thedrifter
06-13-09, 08:02 AM
'You have to want it:' Recruiting Marines in a tough economy
Originally published June 12, 2009
By Megan Gustafson
"MAYBE YOU CAN BE ONE OF US." The phrase is written in red atop a white board that belongs to Gunnery Sgt. Kelvin Paulk, the staff noncommissioned officer at a Marine Corps recruiting office in Frederick.
Situated in a strip mall not far off U.S. 40 on Willowdale Drive, the office was bustling on a recent Wednesday evening. Recruits and recruiters had gathered to work out -- or do PT as they call it, their acronym for physical training.
A question hung in the air: Since last fall's financial meltdown, and amid reports that the economy is still off-loading jobs, are young job seekers turning to the military as a way to avoid the unemployment office?
Paulk and Marine Sgt. Athanasios Genos don't think so. Not for the Marines at least.
A sluggish economy doesn't bring more young men and women walking through their recruiting office door, they said. What motivates prospective Marines is a list of intangibles, or a deep-seated desire to prove themselves capable, to live up to tough Marine standards.
To the young men and women who walk through their doors, therefore, Paulk and Genos seem more like skeptical gatekeepers than military service salesmen.
Tough standards, high numbers
Gen. James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, in 2007 tasked the Marines to increase their numbers within five years. Conway assigned 300 to 400 additional Marines to recruiting duty, said Genos, marketing and public affairs chief for the Frederick recruiting station.
Meanwhile, the Corps also increased standards for prospective recruits. They are less willing to accept GEDs in place of high school diplomas, for example, and less willing to overlook serious criminal records, Genos said.
Even so, Conway's goal was met three and a half years early. The Marine Corps is now pulling back on growing its numbers, Genos said. A May 2009 Department of Defense press release reported that the Marine Corps met 164 percent of its active duty recruiting goal for April 2009.
If a recruit were to walk into the local office today and sign up on the spot, assuming he or she is completely qualified, that would-be Marine would have to wait until December to even enter bootcamp, Genos said.
Recruiting efforts are focused on replacing Marines who are leaving the service, Genos said.
"Right now, we have the pick of the litter," he said.
Not an easy option
When Genos was considering joining the military six years ago, he visited all the other branches of the armed forces before talking to a Marine Corps representative. The other services offered him various financial incentives, including money for school, he said.
The Marines gave Genos a pencil and a lanyard. When he asked what he'd get if he joined up with them, Genos said the recruiter answered, "You'll get to be a Marine."
Paulk, who is one of nine brothers, three of whom serve in the Navy, has been a Marine for 16 years. He joined right out of high school, he said, and was thinking about going to college when Marine recruiters approached him and espoused values like those his parents raised him with.
"That's the biggest thing," Paulk said of the impact those values had on his decision. "The economy is not driving people into the Marines' office."
The economy might be an underlying factor for some considering the military, Paulk said, but recessions don't lead people down the hardest path they can take, i.e. the Marines.
"We don't paint a pretty picture," he said.
"To walk through that door, you have to want it."
Eager recruits
Chad Smith, 19 and a 2008 graduate of Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, is set to begin Marine Corps recruit training next month.
Inspired by family members who served in the Army and Navy, but wanting to "do something different," Smith said he went straight to the Marine recruiters last fall, bypassing the other services.
He moved to Montana briefly in October 2008, and was so eager to join up that he called his recruiter every month.
"School was never for me," Smith said, though he took placement tests at Frederick Community College.
His parents are supportive, though they and his friends also worry for him, he said. Smith's friends, most of whom have entered college, are already feeling stress about the economy.
Having just finished their first year, he said they worry about job prospects and student loan debt.
As for himself, Smith said, "I'm in a good place, regardless of the economy."
At 17, Josh Long is too young to enlist. So his parents -- his father is a Maryland State Trooper and served in the Air Force -- had to give written permission. About to begin his senior year at Heritage Academy in Hagerstown this fall, Long won't be heading to boot camp for another year.
Through the past four years, Long said the Marines have "stepped out" to him. He was impressed by what he heard from some Marines who attend his church. He liked that they are, as he was told, "the first ones in, and the last ones out," he said.
His parents are supportive, and so are his friends, even if some of them are scared for him as well.
"It's one of those, 'we don't want you to go, but we understand why you're going,'" Long said.
Like Smith, Long is not worried about how the economy will affect him and said it didn't influence his decision to join the Marines.
A scapegoat?
Paulk said the bad economy might be a scapegoat for those who always wanted to join the Marines but couldn't convince their parents, for example, that it was the best choice to make.
He described a 28-year-old recruit who's headed to boot camp soon. The recruit has a bachelor's degree but always wanted to be a Marine. A bad economy can justify a decision like that, Paulk said.
Both Paulk and Genos say that, deep-down, it's never really about the economy.
It's "the pride of belonging," Genos said.
Ellie
Originally published June 12, 2009
By Megan Gustafson
"MAYBE YOU CAN BE ONE OF US." The phrase is written in red atop a white board that belongs to Gunnery Sgt. Kelvin Paulk, the staff noncommissioned officer at a Marine Corps recruiting office in Frederick.
Situated in a strip mall not far off U.S. 40 on Willowdale Drive, the office was bustling on a recent Wednesday evening. Recruits and recruiters had gathered to work out -- or do PT as they call it, their acronym for physical training.
A question hung in the air: Since last fall's financial meltdown, and amid reports that the economy is still off-loading jobs, are young job seekers turning to the military as a way to avoid the unemployment office?
Paulk and Marine Sgt. Athanasios Genos don't think so. Not for the Marines at least.
A sluggish economy doesn't bring more young men and women walking through their recruiting office door, they said. What motivates prospective Marines is a list of intangibles, or a deep-seated desire to prove themselves capable, to live up to tough Marine standards.
To the young men and women who walk through their doors, therefore, Paulk and Genos seem more like skeptical gatekeepers than military service salesmen.
Tough standards, high numbers
Gen. James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, in 2007 tasked the Marines to increase their numbers within five years. Conway assigned 300 to 400 additional Marines to recruiting duty, said Genos, marketing and public affairs chief for the Frederick recruiting station.
Meanwhile, the Corps also increased standards for prospective recruits. They are less willing to accept GEDs in place of high school diplomas, for example, and less willing to overlook serious criminal records, Genos said.
Even so, Conway's goal was met three and a half years early. The Marine Corps is now pulling back on growing its numbers, Genos said. A May 2009 Department of Defense press release reported that the Marine Corps met 164 percent of its active duty recruiting goal for April 2009.
If a recruit were to walk into the local office today and sign up on the spot, assuming he or she is completely qualified, that would-be Marine would have to wait until December to even enter bootcamp, Genos said.
Recruiting efforts are focused on replacing Marines who are leaving the service, Genos said.
"Right now, we have the pick of the litter," he said.
Not an easy option
When Genos was considering joining the military six years ago, he visited all the other branches of the armed forces before talking to a Marine Corps representative. The other services offered him various financial incentives, including money for school, he said.
The Marines gave Genos a pencil and a lanyard. When he asked what he'd get if he joined up with them, Genos said the recruiter answered, "You'll get to be a Marine."
Paulk, who is one of nine brothers, three of whom serve in the Navy, has been a Marine for 16 years. He joined right out of high school, he said, and was thinking about going to college when Marine recruiters approached him and espoused values like those his parents raised him with.
"That's the biggest thing," Paulk said of the impact those values had on his decision. "The economy is not driving people into the Marines' office."
The economy might be an underlying factor for some considering the military, Paulk said, but recessions don't lead people down the hardest path they can take, i.e. the Marines.
"We don't paint a pretty picture," he said.
"To walk through that door, you have to want it."
Eager recruits
Chad Smith, 19 and a 2008 graduate of Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, is set to begin Marine Corps recruit training next month.
Inspired by family members who served in the Army and Navy, but wanting to "do something different," Smith said he went straight to the Marine recruiters last fall, bypassing the other services.
He moved to Montana briefly in October 2008, and was so eager to join up that he called his recruiter every month.
"School was never for me," Smith said, though he took placement tests at Frederick Community College.
His parents are supportive, though they and his friends also worry for him, he said. Smith's friends, most of whom have entered college, are already feeling stress about the economy.
Having just finished their first year, he said they worry about job prospects and student loan debt.
As for himself, Smith said, "I'm in a good place, regardless of the economy."
At 17, Josh Long is too young to enlist. So his parents -- his father is a Maryland State Trooper and served in the Air Force -- had to give written permission. About to begin his senior year at Heritage Academy in Hagerstown this fall, Long won't be heading to boot camp for another year.
Through the past four years, Long said the Marines have "stepped out" to him. He was impressed by what he heard from some Marines who attend his church. He liked that they are, as he was told, "the first ones in, and the last ones out," he said.
His parents are supportive, and so are his friends, even if some of them are scared for him as well.
"It's one of those, 'we don't want you to go, but we understand why you're going,'" Long said.
Like Smith, Long is not worried about how the economy will affect him and said it didn't influence his decision to join the Marines.
A scapegoat?
Paulk said the bad economy might be a scapegoat for those who always wanted to join the Marines but couldn't convince their parents, for example, that it was the best choice to make.
He described a 28-year-old recruit who's headed to boot camp soon. The recruit has a bachelor's degree but always wanted to be a Marine. A bad economy can justify a decision like that, Paulk said.
Both Paulk and Genos say that, deep-down, it's never really about the economy.
It's "the pride of belonging," Genos said.
Ellie