Story by J. B. Walker When you rely on volunteers, you rely heavily on your recruiters. But the selling skills required of those recruiters don't just happen-they are the result of hard work and good training. The Marine Corps Recruiters School provides that type of training. Located at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, the Recruiters School trains six classes a year. Each class of about 215 Marine noncommissioned officers and staff NCOs is trained and tested rigorously for seven weeks to prepare them for one of the most demanding jobs in the Marine Corps-recruiting duty. Meeting the challenge "Only about 20 percent of our students are volunteers," said Recruiters School Sergeant Major William Kinney, who supervises the screening of potential students. The other 80 percent are screened and receive orders to the school, followed by three years of recruiting duty upon school completion. Some Marines are reluctant to leave the Marine Corps community in which they have so long been immersed. For whatever reason there are so few volunteers, recruiting, although not always voluntary, has become an important part of many enlisted Marines' career advancement. "Once a Marine completes those duties, he's well ahead of his peers," said Gunnery Sergeant Lee Birt, of Enlisted Assignments Branch at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. "Recruiting duty proves that [a Marine] can go out and operate on his own." Master Sergeant Michael Morrissette, a Recruiters School instructor and career recruiter, said that nonvolunteers are occasionally unhappy about being selected for the school. "Sometimes it takes a while to remotivate and make believers out of the nonvolunteers," he said. "At times, you find yourself selling ... the features and benefits to some [Marines]." Kinney said that recruiting candidates must undergo a thorough screening process, which starts with a biannual database that identifies Marines who may be eligible for recruiting duty. From there, they are screened by their commands, according to Marine Corps Order 1326.6C, which outlines the requirements that must be met by the candidates. The candidates are then looked at by HQMC recruiters screening team, who decides whether to send a Marine to Recruiters School. Ultimately, it is at the school, where screening continues, that the final decision is made whether a Marine goes on recruiting duty. Once at the school, the disciplinary record, drug and alcohol history, physical fitness, integrity, judgment and medical and dental history of the NCOs' background are investigated. The Marine Corps Recruiting Command is very concerned about a Marine's family stability and his or her family's medical needs. The team must determine not only if those factors will affect the Marine's performance as a recruiter but if the duty will put too much strain on the family. "Recruiting has a huge impact on families, and you've got to make sure that your family is strong before you go out there," said GySgt Robert Barrett, an instructor and group advisor. "Recruiting duty consists of a lot of hours. A normal workday is 8 to 8, and even some Sundays we work." The physical fitness and overall personal appearance of a Marine is also important to the screening staff. Since there is no organized physical training while on recruiting duty, the Marines must rely on their own self-discipline to stay in shape. Additionally, as representatives of the Marine Corps, recruiters must maintain a satisfactory appearance. Due to unexpected expenses that seem to pop up during the move to a recruiting area and the expected absence of a military base, financial stability is a must. "A Marine needs between $800 to $900 net available funds to be qualified," Kinney said, adding that this can be waived depending on special circumstances. Most important to the school's instructors is a Marine's ability to communicate clearly. Most of those students who do not graduate at the Recruiters School do so because they lack communication skills and the ability to acquire them. The schoolhouse Major Carl H. Nishioka, the director of the Recruiters School, affectionately refers to his facility as "The Schoolhouse." This is because there are actually two courses offered at the facility: the Basic Recruiters Course and the Career Recruiters Course. The Basic Recruiters Course teaches NCOs the skills and knowledge of recruiting and develops the students into effective recruiters while the Career Recruiters Course takes selected current or prior recruiters and teaches them the skills needed to manage and lead recruiting offices and personnel. Located near the parade ground at MCRD, the schoolhouse is primarily made up of large classrooms and offices. Awards, maps and photographs decorate the walls. On the second deck is what Kinney refers to as a "model recruiting office," which contains recruiting pamphlets, posters and Marine Corps memorabilia. The first Marine Corps Recruiters School was created in August 1947 at Parris Island, S.C. Due to an increase in recruiting substations in the early '70s, and the need for recruiters to operate them, another school was established at MCRD, San Diego, in October 1971. The two schools operated simultaneously for nearly a year. It was eventually decided the Parris Island school should be closed. In August 1972, exactly 25 years after opening, the school was shut down. At the San Diego school, though, courses continued being taught and developed to train recruiters. The six- week course required students to type 20 words per minute. The classes were taught with one instructor to no more than 15 students. The primary sales approach taught in those days was "telling the Marine Corps story," along with a public speaking course called Communispond. Professional Selling Skills, a course developed by the Xerox Corporation, became the primary means for promoting the Marine Corps in 1974. Two years later, Communispond was abandoned for a new communication-skills package taught by Hooper Good Inc. Other groups were contracted to teach communication skills until 1988 when San Diego Consultants Group took over the course. The course is still being taught by San Diego Consultants Group. In 1977, the school was moved to its present location in Building 27, where a whole new approach to recruiting, based on a system used by the First Marine Corps District, was implemented. Systematic Recruiting, still taught today, allowed recruiters to keep track of their efforts and to analyze their performance. Additionally, it allowed recruiters to more evenly distribute the work load because until then, there had not been a standard system for recruiting. The same year, benefit tags were introduced to the recruiters school. The 11 tags are engraved with certain goals and needs that a prospective recruit may have, such as physical fitness, educational opportunity, travel and adventure. By having the potential Marine place the tags in the order of their priorities, a recruiter can determine what is important to the applicant. Since then, the school has expanded its permanent staff and added a variety of training features geared toward turning out only the best recruiters. Learning the trade In 1998, the average Recruiters School student was a 27-year-old sergeant with eight years in the Marine Corps. Since recruiters are drawn from nearly every military occupational field, a Recruiters School class generally has a representative from every field in the Marine Corps. According to Nishioka, the mission of the Basic Recruiters Course is "to conduct screening and entry-level training for those Marines assigned to Recruiters School to qualify for the military occupational specialty of 8411 and assignment to recruiting duty." Although the school supports both the Western and Eastern Recruiting Regions, Nishioka's school's administrative, logistical and financial support comes from General Henry P. "Pete" Osman, Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit Depot and Western Recruiting Region. The school's table of organization calls for a director (major), a sergeant major, a chief instructor (master gunnery sergeant) and 21 instructors (from staff sergeant to master sergeant). Four other Marines make up the administrative and supply body of the school. The instructors specialize in one or two aspects of training, although every instructor is familiar with each subject of the course. Each basic course includes 37 days of instruction, which add up to 280 hours. The average class holds about 215 students, but the school can train up to 260 per class. The instruction is laid out in a seven-week training program: Week 1. Students gain familiarity with "Marine Corps product knowledge," selling points that recruiters must be able to cite upon request when dealing with their applicants. The Marines attend a workshop on how to speak effectively to large groups of people, presented by the San Diego Consultants Group. Week 2. Marines learn how to screen individuals for possible recruitment. Classes introduce the methods used to identify a potential recruit and how to apply the Quality Enlistment Program. The QEP grants incentives to qualified applicants in return for placement in certain occupational fields. Week 3. Professional Selling Skills is the focus of week 3. The students must learn how to combine the skills learned thus far and apply them toward actually bringing individuals into a commitment with the Marine Corps. Week 4. During week 4, the students learn about recruiting substation operations and the administrative duties involved. This is also the week the students are told where they will be assigned upon graduation. Week 5. Exam week at the school requires that students master 70 percent of the material presented and 80 percent when it involves Professional Selling Skills. Also, performance evaluations by the instructors will take place week 6. Week 6. Students who remain to finish the course prepare in earnest for recruiting duty during week 6. They go out to recruiting stations in the vicinity, where they spend time with working recruiters and learn how to implement classroom knowledge. They also spend a day with drill instructors aboard the depot to refamiliarize themselves with recruit training and to attend a crucible emblem ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif. This allows them to prepare those who they recruit for boot camp. Week 7. This week is spent tying up administrative loose ends. Students undergo an inspection in preparation for recruiting duty, followed by graduation. Making the grade According to most of the instructors, the toughest part of the course is communication skills. Historically, the majority of those who do not graduate from the course have failed as a result of the communications skills and sales portion. "This is where we usually drop the most of our [students]," Morrissette said. "Nothing is worse than telling a poster Marine that he or she can't be a recruiter because of poor communication skills." Communication skills are not easily acquired. Even Marines who have excelled in their military occupational specialty in the past may find it difficult to learn effective communication skills, which provide the foundation for selling skills. "The average Marine can come here and read the book and learn the knowledge," Morrissette said. "This is something that they've never done in their life, and sometimes it takes a while for them to catch on. You just have to get them one on one most of the time." MSgt Edward Bogard, a career recruiter and an instructor at the school for three years, said that a lot of the NCOs who attend the school have been in front of their peers in the past giving classes regarding their MOS. "Now we have to teach them to smile a little bit and use some analogies or quotes," he said. "This is very stressful for many Marines, and they start shaking and start to sweat," Bogard said. The school isn't all about selling skills, though. Students learn what they can expect life to be like as a recruiter. Topics discussed are advertising, financial management, stress management, recruiting ethics and equal-opportunity counseling. Additionally, the students must undergo numerous personnel inspections. Sergeant John C. Decoteau said that the course was "very academically challenging, but it's definitely passable if you put hard work and effort into it." Decoteau said he volunteered to attend the school. "My intention is to get meritoriously promoted on recruiting duty." The students are also put to the test physically at the basic course, where they must take two physical fitness tests before graduating. They participate in physical training three times a week and occasionally take on obstacle and circuit courses. Looking forward By the fourth week, students are usually getting anxious to graduate and move on, even though graduation is still three more weeks away. "Since you're in class from 0730 to 1600, the instructors tend to make [their classes] enjoyable," said Staff Sergeant Michael D. Samuels. He added that some instructors were more entertaining than others, but that all of them displayed an obvious desire for the students to succeed. "It's like they really care about me," said Sgt Tonya Downing, who also said she was looking forward to recruiting duty because she expected it to boost her career and allow her to meet new people outside the Marine Corps. Students are given the opportunity to submit a list of their three most-preferred duty stations (by district) for consideration by Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. After the decisions have been made regarding the students' assignments, they receive a visit from their Quality of Life representative. Because most Marines on recruiting duty are not stationed near military bases, they lack some essential services. QOL reps are dedicated civilian employees responsible for ensuring that the recruiters and their families in their district receive all the support that the Marine Corps has to offer. On training day 19, the QOL coordinators are often on hand during the announcements of the final duty station assignments and to advise the students briefly on what they can expect when they arrive. The coordinators provide the students with telephone numbers they should call when in need of assistance and encouragement. Michael Royer, 8th Marine Corps District Quality of Life coordinator, stressed the importance of maintaining contact to a class of Marines who had just been assigned to his district. "I want you to call me," he said "Chances are, I can help you, but only if you call me." Career course In March 1992, what had been a secondary MOS 8412, career recruiter, was designated a primary MOS. This meant that whatever job the Marine Corps had trained an NCO to do professionally would now serve as a base of experience in their new profession as a career recruiter. In 1996, a formal school was established to "conduct a comprehensive training program in order to provide the career recruiter with the knowledge and skills needed to become proficient in the primary MOS 8412." The five-week school would replace what had been a two-week informal course. More specifically, Nishioka said that the objective of his career course instructors is "to take [Marines] who were successful recruiters and dedicate them to the MOS 8412 [career recruiter]." The career course holds three classes a year with about 30 students in each class. Each of the classes contains 25 training days and 179 hours of instruction. The course aims to enhance and develop the students' leadership, coaching skills, communications skills, billet knowledge and management of systematic recruiting. Additionally, the course addresses time management, analyzing performance problems, decision-making and core values. "We train recruiters who have been out on the street for a while, have decided that they enjoy it and would like to make it a career," Bogard said. Students are taught how to coordinate shipping of "poolees" (those who have signed commitments but have not attended boot camp), how to train their recruiters and how to manage a recruiting station or substation. "Your main job out there is to advise the command group about things [it] should or shouldn't do. You should have some idea of what is coming up next," Bogard said. Nishioka said that the career course improves its students by reeducating, remotivating and refocusing them. Success in the field The staff at Marine Corps Recruiters School is a highly dedicated group of people. With a desire to see their students succeed and a contagious love of the Marine Corps, these staff NCOs are proud of the work they do. Morrissette said that the most rewarding part is watching the students succeed. "They are getting ready to embark on probably the most demanding job that the Marine Corps has to offer. Just knowing that I am helping them to go out there and do that job is very rewarding," he said. "A recruiter can leave here a sergeant and potentially 21/2 years later be a gunny. That's not going to happen anywhere else." Bogard said that the most important trait a recruiter can have is integrity. "He's going to be out there on his own, but there are a lot of people out there looking at him. They view him as the Marine Corps." Barrett looks for an additional trait in a recruiter. "Something that I really look for in a recruiter is drive. If they've got the heart and they want to do the job, they can learn how to recruit. It is not an easy job, but it's got to be done," he said. "It's all about numbers," said Barrett. "The target market [17 to 29 years old] is not as high as it used to be. We've got a lot of good things to offer, though, and they need to hear that message." Recruiting duty may not be an easy job, and the target market may be on the decline. Nevertheless, the Marine Corps Recruiting Command has achieved its set recruiting goals for 50 consecutive months-that's more than four years of successful recruiting. No other branch of service has achieved that amount of continued success. Success like that says a great deal about the recruiters and those who trained them. "Recruiting duty has a lot of benefits ... the skills that they learn on recruiting duty will last them a lifetime," Barrett said.