The Pentagon has rolled out a new joint national marketing campaign aimed at boosting recruitment for the services. It approaches the topic from a different angle—a potential recruit’s parents. Eschewing raw appeals to advancement and patriotism that have long been staples of military recruitment offices, the multimedia campaign focuses on the dialogue parents and children have when the topic of military service arises. “We find that many parents are not informed about what the military is really about,” said Air Force Maj. Rene Stockwell, the program’s chief of joint advertising. Trying to deflate the perception that most people are going to serve in combat, the campaign offers information on a new Web site that illustrates the wide range of jobs, educational opportunities, and roles of the military services.
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.
