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News | Feb. 1, 2019

Army launches music video to connect with today’s youth

USAREC PAO

 As part of the Army’s refresh of the accessions enterprise, U.S. Army Recruiting Command is trying something new to help make Soldiers more relatable to today’s youth – music.

Today, the command officially launched a Soldier-produced hip-hop music video called “Giving All I Got” on various social media platforms.

To create the video, three recruiters teamed up with a camera crew from the U.S. Army Reserve’s 335th Signal Command out of Atlanta and headed to Fort Benning to showcase Soldiers who serve in a variety of different occupations.

Sgt. 1st Class Arlondo Sutton, Atlanta Recruiting Battalion, and Sgt. 1st Class Jason Locke, Houston Recruiting Battalion, wrote “Giving All I Got” in November during a social media workshop at Fort Knox. Staff Sgt. Justin Morelli, New England Recruiting Battalion, and several other Army-trained visual information specialists produced the video to bring the song to life.

“We are looking for creative ways to reach today’s youth,” said Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, USAREC command general. “Command Sgt. Maj. (Tabitha) Gavia and I are empowering our recruiters to try new things and see if it resonates. We truly have some incredibly talented Soldiers in our command!”

Muth and Gavia saw the potential power of music as a communication tool after Sutton produced two music videos on his own and generated more than 5 million views online. The leaders combined the talents of recruiters from three different battalions to create a Soldier-produced video that could be used by the entire command.

The song sends a positive message about how the Army can change lives and highlights some of the benefits of service.

“Music connects with everyone in some shape or form,” said Sutton, who launched the video live on HNL with Robin Meade. “I believe if the Army has music being produced by its own Soldiers, more people will be inspired and have a connection to enlist.”

Sutton, who is a station commander in Lawrenceville, Georgia, said his first two videos were part of the inspiration for about 20 local recruits. He said he had several hundred other people reach out from across the nation, so he is confident this new command-supported video launch will have positive results.

Locke, who also has been using music as a tool in communicating as Staff Sergeant America on Instagram.

“I believe music is a universal language and can speak to people in a different way than just speech alone,” Locke said. “With music, I capture the essence of who I am as a Soldier and as a person. I like to show everyone that you can, in fact, maintain your individuality and be a Soldier.”