I Want You To Join The Army

By SALLY B. DONNELLY

Army sergeants usually inspire fear. Not Sergeant Star. He's soft-spoken, approachable and, well, kinda cute. Oh, and he's not human. Star is the U.S. Army's newest recruiter--a camo-wearing avatar at GoArmy.com who answers questions IM-style. He's straightforward: Ask "Will I go to Iraq?" and he'll say it's "likely." If he's stumped, Star will direct you to a live recruiter, who is waiting to chat.

Star's debut on Aug. 2 was the Army's first step toward the planned October unveiling of its new interactive Web portal. Thousands have chatted with Star, typically staying on-site for 15 minutes--three times as long as the average visit before he went live. Major Brad Van Poppel, who works on the Web-outreach program, credits Star's "cool factor" and says he's fulfilling his mission: "When 85% of teenagers are online every day, the Army wants to be there."