Recruiting Duty and Other Burning Questions

Those of you who have been hanging around the blog for a while know that my husband has been on recruiting duty for the past seven years.

For those of you that are new to the blog, yes I said seven years. I’ve learned more about recruiting than I ever learned about regular duty in the Army. Every time someone finds out that my husband is a recruiter, they have a ton of questions or statements that need clarifying, so I thought this would be the perfect place to address them.

Here the most burning questions and common comments I hear:

1. How hard can recruiting duty really be?

I get this question all the time. It’s usually the first question people ask me.

“How hard can it be?” they say. “You sign people up for the military.”

“Your husband has the easiest job ever.”

I’m sorry, excuse me while I finish my coughing fit. First, there are no easy jobs in any branch of the military. Secondly, have you tried to help a recent high school graduate make up their mind lately or watched a twenty-something try to chose between family, his desire to wear the uniform, and his girlfriend?

It’s a mess, and it’s stressful.

2. What special incentives does your service member get when he gets someone to enlist?

Is this really something people believe? If a recruiter puts one person in or twenty, they get nothing special. There is no extra money for each one that is put in. Recruiters used to receive special duty pay for their length of time on duty, but sadly, that has diminished with the most recent budget cutbacks. So, no matter what you hear, recruiters don’t get extra pay for each person they put in the military.

3. That’s a nice 9-5 job!

I’m embarrassed to admit that I thought this when we were first assigned to a station. I thought the “regular” hours would be great at being able to plan things as a family ahead of time. Those regular hours are from 8 a.m. to about 8 p.m, give or take a few hours either way. There is so much paperwork involved and working around other people’s schedules that recruiters are lucky to get home at night before the kids are in bed. Which leads to the next statement that gets on my nerves.

4. But at least he gets to come home every night, right? 

That is often followed up with “plenty of military families have their loved ones overseas right now.”

Please don’t forget that my husband, and countless others on recruiting duty, have served their tours overseas as well. We are well aware of the months away at a time and how that feels. Yes, my service member comes home most nights (when he doesn’t have training  or a school that he has to go TDY for), but we hardly ever get dinner together as a family, and there’s usually a cell phone ringing with some important information about some test a recruit took or something that needs to be done for tomorrow. A recruiter’s job is never truly done. There’s also those phone calls really early in the morning from a nervous recruit that is just minutes away from shipping off to basic training.

5. What’s the hardest thing about being the spouse of a recruiter?

Honestly, after seven years, the hardest thing is not having a military installation close by when you are on recruiting duty. Your service member can be stationed literally anywhere when it comes to recruiting stations. Sometimes they are near installations, but most of the time, they aren’t. I miss being next door to other military spouses who understand what it’s like to be married to someone in uniform.

6. What’s your best piece of advice for the spouses of new recruiters?

Listen to your service member when they talk about their day. It will help you understand the recruiting world much better and give you a little sympathy when they come walking in at midnight. Oh, and never, ever, plan anything more than a week in advance.

7. Why would anyone choose to be a recruiter if it’s so stressful?

That’s a very good question. You see, some service members volunteer for recruiting duty because they just want to try something new and challenging. Some soldiers are volun-told they will go on recruiting duty and have no choice but to take the duty. For the record, I haven’t met anyone in the past seven years that volunteered to be there.

8. Why do recruiter’s lie to get people to sign the papers?

Yes, there are recruiter’s who fudge to the new recruits just to get them to sign up for their three years. No, I don’t think this is a good idea, and yes, I know why they do it. Every recruiter must get a certain number of people to join the military each month, and if they don’t meet that number, they have essentially failed their mission. There are some people who can’t handle failure, so they aren’t 100% truthful when getting people to sign up for the military. This is no secret, as there have been several undercover operations done that show dishonest recruiters. However, there are twice as many recruiters that are out there putting in the work, being honest, and winning people over by telling them the truth about what they are signing up for. Not all recruiters are bad people—people just remember all the bad recruiters. And rest assured that once a recruiter is caught lying, they are punished. Lying is not something that is encouraged while on recruiting duty.

9. Recruiters and their families still live a military life.

This one isn’t a question or comment that I get, but it’s something I feel strongly about.Remember that every service member in the recruiting station is living the same life as you, just with no military base nearby. Organize office functions that get the spouses and kids together. When you feel like your family is the only one going through recruiting duty and the crazy schedule that goes with it, it helps to know that there are others going through it too. Those families are what will keep you sane when everyone else has no idea what recruiting duty is all about!

10. Why should I be happy that my service member has been chosen for recruiting duty?

Remember what serving your country means. It’s an honor to be allowed into the military and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Anyone considering military service should do their research before walking into a recruiting station and know what direction they want to go. Remember, while your service member is serving our country now, that won’t always be the case. Don’t you want someone competent and capable of protecting this country and your family when your service member can no longer do it? Encourage your loved one while they are searching for those people during their recruiting duty time. Your spouse is choosing the next generation of service members, the ones that will train and fight for your family, when the time comes for your service member’s retirement.

Any recruiting spouses out there? What’s a question that you get asked all the time? Is your spouse getting ready for recruiting duty? If so, feel free to ask any questions I didn’t address above and I’ll do my best to answer them.