion and the permanent defense of the homeland.
For Professor López de la Osa, the power of audiovisual language largely explains the appeal of these campaigns. “The strength of the film industry –the ‘dream factory’– plays an essential role in the search for career paths. Even if it may seem superficial, it awakens countless vocations –legal, medical, forensic, military and many others,” he explains.
However, he warns that such representations can create a distorted perception. “It is important not to lose sight of reality, to clearly distinguish what is real from what is not, and thus avoid generating false expectations.”
This observation is significant. Contemporary military communication operates along a delicate frontier: it must attract, inspire and compete with other sectors for young talent without trivializing war or concealing the harshness of the profession. Much of its credibility depends on maintaining that balance.
The analysis of these videos demonstrates the extent to which audiovisual campaigns have become a central tool for shaping the narrative of defense and attracting new military vocations. In the next installment, the focus will shift to Russia and Ukraine, two countries engaged in an open war whose recruitment campaigns follow different strategies but pursue the same objective: sustaining the war effort in the face of attrition and pressure on the battlefield.
In a global context marked by rising geopolitical tensions, with a growing number of active conflicts and the risk of new escalations, defense has returned to the center of political and social debate. Governments in many countries have acknowledged the need to strengthen their military capabilities. In the case of NATO and European Union allies, this effort involves increasing defense spending and reducing strategic dependencies, largely driven by pressure from the United States to raise budgetary commitments.
However, the challenge does not lie solely in investing more in weapons or modernizing systems. It also involves expanding and rejuvenating the ranks of the armed forces– an objective that many countries now consider a priority given the current landscape. Without sufficient and qualified personnel, any increase in defense budgets loses operational effectiveness. The question is no longer just how much to invest, but how to attract and retain the human capital necessary to transform that spending into real capability. In this context, recruitment campaigns are becoming increasingly relevant.
“The war between Ukraine and Russia has been the trigger for these recruitment campaigns,” says Professor Alfonso López de la Osa, dean of the Faculty of Law and International Relations at Nebrija University.
This report –the first installment of a series of three– analyzes some of the most representative recruitment campaigns in the world and contrasts their messages with the expert perspective of López de la Osa, also a professor of Administrative Law and director of the Jean Monnet EUDEFENCE Chair on Security and Defense.
Before analyzing some of these videos, it is worth pausing on an element that has profoundly transformed how armies communicate with society: digital platforms, which have become a fundamental tool in these recruitment strategies.
“Social media are now an unavoidable communication channel. Any sector or company worth its salt is directly connected and uses them to make itself known,” López de la Osa indicates.
In the military sphere, he adds, these platforms help bridge the gap between society and an institution that in many countries is perceived as distant. They also project an image of modernity and present stories with which potential candidates can identify.
As a result, recruitment campaigns today no longer limit themselves to announcing available positions or entry requirements. Instead, they perform a function that goes far beyond simple advertising. From cinematic productions to messages centered on public service, national identity, or inclusion, the videos released by armed forces seek not only to recruit personnel but also to rebuild the link between society and the military while conveying a specific model of defense aligned with each country’s values and strategic narrative.
The outcome is a global mosaic of communication strategies ranging from Hollywood-style epic storytelling to direct identity-based propaganda, as well as campaigns that appeal to diversity, personal growth, or even humor.
“These campaigns must attract candidates, but they must also select the best people for the tasks required,” the dean emphasizes. Communication strategies therefore aim not only to expand the pool of applicants but also to filter profiles and align expectations with the identity projected by each military force.
This first installment focuses on two particularly significant models –the United States and China; The next will examine Russia and Ukraine, and the third and final part will look at several European countries. In addition, we will later publish the full interview with Professor Alfonso López de la Osa on which this analysis is based.
After twenty-five uninterrupted years of conscription, the United States ended mandatory military service in January 1973 following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords and the end of its involvement in the Vietnam War. “I wish to inform you that from now on the Armed Forces will rely exclusively on volunteer soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines,” announced then-Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird.
Since then, the country has maintained a fully voluntary recruitment system in which each military branch sets its own enlistment requirements. Nevertheless, male citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are legally required to register with the Selective Service System (SSS), a database that would allow the reintroduction of conscription in the event of a national emergency.
The model is also supported by a broad policy of incentives designed to attract and retain talent, making a military career competitive with the civilian job market. These include enlistment bonuses, access to funded university education, specialized technical training, healthcare coverage, and housing assistance.
According to López de la Osa, these incentives are accompanied by strong social prestige. “They are considered genuine heroes. This phenomenon encourages patriotism without it being seen as outdated or anachronistic. After all, the United States is a military power,” the academic notes, contrasting this level of recognition with what is often seen in Europe.
In this context, recruitment depends heavily on communication and military marketing campaigns aimed particularly at younger audiences. For decades, the U.S. Armed Forces have relied on highly impactful audiovisual productions to attract new recruits, combining cinematic aesthetics, personal stories and messages that appeal both to individual development and service to the country.
The central idea is clear: enlisting not only opens personal opportunities but also allows individuals to become part of a collective mission linked to the defense of the United States and its values.
One of the most recent examples is the U.S. Army’s 2023 recruitment video, which revived the iconic slogan “Be All You Can Be.” First introduced in 1980 to improve the image of military service after the Vietnam War and address recruitment difficulties, the slogan became one of the most successful campaigns in U.S. military marketing. It remained active for more than two decades –from 1980 to 2001– making it the longest-running recruitment slogan used by the U.S. Army.
In the 2023 relaunch, the video begins with a question that shapes the entire narrative: Why is the United States considered the land of opportunity? From there, soldiers of different genders, backgrounds and ranks explain the possibilities the army offers to redefine oneself, overcome challenges and develop one’s full potential.
The message also highlights the resources available to soldiers: “the best tools, the best training and the most advanced technology in the world.” All of this revolves around the historic slogan –”Be all you can be”– which presents the military career as a path to becoming the best version of oneself. At the same time, the advertisement integrates a patriotic appeal by linking this individual development with service to the nation and the defense of its interests.
The campaign thus recovers the spirit of the original slogan while adapting it to the sensibilities of a new generation, to whom the Army presents itself as both a top-tier military institution and a space for personal and professional development.
This approach aligns with one of López de la Osa’s reflections on the opportunities offered by a military career. “Employability in the military sector is evident across all operational domains: land, sea, air, space, cyberspace and the cognitive domain,” he explains. The advertisement translates this diversity into a clear promise: the army is not only the guarantor of national defense but also a vast ecosystem of professional opportunities.
A different approach can be seen in this recruitment spot by the U.S. Marine Corps. The staging is even more spectacular and cinematic than that of the Army, featuring scenes of military operations, helicopter insertions, combat in multiple environments and a faster, more intense visual rhythm.
But the difference is not merely aesthetic. While the Army campaign emphasizes opportunities and career paths, the Marines’ advertisement focuses on the demanding nature of belonging to an elite force designed to fight for the nation “with the determination to win together.” The campaign slogan –”Made for This”– suggests precisely that: only certain individuals are built to assume that mission.
The voiceover summarizes the idea at the end of the advertisement: “Because you don’t join the Marines; you become one.” The spot closes with the Corps’ historic motto: “Marines. The Few. The Proud”, which underscores the selective nature of the force and the pride associated with being part of it.
Together, these two campaigns illustrate two different ways of addressing potential recruits:
the Army as a space for opportunities and personal development, and the Marines as a selective force defined by demanding standards, pride and strong esprit de corps.
China operates a military service system that combines compulsory conscription with voluntary enlistment, the latter being the main pillar of the model. Legislation formally maintains mandatory service for citizens aged 18 to 22. In practice, however, it has not been widely implemented since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 due to the high number of volunteers who supply the ranks of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Nevertheless, since January all 18-year-old men have been required to register in the country’s military registry under a new regulation that introduces controls to verify compliance with this obligation. The regulation also includes economic penalties and administrative restrictions –potentially affecting access to education, public employment or certain civil procedures– for those who fail to comply. Even so, this registration remains a preliminary step: actual entry into the armed forces continues to be based on voluntary enlistment.
In this context, the PLA’s audiovisual campaigns aim not only to attract new recruits but also to highlight to society the role of the military in defending the state and the nation. In recent years, Beijing has intensified the production of such propaganda and recruitment pieces, widely distributed online, on social media and even in cinemas across the country.
One example is the short film “Homeland and Borders,” released in 2019. The production pays tribute to border troops by portraying their daily life in locations such as Shenxian Bay, Heweitan and Hongqilafu, where climatic and geographic conditions make territorial surveillance particularly demanding.
The narrative does not revolve around military power or combat scenes. Instead, it focuses on the dedication of soldiers stationed in remote border posts, whose sacrifice is presented as a guarantee of the country’s security and stability. According to sources within the PLA, the film’s release followed a direct recommendation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to “publicly honor military service.”
The narrative changes in another advertisement released the same year as part of a recruitment campaign. The video features cinematic aesthetics accompanied by an epic soundtrack, with rapid editing and a succession of visually striking images that depict different stages of the process of joining the army: from the medical examination prior to enlistment to training, physical preparation and the deployment of units in various operational environments.
Military maneuvers, exercises and scenes evoking war, threats or crises follow one another to convey an image of discipline, readiness and permanent capacity for response. The message is summarized in the slogan itself: “We Will Always Be Here.” It presents the People’s Liberation Army as a force that is constantly present and ready to protect the country.
Despite their strategic rivalry and ideological differences, recruitment campaigns in the United States and China share several visual and narrative features. Both rely on cinematic staging reminiscent of major film productions and on carefully crafted portrayals of modern, highly professional and effective armed forces. Both also use rhetoric appealing to patriotism, service to the nation and the need to protect the country.
However, the message they convey is not the same. In the United States, enlistment is often presented as a way to combine patriotic vocation with personal development. In Chinese campaigns, by contrast, the narrative places greater emphasis on national duty, collective cohesion and the permanent defense of the homeland.
For Professor López de la Osa, the power of audiovisual language largely explains the appeal of these campaigns. “The strength of the film industry –the ‘dream factory’– plays an essential role in the search for career paths. Even if it may seem superficial, it awakens countless vocations –legal, medical, forensic, military and many others,” he explains.
However, he warns that such representations can create a distorted perception. “It is important not to lose sight of reality, to clearly distinguish what is real from what is not, and thus avoid generating false expectations.”
This observation is significant. Contemporary military communication operates along a delicate frontier: it must attract, inspire and compete with other sectors for young talent without trivializing war or concealing the harshness of the profession. Much of its credibility depends on maintaining that balance.
The analysis of these videos demonstrates the extent to which audiovisual campaigns have become a central tool for shaping the narrative of defense and attracting new military vocations. In the next installment, the focus will shift to Russia and Ukraine, two countries engaged in an open war whose recruitment campaigns follow different strategies but pursue the same objective: sustaining the war effort in the face of attrition and pressure on the battlefield.
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