Recruiting Improprieties MSG Clifton Fields
United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Class 61
Abstract
Recruiting Improprieties
Recruiting improprieties discredit recruiters in society and have a lasting impact on the United States Army overall recruiting mission. I will discuss the impacts of the recruiter values conflicting with the Army values and how it affects recruiters, applicants, and the Army. There are many unethical practices within the United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC). I was part of this command from September 2000- October 2003. In my opinion the ethical issue is the command climate and culture of USAREC. I will never forget being selected for
recruiting duty. Everyone I talk to about recruiting had nothing good to say about it. Throughout life all you hear is that recruiters lie. So, the tone is set from the beginning that recruiters are not trustworthy. This is a stereotype for recruiters I know all are not like this. We all have a set of values and beliefs that we enter the Army with. The Army values are a Soldiers baseline and common to all Soldiers. We use our own values and belief system along with the Army values to make ethical and unethical decisions.
Once you are selected for recruiting duty there is a packet that the chain of command must fill out on the selected Soldier. The packet includes an interview by the battalion
commander, background checks, and financial status. Recruiting is considered a tough duty so the Army wants to make sure it is selecting the right Soldier for the job. You are then sent to the United States Army Recruiting School, Fort Jackson, South Carolina. During the six week course I learned some basics of recruiting how to conduct a sales presentation, Army Enlisted procedures, and how to pre-qualify an applicant. This by no means prepare me for some of the ethical dilemmas that I was face with on a daily bases.
commander went with me. I stepped out of the door of the station and put on my headgear. This was the right thing to do according to regulation. My station commander ask me what was I doing we don’t wear headgear on recruiting duty which I knew was the wrong answer. This left a lasting impression on me and gave me the indication that this was culture of the recruiting station. Here it was the leader of the station telling a new recruiter headgear is not required. Based on my value system I knew the right thing to do, so I did the right thing even through other recruiters were doing the wrong thing.
Recruiters must conduct police background checks to ensure that applicants meet the moral qualification to join the Army. Once the police background checks are complete on an applicant the recruiter will know exactly what law violations were committed by the applicant from age 17 to current. If the applicant has any open law violations the recruiter has an ethical decision to make. The decision can be right or wrong based on values, climate, and culture of the recruiting station.
In USAREC (United States Army Recruiting Command) the average recruiter usually becomes successful after months of on the job training. After being released from the new recruiter program and the recruiter trainer now the recruiter has to achieve their mission on their own. It’s during the early stages of a recruiters’ career that they learn the difference between recruiting with integrity and crossing the line into grey area. To steer through the grey area, recruiters should create and live by their principles of conduct to do thing right. Recruiting improprieties occur because of the daily pressure to make monthly mission. Monthly mission is usually two recruits a month by each recruiter in the station.
In both of the above examples new recruiter encounter pressure from the station
why we read articles in the Army Times about good Soldiers gone bad. The persistence pressure of achieving the U.S. Army accession mission month after month affects subordinates, leaders, applicants, the community, and the U.S. Army.
In May 2002, reports of alleged recruiting improprieties began to show up nationwide. These allegations led to families and local officials questioning the Army’s enlistment process. The Army suspending recruiting entirely on May 20, 2002 used this day for retraining military ethics and the proper enlistment process for applicants to all USAREC personnel. The training became known as values stand down. The one day suspension came after three consecutive months of the Army missing it target mission.
A family in Ohio reported their son has a mental illness and was allowed to enlist into the U.S. Army, regardless of rules that prohibited such an enlistment. David McSwane, a high school student in Denver Colorado, recorded a recruiter on tape, giving him instruction on how to create a phony high school diploma. He also had a recruiter aiding him in purchasing a product that supposedly cleanse your system of illegal-drugs. I had recruiters in my station threating delayed entry program (DEP) Soldiers with arrest if the DEP did not appear at the local recruiting station to ship out for basic training.
