Starting a career, joining a family

MG Allen Batschelet
USAREC Commanding General

Mothers. They give us life, they love us fiercely, they kiss our cuts and scrapes away, and do everything possible to protect us from harm. How then, I ask, do we gain their trust when recruiting for our Army, an Army that goes into harm’s way?

Mothers want to nurture their children and see them grow up to be successful adults. As recruiters, we tend to focus on the recruits themselves. This is important since the choice to serve is ultimately their own. However, mothers are major influencers. We must have their trust and support when we are asking their children to serve our nation.

Can we highlight excellent medical care, family benefits and educational opportunities? Yes. Do we offer job security with a steady paycheck and career advancement? Absolutely. These are all valuable incentives in the eyes of a parent as her child crosses into adulthood.

However, service in our Army may result in being asked to fight and sacrifice. We cannot, we will not, tell any parent their child will not deploy or not get hurt in their service to our country. That is scary for a parent.

The only comfort I can suggest is this: By being in the Army, your child will be part of the most incredible family in the world – one that will push him to be the best person he can and pick him up when he falls. He will learn the true meaning of team. He will have brothers and sisters standing by his side in everything he does. He will be supported. He will be protected. He will be loved.

Serving in the Army is an honorable profession, much more significant than a job. We take care of each other. And at the end of the day, each and every one of us can say we worked to keep our nation the envy of the world and to keep that world a better place.