Join the Army and See the World

 

Killing people not being popular, army recruitment drives have to be imaginative, and emphasise the positive.  At Chirk airfield in Wales an Army recruitment day was held recently, and was favourably covered in the local media, which headlined ‘Big guns out as army woos new recruits’ alongside a picture of two smiling soldiers and two young girls holding guns.  The paper uncritically explained the army’s aims: ‘a military exhibition that is aimed at showing young people the range of careers available to them in the modern Army’.  The children from schools from Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire have been enjoying paintballing, quad biking, climbing, and looking over some of the army’s vehicles and equipment.

However this seductive display did not go unchallenged.  Members of Wrexham Peace and Justice Forum (for origin, see the book review in this issue) staged a demonstration outside the exhibition, and, perhaps in contrition, the paper published an excellent article by the peace group, together with a leader and a photo of the demo, which pointed out the hidden agenda.