New England Recruiter Finds Perfect Fit in the Navy

Courtesy Photo | 190214-N-XX999-0001 BOSTON (February 14, 2019) Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jillian Bowles, a recruiter assigned to Navy Recruiting District New England, has been featured in this week's Recruiter Spotlight. (U.S. Navy photo by Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Caitlyn Strader/Released)  

BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES

02.15.2019

Courtesy Story

Commander, Navy Recruiting Command

By Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Caitlyn Strader, Navy Recruiting District New England

BOSTON – Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jillian Bowles, a recruiter assigned to Navy Recruiting District New England, says that her military story is unique, and a great way for her to connect with her applicants.

In 2010, Bowles joined the Air Force as a medic and was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, at Brook Army Medical Center, working in the Hematology/Oncology ward. After one deployment and four years of active service, Bowles was honorably discharged from the Air Force and came back to her hometown of Boston to work as a civilian medical technician at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). There, she worked everyday screening applicants whom were wishing to join one of the five military branches.

While being surrounded by every branch every day, Bowles realized that she missed serving in the military, but wanted to try something other than the Air Force this time.

In January 2017, Bowles joined the Navy Reserves through Navy Recruiting District (NRD) New England. Six months later she was given the opportunity to become a Medical Officer Recruiter.

Her military and civilian experience helped her in recruiting three Nurse Corps candidates and an orthopedic surgeon all within her first year of recruiting. This was no easy job which is why she earned the title of Officer Recruiter of the Month for October 2018, and two Navy Achievement Medals in July and August of 2018.

Due to her quick success, Bowles was moved to prior service recruiting to help with this growing mission. While still completing current medical officer applications, she immediately started to connect with prior the service applicants. Her experience with the process and switching branches from the Air Force to the Navy gave her an edge that earned her another title as the Prior Service Recruiter of the Month for January 2019.

Bowles credits her success to her determination, “I’m not one to give up on any one and this has shown by some of the high quality applicants I have put in the Navy.”

This determination is also leading to Bowles finishing her Bachelor’s degree by Summer 2019 and her long term goal of becoming a chief petty officer and hometown medical recruiter.

When she is not recruiting the top prior service and medical professionals around NRD New England, she loves spending time with her five-year-old son, Gavin, and she enjoys drawing.

“One of the biggest ways I de-stress is through drawing,” said Bowles. “I particularly like to draw realism and portraits. I have recently started trying to master drawing realistic hands which is difficult to make accurate and life-like.”

Bowles also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, Boston Food Bank, and has supported honoring a fallen police officer in Weymouth, Massachusetts. She says that by being involved in her community shines a positive light on the Navy because Massachusetts doesn’t have a high military population. Bowles said it’s good for the community to see the Navy out there helping and giving back.

When asked what the Navy has done for her in her short time enlisted, Bowles did not hesitate in saying, “The Navy has completely turned my life around for the better. Having been active duty before in a different branch, I thought I knew what to expect, but the Navy has become such a family to me and has shown me some of the best leadership.”

Bowles says she hopes to keep making an impact on the people she gets to meet all over her districts area of responsibility.

New England covers over 93,500 square miles encompassing the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and the Eastern half of New York. Headquartered out of Boston, Massachusetts the command has more than 37 recruiting stations, eight Navy Operation Support Centers, four Military Entrance Processing Stations, and also maintains two stations overseas at Kaiserslautern, Germany, and Naples, Italy, covering the entire territory of Europe, Southwest Asia and the Middle East.

Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions, 20 Navy Recruiting Districts and six NTAGs that serve more than 1,300 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America's Navy.

• Date Taken: 02.15.2019
• Date Posted: 02.15.2019 12:31
• Story ID: 310920
• Location: BOSTON, MA, US
• Hometown: BOSTON, MA, US