What are some of those things that your recruiter or officer-selection-officer got right?

I held my OCS Board with a group of NG LTCs and COLs that were stationed with me in Bosnia (I am intentionally omitting dates and the state involved). They had just rotated in and didn't know me personally, which I thought was fair.

When I went to Germany to raise my right hand, my recruiter's supervisor SFC Blue (great guy), took me aside and let me know about the many racist comments that the officers had made in their "recommendations" for OCS. They said things like, "very articulate for a black person; a real credit to her race;" "being black, I would have expected a faster run time, but she is coming from the civilian world so that probably accounts for it;" "would be of great use to AFRICOM;" and my personal favorite: "remarkably likable, untrue of much of her kind." And this is just a sample of what I remember. He asked if I wanted to try to reconvene a board in Germany and get rid of these board comments. I declined. He offered to see if he could have them stricken from my record. I declined again. I told him I needed to keep them because when I pick up O6, I will have my OCS board comments read aloud. He clapped me on the back and told me he knew I was going to make it.

My recruiters told me to know the entire upper Chain of Command, all ranks and rates for all branches, all General orders, and the Sailor's Creed before going to boot camp. It helped me out TREMENDOUSLY

My recruiter did right by me. Told me the Army wasn't for everyone and that it was up to me to take advantage of an opportunity of a life time!! I think I got it right! Love this job!!

Enlisting me!

My dad was a retired Air Force during the Vietnam War. His take was obey and respect those over me. Set a good example be proud of the uniform. So I guess I had more than one recruiter.

My recruiter was really open and honest with me about what Marine Corps boot camp was like. He would train with me and my older brother to get us in shape and taught us drill and ceremony. Even though it was tough he taught me not to quit. In my company alone we had several quit and one commit suicide, I don’t know if I could have made it through that experience without my recruiter.

That my first enlistment was for 3 years. ;oP

Not one damn thing.

Sir,

My recruiter was, for lack of a better term, horrible. I took myself to and from the airport. I made sure I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there. I was lied to about the types of things I would be doing and he calmed my fear of the war by stating that with my MOS I would never be deployed. He also did not give me any guidance or advice about what I was about to face.

Honestly though, this was the best thing he could have ever done for me. I am currently serving as a detailed recruiter and I go out of my way to make sure that I am nothing like my recruiter was. I am honest with my prospects and applicants. While they are in my delayed entry program I try to give them as much useful knowledge as I possibly can. I try to always be that NCO that these Future Soldiers can come to when they need advice or have questions. I do this not only for the Future Soldiers but also for their families. I also try to maintain and mentor these Soldiers long after we have sent the to basic training. I try to be everything my recruiter was not.

SSG Ryan

I would have to say that my recruiter was really open and honest about everything to me. He took the time to sit down with me and got to know me so when it came time to select my MOS he did a great job in narrowing down the jobs to the ones he knew I would fit into but left the others on the table for me to look at if I so wanted to. Once I picked my MOS, he took the time to call around and found a recruiter in the area that had the same MOS who then sat down with me and went over the day-to-day stuff of the MOS. Together, they painted a clear picture of what Basic, AIT and my duty assignments were like. The only thing that they got wrong was thinking that I wouldn't be that close to the front lines. While that was true in 1999 by 2001 that statement was no longer right but isn't like they had a crystal ball. Either way, I am for ever thankful to (then) SSG B and SGT A who have gone on to become 1SG B and retire. Not ever sure what became of SGT A though.