Move Over, Willie

At a time when many young Americans flee the country or go to jail rather than face induction, coaxing today's youth to volunteer for military service is almost like asking Army Chief of Staff General William Westmoreland to join the Weatherman. Yet such is the Army's faith in its new mod style that it has launched a 13-week, $10.6 million radio and television campaign --one of the most expensive ever conducted by a federal agency--to sell the idea of enlisting.

The Army's Uncle Sam no longer waves a bony finger from recruiting posters announcing 1 WANT YOU. Now youths of varied backgrounds, including cowboys and football players, appear with a new slogan: TODAY'S ARMY WANTS TO JOIN YOU. The prime-time TV spots show hay dropping over snowbound Oklahoma from Army helicopters to save starving cattle, and a salesman touting the "750-h.p., air-cooled, 12-cylinder" wonders of an Army tank, which a youthful customer promptly "buys" and drives proudly offscreen. In the ad Army, no one is asked to kill the implacable foe or save the world for democracy. A fellow could almost gain the impression that fighting can be fun.

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