Maslow's Hierarchy and Military Recruiting
Is the US Army Sinking to a New Level?
Jun 3, 2009 Christopher Pascale
According to a May 3, 2005 article on Army.com the US Army fell behind in its recruiting goals in the late 1990's. During this time the long standing slogan "Be All That You Can Be" had been perceived as old, and not as inspirational to new potential recruits.
In January, 2005 the Army introduced their new "Army of One" campaign reaching out to the younger generation, and perhaps imitating the video games that had come out, such as Call of Duty, where single action players fight an entire war by themselves.
Most recently, the Army's slogan is "Army Strong."
These slogans all sound very enticing to many, but the Army's message can be disturbing, especially when paired with the humanistic chart known as the Hierarchy of Needs.
What is the Hierarchy of Needs and Where Did it Come From?
Abraham Maslow was a Brooklyn, NY born psychologist most notably hailed for his Hierarchy of Needs. The hierarchy consists of five steps. At the bottom is physiological needs consisting of the need for food, water, and air. The next level concerns safety and shelter. Following safety and shelter is the need for belonging, then self esteem, and finally, self actualization.
As explained on the Personality Theories web page on ship.edu, physiological needs come first because the need for water will always be more important than the need for shelter, just as shelter is more important than a sense of belonging. Furthermore, one having a sense of health, safety, and belonging is necessary for self esteem, which is needed for self actualizing - fulfilling deep desires in order for a person to be happy with his life.
Be All That You Can be
When the Army adopted the slogan "Be All That You Can Be" they were striking to the top of the pyramid that is the Hierarchy of Needs. The Army implemented into its recruiting that soldiers could self actualize, not merely find the health involved with exercise and three meals a day, and certainly more than the security of having a bed to sleep in and a regular paycheck.
Being all that one can be is simply another way of self actualizing. The US Navy has a similar campaign slogan, "Accelerate Your Life," while the Marines use "The Few, the Proud," and the Air Force's "Aim High" was recently changed to "Above All." Every one of these slogans involves being the best that one can be.
The Navy uses a slogan that leaves the options open to the sailor so that he can choose what is best while the Marines' slogan indicates that when recruits receive their Eagle, Globe and Anchor they will have achieved something great by being one of a very select group, and the Air Force that once encouraged airmen to achieve great things is stating that they already have by being "Above All."
An Army of One
The slogan that was introduced in 2005 did not encourage self actualization with few exceptions. There are some soldiers who truly do desire to be an Army of One, and for them this idea is all that they can be.
The result is that whether a soldier wishes to be an Army of One or not, his self esteem is built on the idea that he can be more independent. As positive as this is, for many soldiers it is one step down on the hierarchy from being all that one can be.
Army Strong
The term Army Strong that is currently used breaks away from the self centered idea that each individual soldier can take down the Taliban or Mujahideen on his or her own, and gets back to the basics of military leadership, expressing that the soldiers in the unit are strong together. Each individual is Army Strong and the combined strength of the men and women in a combat ready (or non-combatant) unit is what the Army is all about.
Referring to the hierarchy, the US Army has taken another step down on the list, giving soldiers a sense of belonging. If they do find self esteem it can likely be related to them being happy about where they belong in the Army as the other option is that those striving to be all that they can be are doing so either through the Army by way of supporting their families, or through the educational benefits offered as they accelerate their lives.
Readers may ask why this would happen; why would US Soldiers need to be encouraged to be less than they can be, and simply be strong?
The answer lay in the type of men and women that are being recruited. Contrary to a May, 2008 article on Army.mil about how the Army has not lowered its standards, one NPR report the month before shows that enlistees with felony and misdemeanor waivers almost tripled from 2005 to 2007. Crimes included aggravated assault, burglary, and breaking and entering. This was after a 54% rise from 2004-2005 as reported by Nick Turse in the San Francisco Chronicle on Oct 1, 2006.
In the end, the Army's current standards, or lack thereof, are not in congruence with being all that one can be. The best they can currently offer is a sense of belonging to many young men and women who are in need of a step up in life that may have been denied in the past. And so, where they may have fallen short yesterday, today they can be Army Strong.
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