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Guard: Referral program helps boost enlistments

After a slow start to recruiting at the beginning of this fiscal year, Air National Guard officials say accessions are trending up and it’s partly because of a revamped referral program.

This fiscal year, the Air National Guard rolled out an updated recruiting referral program and it appears to be working.

The program offers both active and retired guardsmen incentives for getting potential recruits to enlist, something a previous program didn’t. Guardsmen can now earn rewards from a custom backpack with CamelBak water bottle and iPod nano to a home theater system when a potential recruit says yes to the Guard. They also can earn even greater incentives for recruiting people for critical career fields such as health professionals, battlefield airmen, weather, civil engineering and chaplain.

So far, 3,000 guardsmen have signed up to participate in the program through its website, said Col. Mark Sheehan, director for Air National Guard manpower, personnel and services.

“The concept behind this program is that it involves every guardsman — retired and still serving — giving them the opportunity to be rewarded for helping with our national recruiting efforts,” Sheehan said.

A previous program, known as the Guard Recruiter Assistance Program, or GRAP, provided a cash incentive for those who recruited new members, Sheehan said, but it wasn’t open to retirees. That program was open only to traditional guardsmen.

“We think a retiree is a great advocate for the Air National Guard because they stayed in for a full career, all the way to retirement,” he said. “They’re going to have a good story to tell for the reason they stayed in. So when they talk to younger folks at air shows or at events, even with their grandkids and neighbors, they’re advocating very strongly for the Air National Guard.”

The program maximizes the more than 500 recruiters and retainers who the Air National Guard employs and helps spread the word about opportunities in the Guard, Sheehan said.

The word appears to be spreading since the beginning of fiscal 2012, when Air National Guard recruiting numbers were noticeably down.

The Air National Guard fell 24 percent short of its recruiting goals in October, making it one of only two components in all branches of the service to miss the mark at that time, according to the Pentagon. Officials attributed the missed mark to changes in the Guard’s recruiting process.

But things are looking up. The Air National Guard met and exceeded its goals in November and December, gaining 684 and 712 people, respectively

‘Back on track’

“We’re back on track at the national level,” Sheehan said. “For the first quarter of fiscal 2012 … we had a goal of 1,959, with a recruited total of 1,832 for 94 percent, so you can see that we are definitely trending from that initial report back in October.”

Some of that success can be attributed to the referral program, Sheehan said. In a couple of months, it has produced 119 people, 24 of whom enlisted in critical career fields.

Master Sgt. Robert Sweeney, recruiting office supervisor at the Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Wing, said the program has generated a lot of buzz that has helped with recruiting. He believes it’s helped the wing land two new enlistments, he said.

The Maryland Air National Guard is constantly on the lookout for mechanically inclined recruits interested in working on the wing’s C-27J Spartans and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, Sweeney said.

He said he’s seen an increase in the number of recent high school grads with no prior military experience looking to the Air National Guard for opportunity in a tough economy.

“I just think they’re starting to realize that they need to get on the path — some type of direction — instead of just the part-time job at a restaurant,” he said. “A lot of folks are going to school and, of course, one of the big benefits with the Air National Guard is college tuition.”

The New York National Guard also picked up two people, and Master Sgt. Brad Addison, recruiting office supervisor for the 174th Fighter Wing, said he also credits the program with bringing people in the door.

The program and the two new people were highlighted in the wing commander’s call, and Addison said more airmen have asked about how to participate. Because of its intelligence, weather and communications missions, the New York Air National Guard’s recruiters are always on the hunt for technologically savvy recruits and endurance athletes such as lacrosse and rugby players, he said.

Sheehan said in general the Air National Guard casts a wide net when recruiting, with an eye toward people between 17 and 40 years old.

“This referral rewards program has so far been a success,” he said. “But we know that it’s persistent advocacy, and we are trying to get the right people, in the right place, with the right skills and that is every day.”