U.S. Army's 'Anti-Woke' Ad Sparks War Speculation

Conservative commentators have claimed a new U.S. Army recruitment ad, which predominantly features white men, is a reaction to "15 years of relentless progressive brainwashing" and is a sign that "we are definitely going to war."

The 30-second ad depicts a group of soldiers jumping from a Chinook helicopter and parachuting to the ground, together with the captions "Your greatest victories are never achieved alone" and "Be all you can be." The video has gone viral on X, formerly Twitter, racking up more than 11.3 million views. Many of the comments mock the ad for its perceived lack of diversity.

Conservative activists previously expressed anger at what they perceive to be insufficiently macho army recruitment advertisements, including one that featured Cpl. Emma Malonelord who talked about how she was "raised by two moms" and had "marched for equality."

The 'End Wokeness' X account, which has 1.8 million followers, shared the recruitment video, writing: "Oh s***. A new U.S. Army recruitment ad dropped and it's all straight white men. We are definitely going to war."

Despite this claim, two non-white soldiers are visible in the ad. No indication is given about the sexuality of any of the troops who feature. Newsweek has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment by email.

Peachy Keenan, the pseudonym for a writer and contributing editor of conservative publication The American Mind, also hit out at the recruitment video on X.

The account wrote: "The US Army's new recruitment ad is so cynical. After 15 years of relentless progressive brainwashing and doing a literal 'stand down' to root out "extremists" (ie white conservatives), they are now facing an existential recruiting crisis and must return again to seducing the children of said 'extremists' into fighting for their country. A country that no longer exists."

The History Legends X account, which has 13,000 subscribers, commented: "Go Woke Go Broke. US Army Recruitment levels have been disastrous lately. Time for a quick change LOL 180° turn -- All white males of fighting age [rolling on the floor laughing emoji]."

Patrick Fox, a U.S. Air Force veteran and military analyst, suggested the new ad was a response to the army's widely reported recruitment problems. He wrote: "This is the recruiting ad equivalent of the US Army hitting the panic button. They were 25% short of recruiting goal targets this year."

Over the past fiscal year, the army has fallen 10,000 short of its goal to recruit another 65,000 troops, after missing out on its target of 60,000 soldiers the previous year by 15,000.

At a press briefing discussing the issue, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said: "It was evident we were going to have to make more transformative changes...The job market has changed significantly over the past 20 years, but we as the Army haven't changed very much."

Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville is currently blocking nearly 400 military promotions to protest against the Pentagon's policy of paying expenses for servicemembers who travel for an abortion, despite a growing backlash from his own party.

The Senator has described claims by service chiefs that he is undermining national security as "woke propaganda."