Operation Just Cause... ...for as long as it takes
By Jim Garamone Defense Secretary William S. Cohen listened as DoD recruiters told him what life is like as they try toattract qualified people to the military.
The 17 recruiters sat with Cohen, Undersecretary of Defensefor Personnel and Readiness Rudy de Leon and the servicesecretaries during a roundtable discussion in the Pentagon July 1. Later, Cohen recognized each of the 17 asoutstanding recruiters for fiscal 1998.
The recruiters answered questions posed by de Leon. The themes included their advice to fellow recruiters and thekey concerns of prospective recruits. To the latter, allagreed, for example, the GI Bill and the College Fund areimportant tools for attracting recruits.
Virtually all agreed that stressing "intangibles" is alsoimportant. Perhaps ironically, though, patriotism isn'tamong them, according to some.
A Marine recruiter said he doesn't "sell" the Marine Corps but talks about such intangibles as the self-discipline, personal challenges and sense of accomplishment his service offers. "I can give them a million dollars to go tocollege, but if they don't have the self-discipline to getup at 7 a.m. to do it, then it doesn't mean a thing," theMarine said.
One recruiter told the secretary that no one enters hisoffice out of patriotism. "They are there for the collegemoney, pure and simple," he said.
The recruiters told the secretary they put in 100 to 110hours during an "average" workweek. They said they put inlong hours because they're competing with private industryfor quality recruits. "It's tough getting someone to enlistwhen [they think] all you can offer them is college moneyand the chance to deploy to hot spots around the world,"one recruiter said.
All present stressed the need for all recruiters to behonest with potential recruits. "I always tell myrecruiters that if they have to lie to get someone into theservice, then they've done a disservice to the recruit,themselves and the service," a recruiter said. Every other recruiter in the room nodded assent.
Recruiters also told Cohen that recruiter professionalismalso plays a large role in getting prospective recruits tocommit. "In many places, you are the only connection theserecruits have to the military," a recruiter said. "You haveto look and act professional. These [recruits] hear fromtheir counterparts that they are crazy if they enlist inthe military. You, as the recruiter, have to be someonethey can emulate."
Recruiters said a perceived "benefits drop" is workingagainst them, especially in areas with many militaryretirees. Veterans and retirees perceive eroding benefitsand counsel young people not to join, said one recruiter,who thanked Cohen for his efforts in scrapping the Reduxretirement system. Repeal, he said, could ease recruitingproblems by showing the sincere intent to deal squarelywith military benefits.
The 1986 Redux system pays retirees 40 percent of basic payafter 20 years of service. Cohen's change, part of thefiscal 2000 Defense Authorization Bill before Congress,would return retirement to 50 percent after 20 years.
During the roundtable, Cohen thanked the recruiters fortheir candid views and told them it is DoD's policy to putits best people into recruiting.
"You are the best symbol we have in the communities forgetting people to join the military," he said. "We have thebest military in the world, and we need to continue to havethe best military. Without you, we can't do that."
Sent in by Veterans News and Information Services
American Forces Press Service
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