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COLUMBIA, S.C. – U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Otis Franklin, a recruiter with the Company C, Recruiting and Retention Battalion, South Carolina National Guard, was named South Carolina’s Recruiter of the Year, at a banquet Dec. 3, 2021 for the fiscal year 2021.
The award is a way to recognize recruiters for their long hours and dedication to the job to meet the recruitment needs of the South Carolina National Guard.
Franklin, a North Charleston resident, recruits in the Hollywood and Ravenel communities in South Carolina, concentrating on Baptist Hill Middle High School and St. Johns High School. He recruits an average of about 15 students each year, but this year, he enlisted 20 new recruits, beating out his closest competition who enlisted 19. The recruiting numbers given to each recruiter are based on the number of citizens in the area and the needs of the leaders and the National Guard for that area.
“Like it says in the NCO [non-commissioned officer] creed, my mission is to take care of Soldiers, and I get to take care of Soldiers at the earliest part of their careers,” said Franklin. “I work with them, get to develop them, and get to watch them grow from a citizen to a Soldier.”
For Franklin, one of his biggest assets and best character traits is his ability to build relationships with others. He’s not just there to make the numbers, but makes a concerted effort to reach out to those potential recruits and stay connected with them, even after they have decided to join.
“He is probably the best one to take care of the recruits before, during, and after they have joined the Guard,” said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Kristopher Alvey, Recruiting and and Retention Battalion, Company C first sergeant. “To many of his recruits, he is like a father figure, a friend, somebody to listen to them, or a coach. That goes a long way toward building relationships.”
Franklin joined the South Carolina National Guard Feb. 14, 1997, and never considered becoming a recruiter until an event that significantly impacted the direction of his military career.
“I was a truck driver at the time,” said Franklin. “I was an 88M, and working as a janitor in the civilian world. I was asked to contact the recruiting officer by a guy I deployed with. I brushed it off at first, but then gave him a call. I don’t know what it was, but they took to me, and I decided to give it a shot.”
“I want what’s best for these guys,” said Franklin. “So, I try to take care of them like they are my children. I put them in, and as soon as they swear in, I have a goodie bag I give them. I love to build that family and follow them as much as I can. I try to go to their high school graduations, and I make a lot of their Basic Training and AIT [Advanced Individual Training] graduations. I let them know that they joined my military family and we all became a family.”
Franklin not only takes his recruiting job seriously, but also is a leader and Soldier others depend on to take care of things and handle difficult tasks.
“Every recruit he gets, he goes to personally and gives them a sweatshirt, or something,” said Alvey. “He has a picture of almost every recruit. He really cares about his recruits. He is a go-getter. He is the first one here and the last to leave. His favorite motto is, ‘I'm on it!.’ If I need something, he's the guy who can do it for me.”
Franklin said that being recognized as the state Recruiter of the Year wasn't based just on what he did to meet his number of recruits, but attributes the relationships he builds with the recruits as being the biggest contributor to his success.
“This job is about referrals and networks,” said Franklin. “I build trust with the recruits. They tell their friends about me and then they come to me for their recruitment.”
Franklin has been successful previously and made his mission of number of recruits for the South Carolina National Guard for four of the past five years, but this is the biggest award he has earned as a recruiter so far.
‘It’s hard for me, because I want to be a humble person,’ said Franklin. “I do what's right for other people, and I didn't do it alone. I always have to thank my family. Anything that takes me away from them has to be worth it. Sometimes, I miss out on events with the kids, and the wife wants to know why I'm taking a call at 7 p.m. and I have to explain that that’s when the recruits are available. I make sure that I’m doing enough to make sure I’m successful.”
Although he tries to build relationships and make an impact with each of the recruits he is involved with, there are always a few that stand out for a variety of reasons.
“Everyone of my recruits has a story,” said Franklin. “I’ll say that there are ones that I push a lot. There was one kid who needed to lose a lot of weight before he could join. We would meet up and run together, but it was just taking up more time than I had. One day, he called me up and asked me to come tape him. And when I did, he was losing weight…he was doing it without me. He decided that he wanted it enough that he started taking initiative to lose the weight.”
Because of his success at the state level, Franklin also competed against recruiters from 10 other states in the Strength Maintenance Advisory Group board for Region III and came in second place.
Franklin has been recruiting for several years but has no plan to make a career change in the near future.
“This is the start of my sixth year, and I plan to stay,” said Franklin. “This is my last job in the military. I don't plan on going anywhere. I’m R-and-R bound for life.”
| Date Taken: | 12.16.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.17.2021 09:36 |
| Story ID: | 411271 |
| Location: | COLUMBIA, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 172 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, South Carolina National Guard Soldier named South Carolina Recruiter of the Year, by SFC Brad Mincey, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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