LatinaLista — NEWSFLASH — There are Latinos in the military!
Ok, so that’s not such a newsflash but what may be news is that certain branches of the military are going above-board in creating special marketing campaigns trying to entice young Latinos and Latinas to either join the military or apply at the military academies.
The latest campaign is being sponsored by the Naval Academy and involves a seven-part graphic novel series that will be handed out to high school students for free staring this month.
The first in the series is focused on educating young people about the opportunities that exist in the navy and is titled “Bravo Zulu,” “a naval signal meaning “Well Done” and is used frequently in speeches and writing pertaining to the U.S. Navy.”
The whole series is part of the Naval Academy‘s “Fulfill Your Destiny” campaign.
Bravo Zulu follows the fantastical and historical adventure of 5 midshipmen as they interact with Navy heroes from the past and future. The series also explores the depth and breadth of the career opportunities of those serving our country.
Though the graphic novel series is targeted to young Latinas and Latinos, it just so happened to be a Latina who also created the series. Deborah Franco is in charge of the whole “Fulfill your Destiny” campaign which involves a three-year commitment from Franco in modernizing the message that the Navy needs young sailors of color.
So far, the Navy credits the campaign with increasing Latino/a applications since it has been underway.
In another example of just how the ranks of Latino/a enlisted are swelling was the recent “Concert for the Troops” sponsored by the bilingual cable network mun2.
The concert was for Latino and non-Latino enlisted soldiers, along with their significant others and featured some well-known music artists. (Though from the clip, we don’t think too many of the white attendees really got the music)
At any rate, the bottom line is that Latinas and Latinos are making huge contributions to the safety of this country, and from the looks of it, will continue to do so.
