Posted on Apr 3, 2016
This Psychedelic 1970s Airborne Recruitment Video Is Vintage Gold
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If Hunter S. Thompson had made a video about jump school, this would be it.
It’s no surprise that the same decade that gave us disco, bell bottoms, the Watergate scandal, and Fat Albert also gave us what is, hands down, the strangest U.S Army recruitment video ever.
Behold! Fear and loathing in airborne school.
While it’s not totally clear what’s going on here, it appears as if the Army was attempting to target the wayward youth of the 1970s by making a video that appealed to their appetite for psychedelics and pan flute.
Related: The 1970s Marine Corps Commercial That Will Actually Make You Want To Re-Enlist »
“You’ll do it ’til you get it right,” the narrator commands at one point like a stern father talking to his good-for-nothing son. “Then you’ll do it again.” Jump school makes men out of hippies seems to be the prevailing message.
The video also features the one and only ever airborne-themed pop song, in which a man backed by a gospel choir continuously chants, “Airborne’s rough so you gotta be tough!” How that song never won a Grammy is beyond us.
To fully appreciate this mind-bending masterpiece, it must be watched from start to finish, so be patient. Just when you think it can’t get any better, or weirder, it does. Prepare to be motivated:
It’s no surprise that the same decade that gave us disco, bell bottoms, the Watergate scandal, and Fat Albert also gave us what is, hands down, the strangest U.S Army recruitment video ever.
Behold! Fear and loathing in airborne school.
While it’s not totally clear what’s going on here, it appears as if the Army was attempting to target the wayward youth of the 1970s by making a video that appealed to their appetite for psychedelics and pan flute.
Related: The 1970s Marine Corps Commercial That Will Actually Make You Want To Re-Enlist »
“You’ll do it ’til you get it right,” the narrator commands at one point like a stern father talking to his good-for-nothing son. “Then you’ll do it again.” Jump school makes men out of hippies seems to be the prevailing message.
The video also features the one and only ever airborne-themed pop song, in which a man backed by a gospel choir continuously chants, “Airborne’s rough so you gotta be tough!” How that song never won a Grammy is beyond us.
To fully appreciate this mind-bending masterpiece, it must be watched from start to finish, so be patient. Just when you think it can’t get any better, or weirder, it does. Prepare to be motivated:
This Psychedelic 1970s Airborne Recruitment Video Is Vintage Gold
Posted from taskandpurpose.comPosted in these groups: 
Airborne School
Recruit
Airborne School Recruit
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 5
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Wasn't all that bad and seemed to accurately depict what a person went through. It was directed toward the times and didn't exaggerate as far as I could see. For some reason I do not recall much emphasis placed on calisthenics or running except for a short while in the mornings when I was told it was to shake out those with small fractures.
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That definitely reminded me of my experience in Airborne school. I got my wings in 78. My father was still active duty and jumped with me on my 5th qualifying jump.
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Thanks of sharing SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Psychedelic 1970s Airborne Recruitment Video. I concur the master of Gonzo journalism, Hunter S Thompson, would have been thrilled to have been involved with this video.
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