On Jan. 14, 1960, Elvis Presley was promoted to sergeant in the U.S. Army. It was the culmination of a year and a half stint in the military. Presley was drafted on March 24, 1958. Originally, he had been assured by his manager Colonel Tom Parker that he would be able to avoid the draft. In reality, Parker felt being drafted would be good for Elvis’ career in the long run. The King was not popular with many Americans – the squares. Not only did Parker not pull strings to keep his client performing, he also convinced him not to accept the Army’s offer of being assigned to Special Services. Elvis could have spent his time performing for the troops, but Parker did not like the idea of Uncle Sam making money off Elvis. He explained to Elvis that the public would admire him for being a regular soldier. Parents, religious groups, and teachers had been gleeful when he was drafted, so he did not want to feed that. Elvis agreed and the press was told what a regular joe he was. He went to boot camp and joined a tank unit. He earned pistol sharpshooter badge. He ended up spending his military career in West Germany where he lived in a hotel (later a house) with family. He met his future wife Priscilla. She was 14 at the time but they became inseparable when he was not on duty. He got turned on to amphetamines and karate. Parker was right about the boost to his career. He had ten Top 40 hits while in Germany. And his popularity went up with older people. Win, win. The only bad aspects were teenyboppers were deprived of hip swiveling for a while and he came back with a girlfriend.
https://history.army.mil/faq/elvis.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Elvis_Presley
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