The US Army has a major recruitment crisis and is resorting to social media influencers (E-Girls), among other tactics, to resolve the issue.
One of the major issues facing the US Army's future, and maybe its largest political crisis, is that of recruiting the next generation into its ranks.
Back in February, the Pentagon revealed that in 2022, the US Army planned to recruit 70,000 people. However, by June 2022, the army dropped the number to 60,000, and by the end of the fiscal year in September, only 45,000 were enlisted.
One key factor deterring young people from enlisting in the army is the mental health issues reported by active-duty service members in recent years. According to the Pentagon, suicide rates among active-duty service members increased by 40% from 2015 to 2020.
Due to the failure to reach its recruitment target, the #US military tried something different, enlisting students into their J.R.O.T.C. military program without their permission. pic.twitter.com/f4OgW4gpO7
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) December 17, 2022
On this issue, MintPress News explained in a new report the new ways the US Army is adopting in their desperate attempts to solve this problem.
‘Thirst-trap’ posts on social media
The term “thirst trap” is described in Urban Dictionary as “a sexy photograph or flirty message posted on social media for the intent of causing others to publicly profess their attraction. This is done not to actually respond or satisfy any of this attraction, but to feed the poster's ego or need for attention.”
It seems that the US Army adopted this tactic to step up their games and become social media-savvy with a strong online presence, preying on Gen Z.
Hailey Lujan is the most prominent of these "appealing" young ladies in uniform who publish sexually suggestive material and subliminal (and occasionally not-so-subliminal) appeals to enlist. The 21-year-old creates footage for her 731,000 TikTok fans that extols the pleasure of Army life in between thirst traps and memes.
In a recent video, she advises viewers to "become a farmer or a soldier instead of going to college." "Just some advice for the next generation: it's okay to not be in school. I left college early. I'm doing fantastic, too," she continues.
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Lujan's social media postings were far more subdued up until the end of last year. But as she shifted to posting videos and photographs of herself in scant clothing or provocative military-related imagery, her fan base on TikTok alone grew to about a quarter of a million. According to the remarks, her army of supporters has a fresh perspective on military life.
Academics and military specialists alike have expressed perplexity that Lujan's content seems to be a component of a murky new military outreach plan.
"I'm mostly disgusted and disappointed. People like Lujan are the reason I ultimately decided to renounce my military service in Iraq", Rosa del Duca, an adjunct journalism professor at Diablo Valley College and the author of "Breaking Cadence: One Woman's War Against the War," said as quoted by MintPress.
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"I can’t believe she’s getting away with posting some of this stuff. Everyone learns in boot camp that when you are in uniform, you cannot act unprofessionally, or you get in deep trouble. Maybe they [Army brass] saw how popular Lujan’s posts are, and how she’s basically doing recruiting for them and left her alone, ” she added.
"Drop Da Bomb ( Yvan eht nioj)"
The term is defined by Urban Dictionary as "a completely innocent string of words. Known for strangely giving people the urge to join the navy."
The report further argues that Lujan is aware that she serves as an innovative new Army recruitment tool. She portrays the attractive military bait who entices young guys into duty in one short film that she co-wrote with another military influencer. Played for laughs, the movie depicts a young guy debating whether or not to join the Army while waiting outside a recruitment office. As the dreamy Lujan enters, the young man decides to enroll.
View this post on Instagram
Given that Lujan's job is to persuade, and propagandize in innovative new ways, the fact that she is a psychological operations specialist with the Army raises even more questions about the entire issue, the report added.
The report linked what the Army recruitment website description wrote about the role of a Psychological Operations Specialist sounds to Lujan's own content.
“As a Psychological Operations Specialist, you’ll be an expert at persuasion,” it reads, stressing: "You’ll assess and develop the information needed to influence and engage specific audiences. You’ll broadcast important information through various mediums and assist US and foreign governments, militaries, and civilian populations.”
The report also noted that there are several online videos that imply Lujan is associated with the 101st Airborne Division. The illustrious division is housed in Fort Campbell, a sizable military station on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, according to location data. She participated in Saber Junction 22, a massive military exercise in Germany that brought together tens of thousands of soldiers from the United States, Italy, Romania, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and several other NATO allies.
"Armies of Simps": US and 'Israel' in Cahoots
Rylee (@RyeRoast, 468,000 TikTok followers), a US Air Force doctor, has even embraced the notion that her online image is a psyop. However, their material is less overt and they don't have a strong recruitment pitch. They hardly ever talk about it at all, in fact.
Natalia Fadeev, as @GunWaifu, an Israeli occupation Forces soldier, is arguably the most similar "celebrity" to Lujan in terms of tone and content, the report recognized.
Fadeev is the leader of the simp-to-soldier pipeline on TikTok with 2.7 million followers, posting very provocative material amid fervent support of "Israel". Many of her films, which have each had over a million views include claims such as that the IOF is "the world's most moral army". Fadeev has toyed with the concept that her account is an Israeli psyop in addition to misinformation.
However, the tactic of luring Generation Z is not limited to TikTok. The record-breaking $857 billion defense budget for the Biden administration included spending on advertising in the previous year. Particularly, the Army has spent a lot of money working with some of the greatest YouTube influencers to create very obvious recruitment videos.
The paper also revealed that the US military also recruited video game companies, which is obvious in titles like “Call of Duty”.
The influence did not stop here: In popular culture, militaristic propaganda is also prevalent in the US.
The Department of Defense also employs a massive covert army of at least 60,000 individuals to sway public opinion. This fact is now well-known (if not widely accepted), the report argued.
The US military is hoping that E-girls will be a part of their recruitment strategy, converting American youths from "simps into soldiers", the report concluded.
Read more: US military dwindling in strength: WSJ
