There they are

Well, I was found by the Recruiting Gods I know and love. My cockiness of last month has earned their ire. The two contracts I had set up have fallen by the wayside. One to a sizable traffic fine, another to an employer who doesn't respect the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act. So now I'm in a bit of a bind. I do have people who are willing to join, but none of them is ready at this second. If I could find a virgin I'd probably sacrifice them for an IRR-TPU to walk in right about now.

Nope.

Didn't work.

Damn.

I'd hoped to have a projection for tomorrow, but the guy's employer is insinuating that if he joins the Army he'll lose his job. I'm 95% sure that it wouldn't happen that way. He works for a major car dealership in the area. One which is a corporation. One with a Human Resources and Legal department. The possible adverse publicity of firing someone for serving during a time of war is something I'm sure they don't want. I'm thinking my first step is to call the local command's JAG office and ask for a clarification on the SSRA for people who enlist. I've never been as clear on the SSRA as I should be. Now would be a good time to bone up.

There is also a prior service who I've been talking to for months now. He's a nice guy and is very active in his church in a small town north of Phoenix. He's been unwilling to commit because of his commitment to the church. With Christmas coming up, and his eligibility to enlist running out (he's old) he's making noises like the time is coming up. I called him last night to wish him a Merry Christmas and, after we'd talked for a while, he asked if I could call him back after the New Year because he said he'll be ready then. So I'm holding on to a sliver of hope.

I think I know what part of my problem is. I'm too willing to let someone move at their own pace. I'll push and work to get someone to enlist "now", but if they don't, they need a waiver, they're not fully committed, or whatever, I'm too willing to just let them be, and follow up a week or so later. I'm thinking that the more successful recruiters will keep someone pushing towards that goal, but I cannot bring myself to force myself to do that. I despise it when I'm pushed to do something, even if it's something I want to do, and I don't like to do that to someone else. I trace my dislike of a hard-push tactic to my first SC.

One of the first people I'd met, conducted, and tested stopped returning my calls. The SC at the time had me calling the guy constantly, going to his house and work, leaving my business card at his door, so on and so forth. Never once did those attempts result in something positive. The guy wound up joining another service a couple months later. I'd stopped trying to contact him well before he enlisted so he was less... unliking... of me when I saw him walking around the mall. We talked for a bit and I asked him why he joined another service. His answer was because I was too pushy. If I'd just given him a bit of space he would have joined the Army Reserve, but his experience with me soured him on it. I was a new recruiter and I didn't know any better at the time. I still misjudge when I should push and when I should pull back, but I'm getting better, and I will err on the side of not being a "pushy" recruiter.

Now though, I'm in a position where I need to make some calls and rattle some cages. See if anything good drops out. I've got seven days to do so or else I'm pretty positive that SFC SC2 will see just how flammable the ACUs are.