What Type of Person Succeeds in U.S. Army Recruiting

Like many early or mid career NCO's you're considering putting in your recruiting packet. You may be considering this for several reasons; career progression or just to be closer to home, or maybe you're just tired of deploying. Bad thing is, all the horror stories you hear about recruiting from your Platoon Sergeant, or the Squad leader from 2^nd Squad. Well, they're right, but only partly so.

Before I tell you whether or not to take the plunge, I'll tell you a little about myself. I'll keep it as brief as possible. I'm currently a Sergeant First Class with 10 years Time in Service (TIS). I volunteered for Recruiting in mid 2001 as a Sergeant/ E-5. I recruited in central Los Angeles from late 2001 to 2004. Because I volunteered instead of waiting to get "snatched" up, I was able to get an assignment close to my hometown. I wasn't a superstar out in recruiting, but I did well.

If you're reading this, you're hoping to get a quick answer to whether you should do it or not. Unfortunately, just like anything, Sergeant, it's a little more complicated than telling you whether to do it or not. One thing that I can tell you, is that if I would have volunteered knowing what I know now, I still would've. The key consideration you have to make in your decision is, "what type of person are you?" And don't assume that to be successful in US Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), you have to be a "talker". The things you actually say out on the streets are only a small part in your success. Only a strong NCO can make recruiting a positive experience. If you're the type to sit back and watch others make things happen, you'll just be wasting your time in USAREC. Now if you are a driven individual with an extremely positive attitude, the USAREC experience will teach you things that will not only help you professionally, but personally as well.

Like I said before, what you say isn't as important as you think, the most important quality you possess or don't possess, is your will to succeed. Not every recruiting market is the same, so certain skills work well in some places, and don't work well in others. The one constant will be your will, or lack there of. If you are competitive and unwilling to fail at ANYTHING, you will do very well. And doing very well in USAREC has many benefits.

To sum it up, recruiting is a tough tour, it will test you like no other assignment in the Army. The stress and hours rival those experienced on a deployment, difference is that deployments don't last 3 consecutive years. However, if you are the type to always find the positive of any experience and have tremendous initiative, recruiting can be very rewarding.