Guard recruits go Active First; recruiting, retention numbers soar

ARLINGTON, Va. " An Army recruiting program that joins active and Guard recruiting efforts was hailed at the Pentagon Jan. 10 by the Secretary of the Army and director of the Army National Guard as a success. Army Secretary Pete Geren said the National Guard's "Active First" program deserves credit in meeting the Army's accelerated goal of 74,000 additional Soldiers by 2010. "The Guard has been innovative and entrepreneurial in developing different approaches to recruiting, and this partnership is bearing great fruit to our total Army," Geren said. The Active First program includes a commitment to serve initially in the active duty Army followed by a commitment to serve in the Guard. At its base, recruits enlist into their local Army Guard units where they attend monthly drills until their basic and other initial training is complete. Then, the new Soldiers phase into 30, 36 or 48 months of active duty service with the option to continue an active duty career or return to their Guard units and pursue life as Citizen-Soldiers. Bonuses of up to $60,000 can be obtained through completing the program. The Guard has been tasked with enlisting 1,600 recruits through Active First. Recruiters started toward that goal by enlisting more than 80 in October and doubled that achievement the next month. In December, which Army Guard Director Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn called an annual "tough month" for recruiters, 240 recruits signed Active First enlistments. To date, more than 500 recruits enlisted through it. Active First recruits joined Geren and Vaughn, along with several Guard recruiters, during the Pentagon press conference. Spc. Jonathan Wight from Lavonia, Ga., was among them. After checking out a couple of different programs, Wight decided that Active First was his best option. "It’s the best of both worlds,” said Wight. Wight will work for 36 months in military police. He follows the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who both served in the military, but he said he had always wanted to serve in the Army. He initially got involved with the Guard through the “Youth Challenge Program," an Army Guard outreach program that assists challenged youths in earning high school diplomas. "I got my GED there, and followed that with college education, too," said Wight. "I was really set forward." Vaughn said Wight, and those with him, exemplified the best of the Active First program. "They are the people behind the numbers," said Vaughn. "They have compelling stories, each of them, of why they enlisted." Army Guard recruiting officials said a multitude of recruiting tools and programs builds end-strength numbers. "Active First as well as our '3 Doors Down' theater movie, Guard Recruiting Assistance Program, state leaders and the great support from our communities are all key to our recent success," said Lt. Col. Diana Craun, deputy division chief for Army Guard recruiting and retention. The Active First announcement coincided with the release of the December recruiting and retention statistics for the Army Guard, which exceeded its congressional end strength. The Army Guard grew by more than 1,900 soldiers in the first quarter of the fiscal year--a record. It also reported its December end strength at 354,675, which surpassed a congressional end strength goal of 350,000. It also exceeded its recruiting goal by recruiting 4,985 Solders or 119.9 percent of its goal and exceeded its retention goal by retaining 7,206 Soldiers or 122 percent of its goal. "The amazing work of our Soldiers working as recruiting assistants along with our recruiting and retention noncommissioned officers has done what has never been done in the history of the Army National Guard," Craun said. Vaughn said he was confident that the Guard's success would continue through 2008. "I'm going on record right now that all I have to do is get out of bed and have a cup of coffee and we are going over [end] strength this year," said Vaughn. "That's the kind of machine that’s running right now, and it has to do with a lot of pride in the force." By Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith National Guard Bureau