Recruiting down because fewer parents served in the military, Marine Corps communications director says

Fewer parents have served in the U.S. Armed Services, meaning their children are less likely to enlist and thus recruitment is below recruitment goals, according to the first civilian charged with promoting the Marine Corps' message to the public.

April Langwell, addressing National Press Club American Legion Post 20 on Wednesday, said that only one in 10 families with children eligible to enlist have parents who are veterans themselves. That's far less than in prevoius generations, and helps explain why the Navy is 6,000 people short and the Army and Air Force are 10,000 under their recruitment goals. Only the Marine Corps and Space Force are meeting the goals, she said.

Langwell, whose father and husband are veterans and whose son is in the military,  said the services "have to build trust and confidence among parents" to interest their sons and daughters in enlisting in the all-volunteer military. She said the services face a "difficult environment" with declining trust in all institutions and only about a third of young Americans saying they are "very proud" of their country.

"We try to keep war fighting the main thing" in promoting the Marine Corps, Langwell said, noting that the service has exceeded its retention goals stressing mentoring programs to advance its members. She said no organization she has worked for invests as much as the Corps in advancing their careers. She has held public affairs positions at the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Navy.

The services also face an increasing partisan divide and messages that have much of the public thinking veterans leave the service physically or emotionally damaged rather than enriched by the experience.  "We have to talk up the benefits of service," she said. 

Langwell said she wanted to enlist but lost an academy appointment because of a minor dental issue.  As director of the Corps' communication directorate, she is the service's lead communication strategist, responsible for planning and implementing communication, visual information, and public outreach activities to build and maintain public trust. She holds a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and  graduated from the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College.

Also at the meeting, the Post honored retired Club executive director Bill McCarren, whose father was an Army veteran who landed in Normandy shortly after the D-Day invasion, for his help. Post Commander Thomas Young presented McCarren with a plaque commemorating his efforts in front of military service flags donated to the Club by Post members.