Army making extra effort to recruit in Seattle, other left-leaning cities

The Army wants you, specifically Seattleities, to stop ignoring them when they try to recruit you into serving. It’s all part of a new campaign that may prove to be as tough as Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.

Last year was a difficult one for recruiting, in which the army fell about 6,500 soldiers short of their nationwide goal. Normally, they focus on conservative-leaning parts of the country between Texas and Virginia to shore up numbers, where traditionally locals are more open to serving.

This year, they’re trying 22 left-leaning cities — like San Francisco and Seattle — where they’re often not.

Why is so hard to recruit a few good Seattleites? Part of the reason is that the military is not nearly as entrenched in the culture as down south, and young people tend to not have family members or authority figures in their lives who’ve served, reports The New York Times. This is not to mention the occasional anti-war (and anti-recruitment) teams that show up in opposition to them.

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Additionally, the Army’s emphasis on job training and educational aspects of serving tends to be less effective in cities like Seattle where similar higher-paying opportunities are plentiful. With that in mind, recruiters are instead presenting enlistment as a patriotic alternative for those looking to bypass the rudimentary cubicle life and find something a bit more adventurous and altruistic.

Recruiters will use a sky-diving team and touring rock band to draw crowds, and plan to have a presence in areas like mixed martial arts, competitive gaming, and even comicons. One can picture the recruiter approaching someone in a Storm Trooper costume to see if they want to join a real army.

Seattle Army Recruitment hopes to reach 2000 active duty members and 500 reserve members.

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