Famous soldier on TikTok met with a general about recruiting new soldiers early on in her career

A US Army Soldier has been called everything from a Chinese spy to a Psyop recruiting agent on social media, but there is only evidence that points to one of those.

Army Specialist Meiling Durzinsky has built up a massive following on TikTok with her videos about her life in the Army and some have questioned her authenticity.

Durzinsky has over 70k followers and states her views do not represent the DoD despite wearing her uniform in almost every video.

However, she does claim to be a brand ambassador for a skin-care company.

She enlisted as an Animal Care Specialist (68T) in January of 2020, shortly after marrying her husband in November 2019.

Her association with Army recruiting and social media began shortly after she joined the Army in 2020.

She joined at the height of COVID-19 when the Army had to learn how to recruit soldiers with social distancing and schools being closed down.

Joseph Bray the Civilian to the Secretary of the Army, or CASA, described how recruiters started conducting virtual screenings of potential recruits and using social media to generate contact leads at the time.

“The Army is having to learn how to recruit differently instead of just through recruiting centers and face to face contact,” Bray said.

Read More: Army to field permanent recruiters after making them warrant officers

Her husband, also in the Army, was serving at Fort Bragg as a 14H Air Defense Enhanced Early Warning Systems Operator at the time.

“Durzinsky’s husband encouraged her to pursue enlistment because he knew she had thought about it previously, though never took the leap to join,” the Army claims.

Six months into serving, Durzinsky was part of the “Army National Hiring Days Soldier Forum.”

The event preceded and was in preparation for the Army’s first nationwide virtual hiring campaign.

“As part of the three-day hiring event, Army leaders, operational l units, recruiters and community partners across America will focus on encouraging individuals to explore the Army’s career paths, ranging from traditional combat roles to support positions in logistics, healthcare and technology,” the Army stated.

The campaign was an effort to recruit 10,000 new Soldiers to serve in 150 different occupations.

“These new soldiers, many who joined the Army less than six months ago, are great message ambassadors and shining examples of how ordinary citizens can accomplish extraordinary things through service in the military,” Maj. Gen. Dennis LeMaster, Commander, U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence said during “Hiring Days” event.

You all play a very important role in Army National Hiring Days. Everyone who wears a uniform is a recruiter,” Maj. Gen. Dennis LeMaster said.

“You in uniform, in your hometown, is a powerful message. Do not underestimate it,” LeMaster concluded his message to the soldiers.

Maj. Gen. Dennis LeMaster, Commander, U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence answers a Soldier’s question during the MEDCoE Army National Hiring Days Soldier Forum on June 30, 2020 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. (Photo Credit: Jose Rodriguez)

During the event, which involved almost 600 soldiers, then-Private Durzinsky spoke about helping to recruit soldiers during an interview.

“I think it is very important to reach out to people, because if you don’t, you never know who wants to join and who is on the fence about it,” she responded in a well-spoken manner that contrasts her playful demeanor on her TikTok.

“I definitely think I will reach out to people back home; there is a nice $2,000 bonus if you get past all of the hoops there are to jump through when it comes to joining,” she added.

The Salty Soldier was not able to determine how many followers Durzinsky had on TikTok back then or if she even had an account.

As of now, her content is only visible back to 2022.

We were not able to determine if she was involved in recruiting because of her social media or assisted by the Army in growing her social presence.

It could just be a coincidence that she was publicly involved in a recruiting event in 2020 or the event sparked her interest in helping to recruit.

What is clear, everyone has their own opinion.

Some have suggested that she is a Chinese operative within the Army’s ranks but she contends she can’t even speak Mandarin nor does she have an accent.

Source: TikTok

She’s also faced racism within the military’s ranks and even exposed a Marine for it.

“Go fight for the PLA you look like them and you’d fit in better being useless and broken as f*** like all things Chinese,” the Marine wrote.

She posted his name and information online and contacted his command.

“The military is small, but the Marine Corps is smaller, we got you…” she said.

https://www.tiktok.com/@meiling.thing/video/7383383494401035563

From what we can tell, she seems to be like any other soldier going through the lower enlisted ranks.

Her content which leads up to her now being a Specialist doesn’t seem to distort the real view of what a soldier life’s is like for the benefit of Army recruiting.

She even points out that she’s already been divorced before 23, which many other soldiers agreed is a common and unfortunate “right of passage” during your time in service.

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