1955-1960
Moving Away from Tradition
While radio and poster based propaganda was an instrumental tool for recruiting to the United States military throughout the 1940s, Nicholas J. Schlosser discribes how America had be leaning away from these more traditional propaganda methods at this time in his text Cold War on the Airwaves: The Radio Propaganda War against East Germany. Schlosser notes how America almost seemed neglectful of the overseas propaganda which had once been integral to their militaristic agenda, stating that "in 1956, RAIS's [radio propaganda] staff was forced to stand by once again and watch as another anti-Soviet was crushed as the United States failed to act (136)."* The reason for America apparently no longer having interest in such radio broadcasts is the result of a focus shift which followed World War ll and the Korean War: College students.
Money for Enlistment
In 1958, the Air Force and Navy branches of the United States military began extensive recuritment campaigns which targeted college graduates throughout America. Figures 1 & 2 show these campaigns reaching Ursinus, with the school newspaper advertising the recruitment opportunities. While these may seem no different from normal postgraduate job opportunities, these articles demonstrate how this military outreach was actually a form of propaganda; one which promised monetary incentives and personal career fufilment in exchange for student enlistment.
Figure 1 states that "the number of applicants who will get commissions through this plan is small" after it discusses the promise of "the gold bars (which) will be available for selected civillian applicants." This gives the promise being made by the Air Force a feeling of deliberately targeting college students who may be in dire need of money following their graduations. Figure 2 demonstrates the Navy using a similar program on Ursinus students, emphasizing how it is "strongly suggested for anyone interested...to apply early", while also admitting that applicants are "not exempt from the draft while the application is being processed", meaning that you would be forced to join with no benefits if the Government does not process your information in time.
Both advertisements seem to want to make joining the military a logical "next step" for college students. The language being used make the promises of money and career advancement quite promising to a propsective college undergraduate, which was key in terms of making the Military attractive to young people.
It is important to note that, as the military was advertising to the Ursinus student body, the campus community began voicing their own opinions on American militaristic action around the school and in the newspaper.
Ursinus Attitudes and Ideologies
Figures 3 & 4 demonstrate how the Ursinus attitudes surrounding the idea of Military action and the East vs West propaganda resulting from the Cold War was actually fairly skeptical in nature among the campus community. Figure 3, a student written dialogue showing a theoretical debate between a pro war bar patron and anti war bar patron, with the student being able to express both philsophival and religious concern when it comes to taking Government declarations of war at face value. While the pro war side is indeed given merit in this debate as well, the student does make a clear attempt to demonstrate how folks who blindly support pro war ideologies can potentially "overlook the consequences of their choice."
Figure 4, a summary of a lecture given by a professor, places emphasis on how the "bad relations between the East and West was greatly attributed to the ignorance of each about the other." This demonstrates how the on campus attitudes towards international relations tended to be a bit more nuanced than the Military recruiters may have hoped for when it comes to being able to convince students that enlisting in the Air Force or Navy is a sort of righteous cause.
*Secondary Source: Schlosser, Nicholas J. Cold War on the Airwaves: The Radio Propaganda War Against East Germany. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2015. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt17t75vb. Accessed April 1, 2020.