There is uncertainty, naturally, but nonetheless the importance of today should not be underestimated. It marks the practical genesis of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the gradual fading into history of the RUC.
Young Catholics and Protestants, as well as those who fall into neither category, are being urged through television and newspapers to become part of a force truly representative of the population of Northern Ireland.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland does not officially come into being until September, but for nationalists and in particular unionists what they are seeing on their television screens and reading has the ring of finality about it.
In Belfast, London and Dublin the British and Irish governments, Sinn Fein and the SDLP strive for a formula that will win nationalist political endorsement for the new force. In the meantime, says Sir Ronnie Flanagan, let the recruitment begin.
Gerry Adams says nationalists should ignore the advertisements, which will be seen all over Ireland and in Britain. It's too early for the campaign, argues the SDLP. I need new officers, retorts the RUC Chief Constable.
Through 50-50 Protestant-Catholic recruitment, the ambition is to establish a force which, instead of being 92 per cent Protestant like the RUC, will gradually mirror the makeup of society.
Much of the focus is on whether Sinn Fein can be persuaded to test the new reform package, and on whether the SDLP would act independently of republicans if Sinn Fein cannot, or refuses to, come on board.
The advertisements will have a strong impact on the unionist community. Witnessing the sophisticated campaign calling young people to sign up to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and not the RUC will reinforce the message that what starts today is irrevocable.
The Police Act states that "the body of constables known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary shall continue in being as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (incorporating the Royal Ulster Constabulary)".
The RUC reference in parenthesis may provide some minor relief for unionists and will prompt some of them to describe until their death beds the new force as the RUC. But, as the Act also states, the force shall be styled for operational purposes the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
During the Troubles 302 officers were killed and more than 10,000 seriously injured. Anyone who has attended a murdered officer's funeral, or spoken to an RUC widow or mother, will have some minor understanding that for the broad RUC family - some of which, it must be remembered, is Catholic - what is starting today cuts deep and sore.
For nationalists generally, and for politicians such as Seamus Mallon especially, who has driven the campaign for a new broadly acceptable police force, today should mark a crowning achievement, a day when a new all-embracing policing reality comes into effect.
But it's never that simple in Northern Ireland. With policing still unresolved, will sufficient numbers of Catholics feel comfortable enough to apply to the new force? Is there a danger that Protestants, disaffected by the whole debate, would choose to ignore this campaign? These questions can't be properly answered until there is some form of closure on the current political negotiations.
There is still time for a political agreement which would create the conditions where young people of any religion and none would feel secure applying to the new force. Ultimately, how the politicians settle their differences, more than slick advertising campaigns, will determine the future of the police service.