Slogans

The current issue of Proceedings has an article (1) about the Navy’s slogan, “A Global Force For Good”.  The author states that the slogan represents “… an embrace of soft power as a strategy.”  He notes with puzzlement that the slogan has never been accepted by sailors and veterans and then goes on to describe a detailed program of indoctrination (propaganda?) intended to force sailors to embrace the slogan and concept.

One has to be awfully dense not to grasp the reason why the slogan has not caught on.  It sounds more like a Peace Corps slogan than a warfighting organization’s slogan.

I really do believe that the author made one brilliant observation about the slogan when he recognized it as an official embrace of soft power.  This CNO, in particular, seems totally focused on soft power and, at most, low end “peacetime” threats.  The slogan kind of sums up what’s wrong with the Navy today.

I’m now going to leave the serious aspects of this behind.  Frankly, the slogan is self-evidently idiotic and warrants no further time.  Instead, ComNavOps wishes to examine the lighter side of military slogans.

If the “Global Force For Good” slogan isn’t catching on, here’s some alternatives.

“Nice People In Ships”

“Meals From The Sea”

“Sailors For Social Change”

“The World’s Babysitters”

“International Helpers”

The Navy isn’t alone in its sloganeering problems.  If “An Army Of One” ever has to fight “An Army Of Two” we’ll be badly outnumbered!

I understand that the Marines are going to changer their longtime slogan from “The Few, The Proud, The Marines” to “The Few, The Proud, The Exactly Equal Men And Women”.

Here’s a late breaking development.  I’ve just received this communiqué from my intelligence sources in China.  Apparently, the Chinese Navy has adopted the slogan,

“A Global Force For Bad”

Makes sense, I guess.  We can’t both be good.

(1) United States Naval Institute Proceedings, “We Really Are A Global Force For Good”, LCdr. Matthew Krull, USN, Jan 2014