New Army TV Ad Showcases Fort Bliss Soldiers

If you take a look at the U.S. Army’s new TV advertisements, you might catch some familiar faces and places. That’s because parts of those commercials were filmed in the borderland area.

But its not just the deserts and mountains that are attracting the Army’s film crew, its the soldiers themselves.

“El Paso offers a great variety, specifically for diversity, at Fort Bliss,” said Cory Castaneda, from Casanova Pendrill Advertising, who is working on the Army’s Hispanic recruiting initiative. “It represents a microcosm, if you will, of all the casting potential in the United States.”

Castaneda pointed out that only 5 percent of Army officers were Hispanic, an under-represented number compared to the national Hispanic population which is about 12 percent.

Castaneda said the same statistics apply for African Americans, but the Army hopes that can change through commercials that better reflect America’s demographics.

“We want the Army to reflect America, and often times there are groups underrepresented in our leadership ranks,” Maj. Miles Caggins said.

Real soldiers are already being cast for the next commercial at Fort Bliss, with roles already reserved for Hispanic and African American officers.

Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, Fort Bliss’ commander, said he was pleased with the decision to film more commercials on base, and praised all the troops involved.

“We’re very honored and proud of the fact that the Army has recognized that Fort Bliss is the place where we would want to shoot commercial, because the kind of soldiers we have here are the best soldiers in the Army,” Pittard said.