While Army recruitment missed its goal nationally in 2022 by about a third of needed enlistments, Southern California recruiters came much closer to their mission – in part because of an upswing in interest among high school students, officials said.
“The biggest shift in the way we’ve been recruiting is that we understand that there is a huge knowledge gap of what the public thinks about Army service,” said Maj. Antoine Evans, executive officer of the Army’s Southern California Recruiting Battalion. “Most of the time, people think it’s bullets, tanks and bombs. We need to close that gap and let joining the Army become Plan A, not Plan B. We need educators to put us in the same conversation as Amazon or Google and let the student decide.”
Army recruiters have prioritized introducing prospective future soldiers to the more than 200 career options available in the service by putting on large job fairs. And some of the Army’s coolest bling – including drones, Humvees and helicopters typically only seen at events such as air shows – has even been brought in from bases in other states for events held in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego counties to help build interest.
The Army has made West Coast recruitment a priority, including directing more funding and personnel to the “surge.”
On Tuesday, about 1,000 high school students in Riverside County were bussed to the nearby March Air Reserve Base for one of the new job fairs, where soldiers explained their careers and their benefits, including the GI Bill, and the adventures and responsibilities that come with their duties. The fair continues on Wednesday.
While the students get up-close and personal with Army soldiers, so do local educators, which officials said is key in keeping the conversation of military service in the foreground as an option for graduating students.
Earlier this year, another 1,300 students from schools represented by the San Diego County of…
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