Photo By Alun Thomas | Lt. Col. David Clukey (left), commander, Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, praises Master...... read more read more
PHOENIX – As a recruiter Master Sgt. Redus Thomas reached the pinnacle of his profession, becoming a three-time brigade recruiter of the year during his 8 years enlisting Soldiers for the U.S. Army.
For Thomas, operations noncommissioned officer, Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, recruiting became a way of life, aiming to be the very best at his craft, something he achieved by sheer hard work in duty locations within Illinois, Indianapolis and Pennsylvania.
It wasn’t an easy road however, with Thomas overcoming traumatic circumstances prior to becoming a recruiter, which would provide him further incentive to succeed.
As a senior NCO with 18 years of service in the Army Reserve and the active guard reserve program (AGR), Thomas was formerly an engineer with reserve units in Iowa and Ohio, deploying three times to Iraq and suffering through several attacks from insurgents.
“I was deployed with the 389th Engineer Battalion in Iowa, and then the 983rd Engineer Battalion out of Monclova, Ohio,” Thomas said. “I was blown up twice on convoys … the first time was in 2003. It was a complex attack and my door was hit by an RPG (rocket propelled grenade). We had no armor, it was the fake stuff we welded onto the vehicles.”
Thomas came through the attack relatively unscathed, but wasn’t as fortunate on October 19, 2005, when his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device, with devastating consequences.
“It was a night convoy and we were just about to pull into Camp Speicher. My vehicle was the front vehicle and we pulled off to block traffic,” Thomas recalls. “Once the other vehicles had pulled through we got back on the road and boom - we were hit.”
Thomas was a passenger in the truck, which was incinerated by the explosion, claiming the life of Spc. Kendall Frederick who was killed instantly, Thomas and two other Soldiers seriously wounded.
“I can look back and say it’s funny, but of course it isn’t,” Thomas said. “I had just got the air conditioner fixed on my truck, because it had been broken for weeks. Then it got fixed and the vehicle was ice cold. It was frigid in the truck.”
“When we got hit it actually blew me out the door about 50 feet,” he continued. “When I woke up I was trying to figure out what was going on – I was on fire. That’s what actually woke me up. I was wondering why I was so hot. The enemy was firing at us, so I grabbed my weapon and returned fire. Then I went back to the vehicle and pulled the injured out and took them to a berm area and waited for the other guys to come back.”
“We couldn’t find Frederick’s body, the bomb had gone off right underneath him,” he said.
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Kading, who Thomas pulled to safety, would succumb to his injuries 12 days later.
Thomas returned home to recover from his injuries after the explosion and decided he needed a change, applying for the AGR program, which he was accepted for in June 2006, becoming a recruiter shortly afterwards.
Initially Thomas recruited in Indianapolis, in admittedly poorer neighborhoods, something which suited him, having grown up in similar areas.
“I could relate what those guys were going through. They were in a bad situation and needed a way out,” he explained. “I told them the Army could help. I was very successful out there because I’d been in their shoes. Living in low income housing, no money and living on food stamps and welfare as a kid.”
Thomas said he was able to connect with people through his similar experiences, giving them hope.
“I told them ‘hey I know where you’ve been … I’ve been there,’” he continued. “Recruiting isn’t about convincing people, it’s believing in what you’re doing and showing people what the Army can offer them. That way they’re more willing to listen to you and take that step into joining.”
After impressing as a recruiter in Indianapolis, Thomas followed this with center leader roles in Chicago and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, taking both previously low-ranking centers to the top five in US Army Recruiting Command.
“I would go out with the recruiters on the job instead of being stuck in the office,” Thomas said. “That way I was mentoring and training them so they could achieve the success I had. That meant not being afraid to be told no 100 times a day. The Army isn’t for everybody. But showing them it’s okay to be turned down, yet still ask if they have a friend or a referral, a lot of recruiters don’t do that.”
Being an AGR Soldier meant having to prove you’re better than everyone else in order to take over a recruiting center, Thomas said.
“That’s how I came up through the ranks. It’s different now, usually just the best man for the job,” he explained. “But when I was doing it I had to prove hands down I was better than everybody. I like being the best.”
The desire to be the best led Thomas to be named USAREC’s 3rd Brigade recruiter of the year from 2010-12 and also center leader of the year. He also narrowly missed out on becoming USAREC recruiter of the year in this time frame, earning the runner-up slot.
Proper time management was key in achieving this success, Thomas said, with every recruiter needing to know how to balance work and family lives.
“Everything you do, no matter if you’re at work or at home spending time with your family, you’re always going to be on duty,” he said. “If I’m at dinner I’ll leave my business card for the waitress. If I see someone who looks like they could need the Army or maybe we can do something for them, I’ll leave my card and ask them ‘hey, have you ever thought about joining?’”
This method paid off for Thomas often.
“If you don’t ask, you don’t know,” Thomas said. “People don’t ask the question. Lots of kids now see the Army on TV and think all we do is run around kicking in doors and blowing stuff up. That’s not the case. I was an engineer before recruiting and I can tell people I’ve helped build bridges, houses, hospitals, schools … when they see that they’re amazed.”
Thomas has been out of active recruiting since joining the Phoenix Rec. Bn. in 2014, but still remains a mentor for the AGR recruiters in the battalion.
“The AGR’s here look up to me because I’m the senior AGR in the battalion,” he said. “It’s my job to go out and train, mentor and show them how they can get to where I am.”
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2017 17:20 |
| Story ID: | 243355 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 346 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From tragedy to triumph: Recalling a career in recruiting, by Alun Thomas, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
