How soon could I get picked up for drill sergeant or recruiting?

If you want Drill more I would remove the recruiter preference. I’m on recruiting now and people are getting extended past 3 years. There are rumblings of certain PCS’d detail recruiters (the ones who return to their original MOS) getting sent TDY for 90 days back in their old stations as a temporary solution. If they are doing that and you call about drill but they see recruiting preference in EDAS, well, you catch my drift.

Don’t wait for/let the army manage your career. You have to be proactive about assignments if you want them. Want DS duty? Bug DS branch. Ranger? Airborne? Go for it. Don’t wait for big army.

I was a Drill Sergeant in the Reserve component for from February 2008 until September 2015. I was an E5 Drill Sergeant, but in reserve an NCO can volunteer for Drill Sergeant duty. I don't really know how it works on active duty other than that it's DA select. I personally having worked with both Active and Reserve Drill Sergeant's, think this is flawed thinking on the part of the Army. It would make far more since for the Active Army to allow qualified NCO's to volunteer for this duty. Being a Drill Sergeant is both challenging and rewarding at the same time. But If you want to be there it's makes the job so much easier

You could be upfor promotion for Drill SGT because the Army is replacing the PLT SGT's in AIT with Drill SGT's and they will have to select and train for the positions.

Branch can select you 6 months into an assignment, otherwise you must wait 18 months to volunteer. You won't just get selected, your preference is just your preference, you need to actually call your branch manager and ask them if they can DA select you, which is what I did and will be put on orders to the trail in August or September.

As a promotable, recruiting wont be an issue, the trail is opposite as they are only given so many slots for the SGT program so I wouldn't rely on that, make points. Pre-reqs you can find online through google and as for the why you haven't been put on orders; preference is just that, preference. I called branch and asked them to DA select me.

Keep in mind that with DA select, per my branch manager, I'm less likely to get the follow-up assignment of choice option since it's DA select and not volunteer so I'm debating on holding off till I hit 18 months.

Keep in mind that recruiting, though I haven't done it, is hard. I've called several offices around the States at BNs I would want and got good feedback on it. USAREC pushed out to get more numbers and the last I heard was that they are going back to individual quotas, not by office. (if a recruiter is here and I heard wrong, please correct me).

In summary: ignore your assignment preferences on ASK because it is hardly looked at. To get what you want, you need to actually call branch and talk to them directly.

This is all branch dependent. Each branch has different # of slots they are expected to fill for those Drill Sergeant/ Recruiter billets. You need to talk to your Branch Manager specifically to find out what is you next best option. It is your career, you can either have input, or your branch will just send you where the Army needs you without your input. Speak to them and they will let you know what you need to do to meet your career goals. They may even mention something you haven't thought about previously. Good Luck and call your Branch ASAP.

Complete and submit a 4187 and hope for the best after obtaining recommendations from your leaders

Call branch fill out a drill packet on the Academy page.

I was an E5 when I submitted my packet for recruiting back in 2014 and I got promoted 6 months prior to my report date to SSG. It took about a week to get a response. Once your name is being tracked, they will send you a list of what you have to do. Call your branch and let them know what your reasons for wanting to be a recruiter. There was a page in my packet where I had to write my reasons and the CSM had to bless off on it.