See the World, Meet Interesting People, Have Sex with Them: Tourism, Sex, and Recruitment in the U.S. Military 

“Join the military, meet interesting people, and kill them,” is a tried and true phrase of protest against the military. What this phrase also implies is that, in the military, one gets a chance to travel and “to meet interesting people;” presumably people in exotic, far off lands. The ability to travel the world is a hallmark of military service. You may or may not have to kill someone, but you will have the opportunity to travel. Military recruiters often use the promise of travel and adventure to entice enlistment and the promise of travel drives many people to join. Those who might not have otherwise had a chance to travel or have the types of international adventures afforded many middle class Americans may find this opportunity through military enlistment. “See the world! Go to exotic places!” recruiters gleefully exclaim when potential recruits come through the door. With a slight wink and a glint in their eye that says it all, the recruiter seems to speak the unspoken promise: a world of adventure—sexual and otherwise—awaits you. Just sign on the dotted line…

This article is an initial exploration and a particular “reading between the lines” about how the U.S. military often implies sexual adventures in its recruitment strategies. My contention is that the promise of sex is always there, even if recruiters and recruiting programs cannot “officially” advertise it. Given the rash of sex scandals that have plagued the U.S. military in the last decade, they are particularly loath to highlight the use of sex as a recruiting tool. As a socio-cultural anthropologist who has researched gender, militarization, and the state with East German army officers, I have become increasingly intrigued by the tactics used by the U.S. military to encourage enlistment. Having spent five years (1984-1989) in the U.S. Army, my first-hand experience with recruiters, recruiting techniques, and life in the military has provoked many questions about sex and recruitment.

What are the many factors that potential recruits weigh as they decide whether or not to join the military? And what do sex, sexuality, and the promise of travel to exotic destinations have to do with this process? How exactly does the U.S. military employ notions of “tourism” and adventure in recruitment literature and programs, and how is this related to sex?

“Tours” of Duty: Sex, Death, Class and Tourism

Strangely enough, when people join the military, many do not think about killing and wounding, or being killed or wounded. Many, if not most people join the military to improve their chances in life, to gain access to opportunities (job training, education, college money) to which they might not otherwise have had access. These are all tangible goals that fit in with the drives and pressures of U.S. society and the U.S. economy. Those joining the military come, overwhelmingly, from lower class backgrounds. They come from situations where often the only way they can gain any kind of advantage is to sign up for a certain number of years, or “life,” if they wish to make the military a career. In order to have access to the privileges that people from higher class backgrounds often take for granted, potential recruits must weigh a number of factors—many of them economic—when making their decision to join, or not.

Recruiters have a difficult job: they must convince people that the military has a lot to offer. In many cases, it does, especially to those who have few other options. Military life is often sold as an exciting adventure with little risk involved, and recruiters rarely speak of the inherent dangers of military service. If they did, their job of convincing potential recruits would be that much more difficult. Few people want to be directly confronted with the reality that they must put their lives on the line in order to gain access to the life chances that for others come “naturally.” This is something the military knows. Instead, it plays up the perks of military service.

Given the presence of the U.S. military around the world, potential recruits are well aware of the potential for travel and living abroad. Depending on the branch of the military, recruits can expect to travel to many countries during their first enlistment. The promise of travel is often used as a “hook” to convince an unsure recruit of the benefits of military service. Terms of enlistment are often referred to as “tours of duty.” The use of the word “tour” implies exactly that; military duty is an opportunity to “tour” other countries. “Tour” also implies that one’s presence in a foreign country will be benign, just like that of any other tourist. Stationed overseas, military personnel will be able to travel and partake of local cultures and “curiosities” just like a tourist. That is the official sales pitch—the official promise.

One unstated and unofficial promise of this form of “tourism” is that of sexual adventure and sexual tourism. The allure of tourism and the sexual potential inherent in touristic endeavors is often used to make military service and military deployments seem humane and benevolent—a chance for people from different cultures to come together in an equal manner. Recruiters frequently invoke notions of encounters with “exotic” others as one of the hallmarks and benefits of military service. These official and unofficial promises of adventure and sexual tourism are used to mask the inherent risks and dangers of military service—making military life appear to be an opportunity to see the world, a promise that may be especially attractive to those who might never have had such a chance.

Travel is often a privilege taken for granted by middle and upper middle-class people. Traveling outside the United States has come to be an expected and almost “necessary” element of the “well rounded” individual. However, those who cannot afford to travel are nevertheless bombarded with images of travel, adventure, fun, and “exotic” sex, in TV commercials, reality TV shows, newspapers, and books. The exotic allure is a staple of media images. For those who cannot afford to take a “senior year abroad” or a French class trip to Paris in the eleventh grade, the promise of travel becomes a kind of golden ring. Travel speaks of adventure—in terms of seeing new things, doing new things, and experiencing new things. But travel also promises, if implicitly, the opportunity to meet new people. The experience of travel is not only an adventure of seeing new places, but suggests sexual adventure as well; the possibility of a carefree and exciting sexual life—if only for a little while. It shouldn’t be only rich college kids that are able to explore the world, but for many people in lower socio-economic classes in the U.S., the only chance to travel is through military service. Military recruiters are, of course, well aware of this, and they take full advantage of both these desires and inequalities.

Looking for a Few “Good” Men and Women: Web sites, Recruiting and Sexual Adventure

Recruiters often paint a picture of military life as a sort of Club Med experience. They highlight military hotels for service members in Hawaii and the possibility of being stationed in Japan, Italy, Spain, or sailing the oceans and stopping in “exotic ports of call.” Popular films often stress this aspect of military life, often through comedy and sarcasm. In the movie Private Benjamin, for example, Goldie Hawn is shown a picture of a resort and told that this is what her barracks will look like.

The director of Stripes, a comedy about life in the U.S. Army, said, “I’m very popular with the U.S. Army because my movies featuring the Army have been good for them. Army recruiting shot up after Stripes. People thought they were going to Europe to meet attractive women and have wonderful sex” (as quoted in an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer by Ruben V. Nepales, June 13, 2001).

In addition to these popular media representations, both the U.S. Army’s and U.S. Navy’s official Web sites show pictures of wonderful resorts and beaches around the world. The U.S. Navy’s Web site shows a picture of a Brazilian beach, and speaks of the excitement of Mardi Gras, and the U.S. Army’s site shows a resort in Hawaii. Both emphasize “seeing the world,” and “experiencing the exciting nightlife” in these locales. Official military recruiting Web sites make the following claims:

Soldiers on leave can take advantage of affordable vacation opportunities all over the world—even in Hawaii (GoArmy.com).

Where else can you get paid to train with the best, travel around the world, make life-long friends, and get an education? (armedforcescareers.com).

Travel is clearly offered here, but what is the “unofficial” promise? Officially, military service promises advancement, training, education, and the chance for adventure and travel. But this promise is left open—to be filled by the fantasies and desires of recruits. Beautiful beaches, resorts, and an exciting nightlife all allude to unofficial titillations of sex, sexual adventure, and sex tourism.

The Navy’s Web site literally offers potential recruits the world:

A sunset in Spain. The neon glow of Hong Kong. The legendary beaches of Australia. Joining the Navy is one of the best ways to see the world. For many people, travel helps to broaden their worldview and experience different cultures. For others, it's a way to have fun. Navy ships visit ports around the world, and while you have a job to do when on deployment, sailors are given time for exploration and sightseeing while ashore (navyjobs.com).

“A sunset in Spain” sets the romantic mood, the chance to stroll along the beach with someone you’ve met. “The legendary beaches of Australia” promise not only the chance to swim, but the chance to see bodies in the sun. And while ashore, sailors are given time for “exploration:” this is left an open category, the chance to explore one’s surroundings, but also to explore sexually. While not explicitly stated, this recruiting advertisement is seemingly awash in the promise of sexual adventure. Once again, the world is yours to experience, with claims like the following:

Experience the world with the Navy…Navy bases are located in the U.S. and abroad, in exciting locations around the world. You might serve your country while living in another nation—places like Spain, Italy, Bahrain or Japan. Many sailors say the best part about being in the Navy is the opportunity to travel. For low cost or no cost, this is your chance to see the world. How else could you visit Hawaii and Australia, both in the same year? (navyjobs.com).

Images of exploring foreign lands, and potentially foreign sexual exploits, appear in many Web sites used to entice military recruits. But the promise of potential romance among military personnel also figures in recruiting strategies.

The Web site, armedforcescareers.com seems innocent enough. It contains information on all branches of the military—detailing jobs, work environment, promotions, etc. It is basically an on-line recruiting warehouse. What is striking about the Web site is that in the top right corner of the site, there are pictures of attractive young women and a young man, with promotional blurbs such as “Bruce K.: I want to know more about the armed services;” “Gina D.: This is Great!…How do I get more info?” and “Karen H.: Will you please send me FREE literature…Today!” These pictures are more like dating service pictures, more akin to photographs seen on “Salon Singles” or “match.com,” than would be expected from a military information and recruiting site. The women’s hair blows in the breeze, shirts are slightly open, eyes stare up at an alluring angle. Once again, the promise is there — join the military, travel, and meet others. Sex is either right there in front of you, among other military personnel, or waiting for you overseas. While the military has historically catered to the tastes and desires of heterosexual men, these sorts of singles.com recruitment strategies may be targeted to the wishes and desires of women, given the increasing number of women in the military.

The current Navy recruiting slogan, “Accelerate your Life,” and the Army’s slogan, “Army of One,” both focus attention on the individual and individual experience. These advertising strategies emphasize the ego and the individual rather than focusing on alternative themes of teamwork or a larger “military family.” Rather than affirming relationships, this strategy focuses solely on the individual. “Accelerate your life” through adventure, travel, and the opportunity to have access to sexual adventures in foreign lands. In the end, it’s all about you.

Overall, recruiting strategies attempt to emphasize pleasure over pain—whether in the form of exotic travel or erotic trysts. Recruits are presumed to simply “know” that the military will be difficult, regimented, and dangerous, so there is no need to draw attention to these facts. Rather, recruiters attempt to sell the pleasures of military life, including—if not overtly stated—sexual pleasure. Join the Army and become a man! After all, one widely acknowledged rite of passage of masculinity is losing one’s virginity. What better place to do that than in the military? On a deployment, away from the constraints of home, one simply picks a woman, pays, and voila! A man is born. Or at least that is the promise.

Class, Status and the Military in the United States

The anthropologist Roger Lancaster once defined “class” as an appreciation of one’s life chances and life choices vis-à-vis those above and below you (see Thanks to God and the Revolution: Popular Religion and Class Consciousness in the New Nicaragua, Columbia University Press, 1988). Most people enter the military after taking stock of their “life chances and life choices.” Contrary to many popular conceptions, military members are not mindless automatons—they are individuals who chose the military as a viable option to get ahead in life. Many do receive training and experience which affords them opportunities they might otherwise not have had. By the same token, military personnel are also not automatons with only sex on their minds. Those entering the military do not likely do so solely for sex or the possibility of sexual tourism. However, sex clearly does play an instrumental role in military recruiting, playing upon the multiple desires and aspirations of young people considering entering the service.

The military implies sexual adventure and tourism in order to make itself attractive for consumption. To pitch its wares, recruiters must stress positive, fun, and exciting opportunities. Adventure, travel, and potential sexual escapades are much more seductive than are the other known aspects of military service: conformity, hierarchy, discipline, hardship, wounding, killing, or being wounded or killed. To reiterate an adage well known in commercial advertising, sex sells. Given that the entry-level pay in the U.S. military is $1,042.80 per month (after basic training), it is readily apparent that the economic incentives of a military career are not nearly as provocative as that of other possibilities, with sex being one of these. Were it not for the promises of adventure, travel, and sex, the military would likely have a difficult time meeting its quotas.

The covert promise of sex for the soldier and the sailor has, in many ways, become somewhat of a cliché, a kind of hallmark of military service. Travel, adventure, sex: these are the attractive aspects of military service that potential recruits are encouraged to believe will be a part of their experiences. Officially, the military promises travel and adventure. Unofficially, and between the lines, the promise of sex and sexual tourism serves as the subtext to official promises. Sex is there from the beginning.

* Andrew Bickford, PhD, is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, specializing in research on the military, gender, sexuality, and the state in post-unification Germany and the United States. “The Militarization of Masculinity in the Former German Democratic Republic,” recently appeared as a chapter in Military Masculinities: Identity and the State (Praeger 2003), edited by Paul Higate.