I Thank The Troops
Recruiters Can Smile
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Recruiters Can SmileIn 1974, I had the pleasure of being selected as an Air Force Recruiter. Little did I know that this endeavor would require enormous skill and stamina. The school at Lackland was/is one of the finest sales schools in the world. The selection process was extensive and the school had a fifty percent failure rate. It almost seemed at the time to be overdone. I quickly found out it wasn’t. We were the innovator’s who would be among the first to recruit volunteer(s) for our respective services. Although the Air Force was volunteer to some degree it had never competed with the other services for what many of us called bones. I started out in Livonia, Michigan and was in a building were each branch of the service had an office. Having been to Vietnam I really didn’t realize the extent to which it had become a negative factor. I was yelled at several times at high schools and got into a few difficult situations but roughed it out. The pressure was tremendous, It was not easy to get someone to join the military in 1974. Every branch of service was struggling. The two Marine Recruiters (two really great guys) went AWOL after 6 months of 18 hour 6 day weeks. The Navy was working unbelievable hours, The Army guys were there all the time. I became one of leading Air Force Recruiters. I got promoted and the Colonel came to see me to ask me to go to the worst Recruiting Detachment in the 5 state area. I went into Des Plaines, Ill and became a Sector Supervisor with 7 offices. I am a tough guy who can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. I was able to attain a certain amount of success and eventually got the area reconfigured. Several of us proved that the All Volunteer Force could work. The pressure was tremendous. Watching the troops, kicking tail in Iraq brings back some of these memories. As one of them, I can assure you the Recruiters I worked with -all remember the hard work and achievements and each one of us has a certain satisfaction as we smile. |
