Pain

World's Worst Recruiter training was tonight. Good thing is it was only an hour. Bad thing was that hour started around 2015. Good thing was the trainer didn't want to rant and rave. Bad thing is I would have prefered ranting and raving to the two hours I had to spend compiling my production, planning, and execution for the past quarter.

It's frustrating. It really is. One of the attendees of the WWRT was the station commander for a local station. He was there is support of one of his recruiters who had to attend the training. He started to talk about, how at Recruiting school, we're all taught to overcome objections. That is true. The scripts we follow all allow a recruiter in training to overcome an objection. The problem is the script always results in overcoming an objection. It's a script. Everyone graduates ARC thinking that they can recruit. Reality ruins that dream for most very quickly.

The mentality I've seen from USAREC is that everyone wants to join. It's just a matter of finding out why they won't. That is the job of the recruiter. I think us recruiters know that is not true. The vast, vast, vast majority of people do not want to join. In one of the most self-defeating things I've seen for most of those who do not want to join the Army is their best option. For a small sliver of those it is their only option. Yet they say no. They say no for as many reasons as there are people.

The SC attending the training is probably oen of those individuals who does not think that people "just don't want to". I admit that the excuse "I don't want to" sounds pretty childish, but I thought about it and I had to rethink my opinion. Follow my line of thought.

Mrs. SSG B asks me to take out the trash. I've already been home for a while, I've taken off my boots, my BDU top, I'm drinking a Coke or a Shiner. I say "I don't want to." If she replies "Obviously you have a reason for saying that, would you tell me what it is?" None of the underlying issues matter. They cannot be overcome. I don't want to put on my boots again. I don't want to dig out my BDU top. I'm not changing into civilan clothes until I strip to my boxers for bed. No amount of "Just Suppose" or ORJ is going to change that. Thus, "I don't want to" is my reason for not taking out the trash.

Yeah, I know that arguement can be taken apart. I don't care. I firmly believe that anyone who I need to beg, barter with, or lie to to join the Army is someone who I don't want to serve with. I'm sure if I were to take the underhanded approach that the anti-recruiter crowd thinks all recruiters take I'd be very successful. If I told people that "Sure, you won't have to deploy" I could find someone on my processing list who would join. If I'm lucky they won't DEP loss before they ship and when the fail to grad or UNSAT out of a unit it's not my problem. I don't swing like that.

I'll take their punishments. I really don't care. I cannot, and will not, bring myself to hurt the Army I love by putting people into the Army who don't want to be there with all their being. If that means I need to be a zero roller, a two month zero roller, or a 2 quarter zero roller I really don't care. I'm trying. I'm looking, I'm rooting, I'm prospecting, I'm doing what I'm supposed to. Sure, some of it is checking a block. If I'm threatened with working until I find an appointment and appointment will be found. There are about 20,000 names and numbers available in my office. A sizable number of those are people who we have never heard from. Two dozen attempted phone calls, no one ever answers. Every single one of those makes for a potential appointment to end a punishment.

Anyway. It's late. Bed time.

I really, really dislike my current duty.