Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Leslie Koxvold | 180801-N-FM540-0064 MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (August 1, 2018) Master-at-Arms 2nd Class...... read more read more
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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (NNS) - Stepping foot into a recruiting station and approaching military members wearing rows-of-ribbons and shiny-rank insignias on their starch-pressed uniforms could be a daunting experience for a young adult fresh out of high school. However, there is a Sailor at Navy Recruiting Station in Murfreesboro, Tenn., who does his best to set people at ease when they walk in his shop.
Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Michael Martin greets every Future Sailor who comes in with a warm smile and friendly handshake. Martin is an extravert, and in this job he has to be. He is charismatic and uses his positive attitude to build a rapport with anyone interested in joining the Navy. Martin starts his introduction and welcomes his applicants as if they were guests in his home. Should anyone ask how Petty Officer Martin is doing, the answer is always the same. “I’m Blessed,” Martin says with a sincere grin.
Martin makes it part of his mission to really build a connection with his applicants. He listens to their stories about last week’s softball game, he learns the names of their friends and families, and he engages them in genuine conversations about their futures. Martin’s methods of establishing relationships and trust have made him a huge success in Navy recruiting. Due to this, as a part of Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Nashville under Talent Acquisition Onboarding Center (TAOC) Music City, Martin works in the Sourcing and Sales team where he is able to make that initial contact with an applicant.
“You meet these kids, and they just inspire you,” said Martin, “Just as you hope you inspire them.”
With Petty Officer Martin’s natural talent for helping people begin a career in the Navy, it often surprises people to learn he has only been enlisted in the Navy for a little over a year.
Martin was born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he lived until he was 9. He then moved Aiken, South Carolina and then to Tullahoma, Tennessee, where he graduated high school. In 1998, Martin enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Eielson, Alaska.
In 2002, tragedy struck Martin’s family. He returned home to help care for his mother who had been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. Over the next year and a half, Martin lost his mother to her battle with cancer, then his father to a stroke. Shortly after his father’s death, Martin’s brother also passed away. As a result, Martin turned to his faith to guide him through those immensely difficult times.
“I learned you got to walk by faith and not by sight,” Martin said. He has participated heavily in his church’s youth ministries and guidance programs.
During the 15 years Martin was not in the military, he earned his degree in Aviation with a minor in Criminal Justice. After that, he started working as a police officer for the Murfreesboro Police Department, and later he became a School Resource Officer (SRO) for Rutherford County Sheriff’s department. It was while he was serving as the SRO for a high school that he initially met with Navy recruiters.
“My heart goes out to anyone that serves, and I’d always try and take care of the recruiters,” Martin said. The relationship that he built with the Navy recruiters he would see in the high schools led him to consider the possibility of serving again himself.
Martin enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve in January 2017, under the Prior Service Direct Procurement Enlistment Process (DPEP), due to his experience as a police officer and sheriff’s deputy. “It might not be the timing or the way I expected, but everything works out,” said Martin.
In July 2017, Petty Officer Martin applied for a Canvassing Recruiter (CANREC) position and was accepted. The opportunity to serve in the military again was a blessing to him, and now he was able to help others serve as well. “In recruiting you get the opportunity to change someone’s life.”
During his time as a recruiter, Martin has made an impression on Future Sailors, current Sailors and recruiters alike with his heart-felt interest in helping people. Along with his faith, his passion for other people’s well-being have been factors in his consideration to join the ministry and possibly Chaplaincy.
“I’m just me, and I’m super proud of what I do,” said Martin. He believes the genuine connections he has built with Future Sailors, much like the relationships he had with the recruiters while he was a School Resource Officer, helps generate referrals and interest from the community.
Martin lives by a certain mantra that keeps his outlook uplifted, “I always tell people to be true to who you are. Everybody has talent that brings value to the table. Keep your values and your integrity.”
As a father of four children ages 4 to sixteen, a husband and a caregiver for his mother-in-law, Martin recognizes the benefits he has because of his decision to reenlist and the opportunities recruiting’s supplied him with. He remains focused on the joys and fortunate circumstances in his life, and he is always reminding others of theirs.
Martin’s passion for guiding people and optimistic personality make him a valuable part of the recruiting team. Whether he will continue to guide and inspire as a recruiter, or maybe a Chaplain someday, he says, “At the end of the day you hope you made this world a little bit better because you were here, and you know I’m Blessed.”
NTAG Nashville/TAOC Music City is one of six NTAGs nationwide. More than 100,000 square miles are assigned to NTAG Nashville/TAOC Music City including counties in Tennessee, Arkansas, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, northern Mississippi, southern Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia.
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, two Navy Recruiting Regions, 20 Navy Recruiting Districts and six Navy Talent Acquisition Groups. The Navy’s recruiting force totals more than 6,100 personnel in over 1,000 recruiting stations around the globe. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http:// www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting) and on Twitter (@usnavyrecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 08.03.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2018 16:12 |
| Story ID: | 287182 |
| Location: | MURFREESBORO, TN, US |
| Hometown: | FORT WAYNE, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 281 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, BLESSINGS AND NEW BEGINNINGS, by PO2 Zachary S Eshleman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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