September 2011 - Navy
By RADM Robin Graf
The Active and Reserve Components of
our Navy combine to form the most
preeminent and capable force in the
world. The Reserve force is uniquely
qualified to fulfill missions in support of overseas
contingency operations, or right here at home
during times of national crisis. Since 2001,
Reservists have filled approximately half of all
Individual Augmentee (IA) billets and deployed
around the world to include Iraq, Afghanistan,
Kuwait, Horn of Africa, and Guantanamo Bay.
This call to serve is what drove Navy Recruiting
Command to develop a new approach to attract
and ultimately enlist and commission new
recruits and officers into our Navy. This includes
encouraging those leaving active duty to answer the
call to re-serve, drawing on the honor, courage,
and commitment of generations past and present
who value service before self.
Our Navy’s brand “America’s Navy – A global
force for good,” along with marketing videos such
as “The Calling,” “Power,” and “Until” are designed
to ignite the passion of service in Sailors both
present and past, inspire today’s youth, and
inform the public of the Navy’s contributions to
national security. The brand is not a recruiting
slogan; it’s a call to serve that echoes the powerful
heritage of our Navy while reinforcing the
message of hope and opportunity that the Navy
provides to our citizens across this great country
and around the world through its global reach
and impact.
The Navy previously focused on recruiting
slogans vice “branding.” These slogans included
“Accelerate Your Life” (2001-2009), “Let the
Journey Begin” (1996-2000), “Navy, It’s Not Just
a Job, It’s an Adventure” (1976-86) and “Be
Someone Special” (1973-75). Each had its own
appeal and was primarily geared towards
answering an individual’s question, “What’s in it
for me?”
Sailors were the dynamic force behind the
development of the brand. More than 18 months
of research by Navy Recruiting Command and
our civilian marketing partner went into the
development, including focus groups of active,
reserve, and retired Sailors and citizens from
around the country. Their inputs helped us capture
a brand that shows the global “good” provided by Navy
engagement around the world. The research showed that
today’s Sailors, along with men and women considering
service in the Navy, want to make a positive difference in
their world, not just their own lives. The young men and
women entering the Navy today have a broad
understanding of how their service provides
global impact. Our Navy brand speaks directly
to this generation of young people who are
called to put service before self.
The brand also draws directly from “A
Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,”
which refers to our Navy as a “force for good,
protecting this nation’s vital interests even as it
joins others to promote security and stability
across the globe.”1 The “good” our Navy does
takes many forms, from SEALs thwarting terrorist
plots to providing humanitarian assistance
from hospital ships like the USNS Mercy, and
advanced training and education for the Navy
workforce.
Our globally engaged Navy provides balanced
capabilities for forward presence, deterrence,
sea control, power projection, maritime security
and humanitarian assistance and disaster
response. Our brand captures the inherent
flexibility, adaptability and power of our Navy
that is increasingly relevant in a complex,
interconnected and uncertain world. The call
to serve represents how security, prosperity
and sea power are focused on opportunities –
not threats; on optimism – not fear; and on
confidence – not doubt. This is who we are,
and it’s an ethos that appeals to Sailors past
and present, along with today’s youth.
The strategy behind our brand is to develop
a long-term campaign that explains who we
are and inspires others to join. I believe every
young person, mother, father, doctor, teacher,
coach — all of us — have felt “a calling” at
some point in life. A call to belong to an
organization with values that make each of
us want to do “good” for others. America’s
Navy answers that call by providing individuals
the opportunity to change their own lives while
protecting our nation’s freedom for generations
to come.
Our brand was designed to help build our
future Navy one Sailor at a time and ignite the
emotions of pride and professionalism. As we
recruit for today and build for tomorrow, our
mission and vision encompasses a recruiting
force that is operating in real time. In order
for that force to continue to perform successfully, recruiters
and communication systems are being combined with
optimal processes to give them the quality, agility, and
flexibility to inform, influence, inspire, and ultimately hire
the very best in a dynamic recruiting environment.
America’s Navy is a global force for good, and that
“good” can take many forms:
-
Bombs on a terrorist hideout.
- Bullets to protect innocent civilians against extremists.
- Bottles of water to those in need after disaster strikes.
- Bachelor’s degree through advanced training
and education.
Our recruiters are often the only face of America’s Navy
in many areas across the nation. Equipped with real-time,
interpersonal communications systems and the knowledge,
skill, and ability to operate at the speed of today’s market,
these tech-savvy communicators are in direct touch with
the future Sailors of tomorrow.
Through this interpersonal connection, supported by
strong marketing and technology, each member of our
recruiting force is focused and actively engaged in communities
around the nation and the world igniting awareness,
attracting, recruiting and hiring a diverse combination of
the nation’s best and brightest men and women to serve in
America’s Navy.
I appreciate those who reach out to help influence and
share our brand and our Navy with others, so that all
Americans can better understand how their Navy performs
“good” around the world to protect us here at home and
preserve our freedom around the globe.
For more information about America’s Navy, our brand,
and how you can help now and in the future, I encourage
you to visit www.navy.com or www.cnrc.navy.mil. You
can also share your comments at 2ww.facebook.com/
USNAVYLIFE.
REFERENCE:
1 A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, October 2007, p.16.
About the author, Rear Adm. Robin Graf became
the 18th Commander, Navy Recruiting Command on 21
April 2011. She most recently served as the Deputy
Commander, Navy Recruiting Command. Rear Adm.
Graf is a native of Simsbury, CT.
(For her complete biography, please go to Web site at
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/bio.asp?bioID=528)