Done With Recruiting!

I won't even bother making this post anonymous; you all know the others were mine anyway, and I doubt the Army browses CD looking for disgruntled Soldiers to persecute...

Anyway, I signed out yesterday. In short order I'll be moving a few states away to resume my role as an Infantryman. I wanted to take the time to make some closing comments about USAREC on a site where few--if any--of you really know or even care about the military. Not a knock against you all, of course, as I find this site a great place to vent. Anyway:

USAREC (United States Army Recruiting Command) as a command has evolved leaps and bounds since I arrived over three years ago. Three years ago, I was a "zero roller" with less than a month on "numbers", reported in at 0800, got off between 1900 and 2000 (7-8pm), worked Saturdays, and had training Friday evening or Saturday morning. I left as a "Future Soldier Leader" who hadn't written a contract since May, came in at 0900, left at 1700 (1500 on Fridays), and I haven't worked on a Saturday in months. The hours are better and the leadership is getting there, with a top-down command philosophy that strongly discourages toxic leadership.

Two-and-a-half years ago the pressure built up to a boiling point. I found myself drinking on the way to work (albeit not while actually working) and grabbing a six pack for the way home. A large reason for that was the duplicity of trainers and leaders in USAREC. With few exceptions all 79Rs (converted Recruiters who are usually assigned as Station Commanders (SC) and trainers) consider themselves the best bar none. Never took a "DEP-loss", never "rolled a zero"...in other words they were successful and you simply are not. Naturally, the techniques they used are what you need to use to succeed. In consecutive weeks I had trainers from both battalion and brigade ride with me. The latter told me that posting businesses is the way to go; the former told me a week later that it was a waste of time. Unlike most of the rest of the Army, there is no adhered-to standard for accomplishing the mission. I tried the way I was trained in the Recruiter Course for well over a year and found the "right" way can be a career saver, if not an ideal means to be a successful Recruiter.

Anyway, back to the 79Rs. Recruiting experiences differ depending on the market in which you are located. Down south we have strong community support but there are also a high number of unqualified people (mostly due to criminal history, educational status, or being unable to score well on the ASVAB). A Station Commander coming from a walk-in market may very well fail to understand how a Recruiter can fail to put in even one contract a month, especially since that SC wrote 2-3 contracts average a month for three or more years. The difference? Walk-in markets require only good processors, while tougher markets require good Recruiters. Had I been assigned to certain parts of Texas I would doubtlessly have generated three or four times the contracts I wrote. I'm glad I wasn't, though, as I do not base my success off of something as trivial as putting people in the Army. 79Rs all too often were not the "best" detailed Recruiters, though as I stated above they often portray themselves to be. Most of the best I knew went back to theirs jobs. They were consummate professionals who did their duty in USAREC but who never even considered converting from their original MOS (Military Occupational Skill). Most 79Rs converted for one of a few reasons: they truly love recruiting (a minority); they love the environment, living away from the Army and being in a somewhat powerful position; for family or personal reasons, knowing that deployment will never be an issue again; or for promotion potential, which to me is entirely the wrong reason to convert. I've heard a few 79Rs use "I made E-7 in my job" as an insult to those who converted as Staff Sergeants (E-6) or lower. The implied insult is that most 79Rs converted for the almost automatic promotion to Sergeant First Class. Hierarchy=E-7 converts, E-6 and lower converts, successful detailed Recruiters, less-than successful detailed Recruiters. A minority of 79Rs were involuntarily converted as well, due to medical issues or simply luck of the draw.

I view my tour as a success. I enlisted less than twenty people in three years; fewer than most Recruiters enlist in one year. Still, my leadership would be hard-pressed to convince me that I was unsuccessful. Each person I put in wanted to be a Soldier. In fact, despite thousands of phone calls and hundreds of other attempts as prospecting, I never enlisted anyone that did not contact me first. Some got out for medical or disciplinary reasons (you can't take a kid off the streets without some of the streets remaining in him), two (that I know of) just returned from combat tours, and all of them know me as a straight shooter when it comes to the army. No smoke and mirrors, no lies, no bait and switching. Very few of the people I talked to would say anything bad about me, unlike most other Recruiters.

I'll miss the networking, scaring high school students (most find me intimidating), and engaging the community with my battle buddy (with whom I'm surprised I didn't get in trouble). I won't miss the month to month nature of recruiting ("great job this month, but tomorrow your on the bottom again"), the lack of military discipline (commanding officer lecturing us about "standards and discipline" with his hands in his pockets; beret never being worn outside by some, who subsequently wore the patrol cap indoors after it was authorized); and just a lack of integrity and bearing in general (mostly during my first year out here). Recruiting is not a bad assignment, but it wasn't an assignment that fit me at all.

I left with my rank and my integrity; not a small feat for some Soldiers.