Recruiting duty... To be or not to be...
...that's the question I get asked, often. (I'm bringing it up now because of this remark by Some Soldier's Mom: "He considered a limited re-enlistment to do recruiting duty. I told him to go read “Jack Army” and “Confessions of a Military Recruiter” and see if he’d think differently about such an assignment.") So, here's the politically correct answer:
OK, now that I have that out of the way, let me tell you why I'm a little sour on the US Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), affectionately known as USAWRECK. I spent 8 years in the command working hard to enlist people into the Regular Army, then find volunteers for Special Forces and finally as a station commander, attempting to lead a team of detailed recruiters and a USAR recruiter to find qualified young men and women who would volunteer for service in the Army/Army Reserve. The first two assignments (detailed recruiter, SF recruiter/SF recruiting team station commander) were great. I felt like I was contributing to a team, I was helping young men and women achieve goals and enjoy the benefits. I believed in the recruiting mission, I defended the sometimes harsh treatment of leaders in USAREC and continued to Soldier on despite the occasional HUGE breaches of fairness and professionalism.
In fact, I maintained that belief and faith in the system despite being degraded and ridiculed by my own leadership. Not someone from some outside battalion or brigade... or even some faceless automaton at USAREC headquarters, but by my own battalion's command sergeant major and my brigade's command sergeant major. Yeah, that's right. Degraded and ridiculed. For failing to make mission (this means that my recruiting station did not enlist our mission - the number of enlistments assigned to my station for a given month), I was degraded and ridiculed instead of being trained, mentored, coached, lead to success. Yet I continued to believe. I continued to put in 60 - 70+ hours per week trying to find ways to get my detailed recruiters to achieve success, only to suffer a repeat of past degradations and ridicule. Sound like a professional organization to you?
The icing on the cake? Well, if you've been reading JACK ARMY for this past year, you've probably figured out that something drastic happened that caused USAREC to cut me loose from the fold. Not only was I cut loose, but I was degraded yet again in the form of a General Letter of Reprimand and a Relief for Cause NCOER. I've not mentioned it on this blog until now because it is degrading and embarrassing (and yes, I'll likely relate the details leading to my relief and GLOR). Mostly so because I believed so fervently that MY command (USAREC) wouldn't allow such things to happen if only they knew. I couldn't bring myself to think that senior non-commissioned officers could be anything less than professional. Over the course of the months from November 2004 to about the same time in 2005, I realized that I was a fool. Not only did senior NCO's lose their professionalism, so did many officers in USAREC at the time. And my faith in USAREC was proved to be foolish and misplaced.
So, do I recommend recruiting duty to young sergeants and staff sergeants in the US Army?
What do you think?
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed on this weblog belong solely to the author and do not represent official policy or statements by the US Army, US Department of Defense or any other US Government agency or individual.
PS: I wrestled hard with this post. First, and most obvious, announcing that the USAREC CG saw fit to give me a letter of reprimand and RFC NCOER is not something I ever wanted to share with the world. Needless to say, I'll be appealing both, but I have made a career of being the best Soldier I could be. Sure, I've made mistakes and even sometimes poor choices (like converting to 79R). I did not, however, do what I was accused of in the AR15-6 investigation which resulted in my administrative punishment. I feel that if I was guilty of what was accused, I should have been court-martialed. The fact that I was not court-martialed, nor even given an Article 15, is very telling in my opinion. What the investigation uncovered was very damaging to USAREC. You never heard about it in the media. It was successfully swept under the rug and the people most likely guilty received little or no punishment while some whose guilt could not be proved but were no longer wanted in USAREC were brushed aside. I feel the latter happened to me. Of course, I can be painted as disgruntled and angry therefore less believable. Eye of the beholder, I suppose.
The second reason I had to wrestle with this post is because of the implication that USAREC is less than professional. OK, not merely an implication, rather a bold statement. Not something I'm proud to have to say about an Army organization, but it's how I feel. JILL ARMY wanted me to point out that my experience is probably not typical of all who have spent time in USAREC. Of course, that's true. Some have great careers with their integrity, marriages and careers intact, however, I'm sure many can relate to my story. So, the part of my Army that finds young men and women to enlist is a "less than desirable" place to be, but we need USAREC to process new Soldiers... ugh. I don't want to have to say negative things about any part of the Army, but I'm not going to lie about my story.
I'm not disgruntled... really.
Mudville Gazette's Open Post
basil's blog picnic
It's a challenging job with many highs and lows. How your time in recruiting goes really depends on you and your attitude. Expect to work long hours.
OK, now that I have that out of the way, let me tell you why I'm a little sour on the US Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), affectionately known as USAWRECK. I spent 8 years in the command working hard to enlist people into the Regular Army, then find volunteers for Special Forces and finally as a station commander, attempting to lead a team of detailed recruiters and a USAR recruiter to find qualified young men and women who would volunteer for service in the Army/Army Reserve. The first two assignments (detailed recruiter, SF recruiter/SF recruiting team station commander) were great. I felt like I was contributing to a team, I was helping young men and women achieve goals and enjoy the benefits. I believed in the recruiting mission, I defended the sometimes harsh treatment of leaders in USAREC and continued to Soldier on despite the occasional HUGE breaches of fairness and professionalism.
In fact, I maintained that belief and faith in the system despite being degraded and ridiculed by my own leadership. Not someone from some outside battalion or brigade... or even some faceless automaton at USAREC headquarters, but by my own battalion's command sergeant major and my brigade's command sergeant major. Yeah, that's right. Degraded and ridiculed. For failing to make mission (this means that my recruiting station did not enlist our mission - the number of enlistments assigned to my station for a given month), I was degraded and ridiculed instead of being trained, mentored, coached, lead to success. Yet I continued to believe. I continued to put in 60 - 70+ hours per week trying to find ways to get my detailed recruiters to achieve success, only to suffer a repeat of past degradations and ridicule. Sound like a professional organization to you?
The icing on the cake? Well, if you've been reading JACK ARMY for this past year, you've probably figured out that something drastic happened that caused USAREC to cut me loose from the fold. Not only was I cut loose, but I was degraded yet again in the form of a General Letter of Reprimand and a Relief for Cause NCOER. I've not mentioned it on this blog until now because it is degrading and embarrassing (and yes, I'll likely relate the details leading to my relief and GLOR). Mostly so because I believed so fervently that MY command (USAREC) wouldn't allow such things to happen if only they knew. I couldn't bring myself to think that senior non-commissioned officers could be anything less than professional. Over the course of the months from November 2004 to about the same time in 2005, I realized that I was a fool. Not only did senior NCO's lose their professionalism, so did many officers in USAREC at the time. And my faith in USAREC was proved to be foolish and misplaced.
So, do I recommend recruiting duty to young sergeants and staff sergeants in the US Army?
What do you think?
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed on this weblog belong solely to the author and do not represent official policy or statements by the US Army, US Department of Defense or any other US Government agency or individual.
PS: I wrestled hard with this post. First, and most obvious, announcing that the USAREC CG saw fit to give me a letter of reprimand and RFC NCOER is not something I ever wanted to share with the world. Needless to say, I'll be appealing both, but I have made a career of being the best Soldier I could be. Sure, I've made mistakes and even sometimes poor choices (like converting to 79R). I did not, however, do what I was accused of in the AR15-6 investigation which resulted in my administrative punishment. I feel that if I was guilty of what was accused, I should have been court-martialed. The fact that I was not court-martialed, nor even given an Article 15, is very telling in my opinion. What the investigation uncovered was very damaging to USAREC. You never heard about it in the media. It was successfully swept under the rug and the people most likely guilty received little or no punishment while some whose guilt could not be proved but were no longer wanted in USAREC were brushed aside. I feel the latter happened to me. Of course, I can be painted as disgruntled and angry therefore less believable. Eye of the beholder, I suppose.
The second reason I had to wrestle with this post is because of the implication that USAREC is less than professional. OK, not merely an implication, rather a bold statement. Not something I'm proud to have to say about an Army organization, but it's how I feel. JILL ARMY wanted me to point out that my experience is probably not typical of all who have spent time in USAREC. Of course, that's true. Some have great careers with their integrity, marriages and careers intact, however, I'm sure many can relate to my story. So, the part of my Army that finds young men and women to enlist is a "less than desirable" place to be, but we need USAREC to process new Soldiers... ugh. I don't want to have to say negative things about any part of the Army, but I'm not going to lie about my story.
I'm not disgruntled... really.
Mudville Gazette's Open Post
basil's blog picnic
posted by JACK ARMY at 8:45 PM
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