It was written by Daniel Chun and directed by Nancy Kruse, while Kiefer Sutherland makes his first of two guest appearances this season.

During a surprise assembly at Springfield Elementary, the recruiters show a short movie depicting the Army as a high-tech adventure.

According to the film, soldiers fly around in attack helicopters destroying evildoers by day and rocking out in front of thousands of screaming fans by night.

Homer, mistaking gunfire for Chinese New Year, accidentally exposes his unit's location by launching a flare gun in the air.

[3] The army video game shoots down Osama bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, Jason Voorhees and a "deadly hurricane".

Marge references an earlier episode with a similar plot, "Simpson Tide", in which Homer joins the U.S. Navy after being fired and causes an international incident.

[3] Homer mentions Stripes when heading for Moe's basement,[3] and imagines the greatest leader as Cap'n Crunch.

[4] The scene with Homer being chased by the mini helicopter parodies the style seen in many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.

The song that the U.S. Army plays on stage during the video shown at the school is a variant of "Communication Breakdown" by Led Zeppelin.

[4][5] Adam Finley of TV Squad praised that the episode was entirely random, and enjoyed the parody of Looney Tunes.

[4] Dan Iverson of IGN however, hated the episode, giving it 3.5 out of 10, calling it "painfully unfunny", and "the show's attempt to satirize the state of the U.S. military simply crossed the line of good taste".

[6] Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin criticized the episode, writing, "the mockery of Army recruiters and enlistees is absolutely disgusting.