I want YOU for the US Army… Link in bio

With the armed forces seeing its active-duty personnel slump to a record low last year, the US military is deploying a new tactical force: influencers. While recruitment posters used to focus on patriotism and advertising campaigns lauding the ability to “Be All You Can Be,” the US military is pivoting to paid partnerships with “Call of Duty”-playing Twitch streamers and fitness influencers to lure their fan bases with both the excitement and discipline that the military offers.

How did we get here? With the US troop ranks numbering 60% fewer than their peak in 1968 and the Army missing its recruitment goals two years in a row, something had to change.

So it did: enter operation social influencer. Beyond the rise of #MilTok and paid partnerships with content creators, at the Army’s 250th anniversary event in June, more than 30 influencers got a prime spot to broadcast the parade, which we’ve gathered some highlights from here.

Another trend that’s less fun is also helping the military: young Americans are entering the workforce at a tough time, with 18- to 19-year-olds facing a 15.6% unemployment rate in July, the highest rate since 2020. That’s driving a pickup in military curiosity, with terms like “Navy salary” or “Air Force benefits” trending upward, as we’ve charted.

The Takeaway

So far, the social strategy, aided by youth labor pains, is working. In March, the US military said it was tracking strong recruiting figures across branches in 2025, with the Army having signed up ~73% of its goal in the first five months of the recruiting year. General James Mingus, the Army’s vice chief of staff, said, “We’ve seen momentum unlike we have seen in probably a decade.” And it looks likely to continue as prominent figures in the administration post fitness challenges raking in hundreds of thousands of views.