(right) Gaither dis- cusses benefits of enlisting in the Marine Corps with potential recruits at Hagers- town Speedway. (below) The chief drill instructor with the Marine Corps Recruit- ing Depot gives re- cruits a taste of life in the Marine Corps.
counsel. We advocate for the services; we testify before Con-
2009, 23-year-old Gaither has an enviable five-year résumé that un- derscores why he is the Corps’ proof source in rural Washington County, Md. His Purple Heart and infantry pedigree help gain the respect of prospects and secure the trust of sometimes-skeptical parents.
Takin’ it to the streets From his windowless office on the outskirts of Hagerstown, Gaither, who plans to make the Marine Corps a career, is matter-of-fact about volunteering for recruiting duty. “I came back home to get my friends,” Gaither says. “They can do bet- ter than this,” implying the Marine Corps has more to offer than the jobs in retail sales, customer service, and fast food that make up a large portion of the region’s labor market. The professorial Gilroy might not
recruit, but his office has oversight of all active duty recruiting. “We
PHOTOS: ABOVE, USMC; TOP, STEVE BARRETT
gress with them and on their behalf. And we’re on the phone with the re- cruiting service chiefs often,” he says. He explains DoD owns the military entrance processing stations (MEPS) across the country, facilities that di- rectly affect recruiters and their pros- pects. MEPS screen mental aptitude and medical suitability. Without the MEPS stamp of approval, no one is taking the oath of enlistment. Just outside Baltimore, Sgt. 1st Class Shedrick Williams Jr., an Army recruiter, came home from war to a fa- miliar scenario: More of his childhood buddies were dead or in jail. But on the heels of Desert Storm, the hope- lessness struck Williams. “Mom, I need to do something,” he said. It was his mother who thought there was an Army program that would allow her
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE
■ Want to learn more about military recruiting? Click here to watch a video slideshow about a day in the life of a recruiter.
SEPTEMBER 2010 MILITARY OFFICER 93
son to reach out to people before they ruined their lives. “That program was Army recruiting. I volunteered and went from fighting in the desert to fighting for the lives of these kids.” And it appears Williams has found
his niche. He has worked the streets and high schools of Austin, Texas; West and Central Philadelphia; and Charm City itself, Baltimore. He can barely contain his excitement as he describes what the Army has done for him and his family. He’s sold, and so are those he’s put in the Army. Back at the Pentagon, Gilroy is the first to admit this excitement is something DoD cannot calculate, fund, or produce. “Those who know us best are the most qualified to tell the story,” he says.
Heavy fire at the front According to Gilroy, recruitment’s downturn began in 2005. The prima- ry factor was the war in Iraq. Gilroy explains the global war on terrorism
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