Military recruiters at Ozzfest

[Frumious B]

I wonder if Black Sabbath is including "War Pigs" in their set.

http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-recruit3.artjul24,0,3135864,print.story

Military Tactics

With Schools Closed, Recruiters Move To Wherever There Are Young People, Even A Heavy-Metal Festival

By WILLIAM WEIR | PHOTOS BY JOHN WOIKE
The Hartford Courant

July 24 2005

Commerce at the Ozzfest in Hartford is plentiful and brisk, and tends toward the countercultural. Items for sale include marijuana-flavored candy, clothing with spikes, and Cat-in-the-Hat-style hats with pictures of pot leaves.

The river of people that flows from booth to booth on a recent Sunday boasts a lot of fishnet and hairstyles that fully exploit the color spectrum. Fresh from a body-painting booth, a few women are topless, except for elaborately designed layers of air-brushed paint.

Peering over all this, like a very unlikely Lord of Misrule, is a 20-foot-tall inflatable drill sergeant. It's the signpost of the U.S. Marines tent, which has set up shop amid the T-shirt, tattoo and body-piercing booths. Some Marines wear camouflage, but instead of blending in, the uniforms have the opposite effect. A few hundred yards away, the U.S. Army has its own booth.

Certainly, the Ozzfest environs seem at odds with selling young people on the militaristic rigors of life in the service. That the touring heavy-metal music festival, now in its 10th year, was organized by Ozzy Osbourne - self-proclaimed "prince of darkness" and television's famously confused father - only adds to the incongruity. The all-day event features 20 bands.

Compounding the unlikeliness: According to Marine Staff Sgt. Larry Thomas, six or more tattoos disqualify applicants. Here, that would eliminate many.

But in military recruiting, you go where the young folks are. That usually means going to schools, but the summer gives recruiters room to try other tactics.

And the current numbers don't afford recruiters much down time. The U.S. Army, the biggest of all the military branches, has a goal of 80,000 new enlistees by the end of September. By the end of June, the Army was more than 6,000 short of the 54,935 enlistees it needed to stay on pace, and more than 2,000 short of its goal of 15,554 Army Reservists. (More at link)

[MrSlayer]

1. Yes they are doing "War Pigs" and I didn't see any when I went.

There was a decidedly anti-Bush fervor in the air at Ozzfest. There were no military recruiters at the one I attended, they would have been given an earful.

[tjdee]

2. In my experience, a good number of metalheads would be open to that.

All the metalheads I knew in high school were Republican-born and pretty much gung-ho America types who thought all Dems were commies/hippies/wusses.

[Windy]

12. Not anymore. My son loves heavy metal

and he and his friends frankly are quite intelligent and against the Bush Administration. some of his friends come from republican families. I don't think the recruiters would get a warm welcome.

[deutsey]

3. They better be careful...all those kids are Satanists

I just saw that geek from "Growing Pains" (Cameron Somethingorother)on Trinity Broadcasting Network use "Ozzfest" as a way to illustrate how all those gullible rock-n-roll fans are under Satanic influence.

Of course, I suppose that might actually be an asset in Bush's military.

:eyes:

[FreedomAngel82]

8. LOL!

I guess he's never even bothered to at least read the lyrics. Oh brother.

[Windy]

14. Well I think they should send the recruiters to those Christian

Rock festivals. There are a few touring right now. Alec Baldwins younger brother was on 360 tonight promoting one!

[DIKB]

4. The only place they'd be less wanted

would be at a Young Repukes gathering. Oh sure, they'd lie to them and play nice with them, but none would enlist. At Ozzfest, the young there would let them know what they thought, right before spitting on them.

[kysrsoze]

20. Aside from Lollapalooza, I've seen them at every big show

They're always there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Wait. 6 or more tattoos disqualify applicants to the military? To keep

our kids out all we have to do is tattoo them?

[scarletwoman]

9. Right on! Tatoo the kids! Good catch, GPV!

A whole new cultural phenomenon -- parents INSISTING on their children getting tatoos!

And think of the design possibilities! I LOVE it!

sw

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. We have to do this quietly, though... or else they will know we know and

change the rules. :P

[RaleighNCDUer]

18. Suddenly, this middle-aged ex-hippie

who never got a tattoo, even when I served in the Marines myself, withdraws all objections to the aesthetically unpleasing fad called 'body art'.

It it keeps the kids out of the death machine, do it.

[FreedomAngel82]

6. So let me ask

are they going to any Christian concerts this summer?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

7. metalheads tned to be a bit too cocky for their own good

the gop recrutiers will fit in well with this gathering of special ed students

[nookiemonster]

13. Metalhead here. That's a mighty big brush you have there.

n/t

[Windy]

16. YOu are very out of touch.

None of the "metalheads" that my son hangs around wound be classified as "special ed", quite the opposite. Just as "hippies" from the sixties certainly couldn't be classified as unintelligent.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

17. another metal head here

thanks for your broad brush.

[Imagevision]

11. gotta admit, they got balls!

[rocktivity]

15. They've been on the Warped Tour for years

as well as the ESPN X Games.

:headbang:
rocknation

[On the Road]

19. Do the Marines Recruit in Those Stupid Dress Uniforms?

If they're smart, they'll send recruiters who look like rambo and have some real war stories. That'll double their take right there.