Fired for not making human quotas....

[Harrier Dude]

RS COs get fired all the time for not making mission, is this really news?

I think that this is fairly new to the navy. Don't know, but all of the navy guys seem surprised.

In the Marine Corps this wouldn't even be newsworthy. Like skid said, RS COs get fired fairly regularly. Recruiters themselves get fired all the time. A wild guess woulod be 20% of recruiters in the Corps get fired.

It'll get much worse with 202K.

 

[helmet91]

Naaaa ... the Legion's good .... more like this:

It wouldn't be anything new... They pulled the Irish (and everyone else) right off the boat during the Civil War.

Heck, serving in the military equals fast-tracked US citizenship!

 

[wink]

How are the recruiting standards they need to reach each month generated?

Is it specific to the geographical area/demographics, etc???

The setting of goals is done annually at the Regional level, as I recall. Of course CNRC goaled the Regions. We always wondered what it was based on. They told us it was the market based on what we reported to them, ie number and quality of colleges and community demographics. But somehow we always got goaled with recruiting dental students when we didn't have a dental school in the district. There were lots of anomalies. A big thing for the COs was to go to a conference where they would bitch and horse trade goals. Last I remember, officer goals were met once a quarter, although the command can set intermediate goals. Enlisted goals must be met monthly. Enlisted recruiting is where the pressure is and not making numbers there is likely the biggest reason for any CO being relieved. The 4 officer candidate bodies a year goal is low even for these days, but officer recruiting just doesn't deal in huge numbers any more. In the mid '80s I was once goaled with 13 pilots and NFOs and a few cats and dogs and didn't hardly break a sweat. Later I was shifted to Nuke and was goaled with 6 per year. I busted my ass for those numbers.

 

[Ave8tor]

The setting of goals is done at the Regional level, as I recall. We always wondered what it was based on. They told us it was the market based on what we reported to them, ie number and quality of colleges and community demographics. But somehow we always got goaled with recruiting dental students when we didn't have a dental school in the district. There were lots of anomalies. A big thing for the COs was to go to a conference where they would bitch and horse trade goals. Last I remember, officer goals were met once a quarter, although the command can set intermediate goals. Enlisted goals must be met monthly. Enlisted recruiting is where the pressure is and not making numbers there is likely the biggest reason for any CO being relieved. The 4 officer candidate bodies a year goal is low even for these days, but officer recruiting just doesn't deal in huge numbers any more. In the mid '80s I was once goaled with 13 pilots and NFOs and a few cats and dogs and didn't hardly break a sweat. Later I was shifted to Nuke and was goaled with 6 per year. I busted my ass for those numbers.

When I was enlisted, I spent a brief time as a Recruiter's Aide. Boy was that some shitty work. We had a relatively large area to recruit from in Southern Cali, with 4 large high schools (my graduating class was over 650). Unfortunately, 3 of those schools had kids mostly from pretty well off families so that basically left just one school that was actually producing for us. Even then, it was slim pickings, since most of the kids that came in on their own averaged less than minimum required on the ASVAB to enlist. It would be a miracle when we actually found a qualified applicant to come in, and this was BEFORE 9/11. But then again, this was typical in the Marines, or at least for our office.

 

[Flash]

......Last I remember, officer goals were met once a quarter, although the command can set intermediate goals.......The 4 officer candidate bodies a year goal is low even for these days, but officer recruiting just doesn't deal in huge numbers any more......

We just had a former officer recruiter from Pittsburgh show up here at work, he said that his goal each year was 12, and it was a yearly goal. One year the goal was 20, but that he didn't really have a problem making it. He said it was pretty easy, had about 20-30 interested people come in a month and got 2-3 real prospects.

 

[duck123]

I wish him well in his recovery from recruiting!

 

[wink]

Second, the Commodore******* She was using him as an example to make a point.

I don't know about that. I spoke with her personally a couple weeks ago. She had lots of nice things to say about quite a few people. Personally, I have never had a problem with her. If I were you, I wouldn't talk so indiscriminately about your superiors on an internet forum! You don't really have any idea what her perspective is, or the pressure she is under wrt your NRD's performance. You don't know who is going to read your posts.

Third, recruiting is one of the ugliest businesses I have ever seen. Stay as far away from it as you can--especially as the CO--they just get the crap handed to them on a plate and are expected to make it into filet mignon. If they don't, they get fired.

Recruiting is very hard, especially on the enlisted side. The C.O. is responsible for the cake walk on the officer side as well as the heart burn on the enlisted side just the same. Your former CO sounds like a good guy and expect he was happy to have sailors like you. Maybe he was a victim of circumstance. It wouldn't be the first time it happened in the Navy. But your admonition that recruiting should be avoided at all costs is over the top. It isn't for everyone, but it isn't so bad that reservists volunteer to do it for many years straight , that active duty recruiters strive for the Career Recruiter designation, and that even fleet sailors will come back to it later in their career. As for COs getting a raw deal, I have been in and out of recruiting on the active and reserve side for many years. I have know well, or simply worked for, no less then 6 NRD COs. Only one was relieved. She was a very nice person that was well like by the troops. But she failed is a couple key areas. She deserved to go. Being a C.O. is hard. There are no compromises. It is the same whether you are on the bridge, or sitting behind a desk. It can not be any other way.

 

[a-6intruder]

My number may be off by a percentage point or two, but I heard a 3-star brief it, and I've read it in print. It goes something like this:

Of the recruiting age pool of talent (18-25 year olds), appx 72% of them will be found to be immediately unqualified and unwaiverable for military service due to a myriad of things:

academic performance
failure to meet acceptable physical standards
criminal record
medical problems
habitual drug use
personal beliefs (racist, etc)
tattoos (inappropriate subject / too many / too large / too visible in uniform)
other disfigurements (self-inflicted scarring / piercing)
Certain medications (like Ritalin) used beyond a specific age
other issues

Of the list, only the first two really have a remote chance of being corrected, and only if the individual has the motivation to do it.

So, the pool of talent is automatically down to only about 28% of the potential population. Then you can take away all those people who have no desire whatsoever to be in the military, for whatever reason. This removes from consideration many of the privileged who have more opportunities available to them, as well as some demographics where service is not necessarily viewed favorably. Half of the population (roughly) is female, but the current needs of the services could not handle more than about 20% of the force being female, based on current restrictions (direct combat infantry, SEALS, Submariners, etc). This percentage will probably continue to change over time.

Now you've got four services vying for the same limited number of qualified recruits. That's why every year you see all sorts of signing bonuses, changes in the max age they will accept an initial enlistment, etc. My hat's off to the Marines, because their standards do not change very much year to year, and while they don't (to my recollection) offer signing bonuses to an enlisted recruit (like Army does in certain circumstances), they still manage to make their numbers. And, despite evidence to the contrary on this website, their percentage of high school graduates (an indicator of the intelligence of their work force) is higher than the other services. It doesn't hurt that Marine Corps Recruit Duty, I&I duty with the Reserves, and Instructor duty (ROTC, etc) are all viewed favorably from a career management perspective, and it is recognized that front runners need to be placed in those critical entry points.

A successful recruiter works his / her tail off, and invests a lot of time in a prospect that may or may not pan out.

No one is accusing anyone of a "recruiting scandal" in this case although those have occurred in the past and will occur again. But Command, whether tactical or administrative, demands results. You will be held accountable for the ability to complete the mission, whether it is putting bombs on target or getting qualified recruits on the bus to Great Lakes. Most who aspire to Command understand the responsibility, welcome the challenge, and would not have it any other way. It sucks when a good person inherits a can of worms, but that's part of the leadership challenge.