recruitment
Selling the military: A critical analysis of contemporary recruitment marketing in the UK
February 2019
This report, written by ForcesWatch and published with the public health charity Medact, analyses the way the armed forces market their careers to adolescents and young people, creating powerful messages that which exploit developmental vulnerabilities and social inequality, risking the health and well-being of recruits. Narratives of camaraderie and self-development also serve to promote an uncontroversial and depoliticised idea of the military more widely which promote self-fulfilment in the context of conflict.
New report calls for regulation of military marketing that targets young people
27/02/2019ForcesWatch press release
A report published today (27 February 2019) critiques the armed forces’ marketing practice in selling their careers to vulnerable adolescents. This comes in the wake of the Army's controversial new 'Snowflake' recruiting campaign.
War School film
2018
A film about recent militarism and the battle for the hearts and minds of young people in the UK. The film follows the stories of Ben Griffin, former SAS soldier and founder of Veterans for Peace UK, and Quaker activist Sam Walton, and features the work of ForcesWatch and partner organisations. See war.school and related learning resources.
Recruitment at any price
Our response to the Public Accounts Committee have today published their report Skill Shortages in the Armed Forces, which makes a number of problematic recommendations that put the military's operational needs over other considerations.
British army ‘explicitly targeting’ working-class recruits, say critics
10/09/2018The Guardian
The Guardian
Recruitment drive focuses on teenagers seeking adrenaline, says Child Soldiers International
Girl Guides defend controversial new deal with British army
10/09/2018The Observer
The Observer
Petition launched after members claim partnership with military runs counter to the Guides’ peace ethos
Deepcut – another verdict; still more questions….
Today is a significant day in the Deepcut tragedy. We explore some of the problems that allowed the toxic environment of Deepcut to develop and continue to persist today and why raising the age of recruitment would provide a significant part of the solution.
The concerted effort to increase the power of the military across society must be challenged
As support for the military is paraded in streets across the UK at Armed Forces Day events, politicians charged with fighting the military's corner are waging their own war on public and political opinion. This article was published in The Morning Star on 2 July 2018
War Hurts Everybody
Leicester for Peace report on their 'War hurts everybody' vigil at Leicester Armed Forces Day on was 23 June.
My thoughts exactly: UK army accused of dictating soldiers’ press statements
09/06/2018The Guardian
The Guardian
The army has been accused of manipulating teenage soldiers by spoonfeeding them identikit quotes to be used in local and regional newspaper articles extolling life in the military.