Over a Year of Recruiting
Okay, this won't be as in-depth or as much of a pissing session as my last two posts, just a couple of observances. For those few who read/care about this topic, the other posts are here and here.
National Guard Recruiters (ARNG)
To an extent they are my competition. Shouldn't be due to the fact that they recruit for part-time and I recruit for full-time Soldiers, but at least one is trying to be. Point blank, he lies. We'll call him SFC Liar. As a Non-Commissioned Officer my integrity is held very dear to me. If I violate that I violate the values of the service I represent. Two of the most blatant lies this one ARNG "recruiter" chooses to tell are in reference to transitioning from the National Guard to active duty and education. Another indication of this guy's lack of integrity is the outright deception he has used to ensure some high school Seniors stick around for months on end to join the ARNG. A few accounts of this are below.
- I first encountered Johnny, Jack and Jill at school last year. All were Juniors at the time and all were members of the ARNG. Or so I thought. I eventually found out that Jack was only sixteen while Johnny and Jill were qualified but had yet to enlist. The reason? They had scored high enough on the ASVAB to join the Army but too low to join the ARNG at the time. Instead of being honest with them, SFC Liar would call them up or find them at school, tell them they would be able to join on such and such date, then call them a few days prior to that to tell them they had to wait another week or two. When I found this out I started talking to Jill about the Reserves and to Johnny about active. After all, Johnny's parents had already talked to me, telling me he needed to go active; and Johnny himself had grown frustrated and told me he wanted to check into other options. Long story short, the ARNG relaxed their standards and SFC Liar finally put these kids in after 9 months of deception. Johnny proudly told me he was in and that he'd be transferring to active duty after training. Which leads me to my next account...
- SFC Liar told Johnny he should "try out" the National Guard, then he could always "switch" to active duty if things didn't work out. A bunch of the kids I talk to are under this same impression. In fact, to leave the ARNG (or Reserves) for active duty one must secure a conditional release from their unit. Hard for a Reservist, but still possible since we work hand in hand with our part-time federal brothers and sisters. Nigh impossible in the Guard, from most of what I've heard. The National Guard is a state entity unless mobilized for federal service and few commanders are willing to release a fully qualified Guardsman and have to fill a slot. Recently I've learned that SFC Liar uses himself as an example of "switching". All permanent National Guard recruiters are full-time Active Guard Reserve Soldier, earning the same pay and benefits as their active counterparts. Almost all of them have years of service prior to becoming full-time recruiters, however, and PFC Buckwheat cannot just decide he wants to "switch to active". If you are an E-4 or lower, don't count on anything more than your drill pay. At E-5 or E-6 you may get lucky; by E-7 you have a bit more of a chance. Gotta love Google, it seems SFC Liar is nearing 20 years of service and did not become a full-time recruiter until a few years ago.
- Anyone with sense knows that this can't be true, but young Miranda was approached by SFC Jester after she scored well on the SASVAB and told that she needed to join the ARNG since she was considering military service. The reason? The Guard is the only branch that will cover 100% of college. Fortunately, Miranda is a Navy brat and not as gullible as SFC Liar believed. She is in the Army now and looking forward to having much better opportunities than she would have had in the Guard. A really big no-no, though was when Liar approached PFC Reservist who has yet to ship to training. He tried telling her she needed to be dropped from the Reserves and join the ARNG for the same reason he told Miranda. Besides being entirely unethical in trying to convince a young lady to DEP-loss (when a Future Soldier does not ship to training and must be dropped from the rolls) Liar also demonstrated his ignorance as to the research many young men and women do before they even talk to a Recruiter.
- I found out recently also that Private's mom (from my last post) was approached by SFC Liar a while back. I had talked with her and everything was straightened out, with her almost as excited about Private joining the Army as Private herself is. Anyway, I guess SFC Liar was looking forward to Private deciding not to carry through with the Army and was already looking forward to putting her in the Guard. When he saw Private's mom he lost all tact and told her rather heatedly that her daughter would be gone for years and she wouldn't see her. Private's mom merely answered that her daughter did not just have a part-time job to look forward to but a career.
Anyway, enough about that guy; it brings my blood pressure up just knowing there are recruiters like that out there. Unfortunately, though my experience is with him, I realize that every branch has similar unethical, dishonest and downright spiteful recruiters.
Future Sex Offenders/Teen Pregnancies
Okay, I'm stepping out of my lane, perhaps, but at one of my schools there are a few relationships that could lead to trouble down the line. High school Seniors and even grads having intimate relationships with Freshmen and Sophomores under 16. Just as an example, there is a 19 year old with a 14 year old and a 20 year old with her 15 year old sister. Now, granted, I'd love to find someone even ten years younger than myself, but they'd still be of drinking age. In high school I realize that these relationships are not uncommon, but I've tried talking to both of the aforementioned adults (they both claim to want to join the Army so I try to keep them straight) about possible consequences. Piss off the parents and you might find yourself a registered sex offender, with your whole life wasted over an immature piece of ass. PVT Younguns did just that, weeks away from shipping off to training he was arrested for a relationship he had a year prior, booked into jail and by the time he would have graduated basic training he was a convicted felon. A bunch of bullshit that could have been avoided had he used common sense and kept it in his pants.
Much to the disdain of many of you (I'm sure :)) I probably won't be posting too much more about recruiting activities. Barely a year and a half remaining then I go back to mainstream Army where high school kids, parents, recruiters and so on are behind me. I don't know, though, I may feel a need to vent again in the future. Until then, thanks for putting up with it. Time for a beer and a fire. :D
