JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – U.S. Army Reserve recruiters joined together March 13 to bolster recruiting strategies with the Reserve Recruiting Partnership Council here.
Brig. Gen. John D. Rhodes, deputy commanding general of the Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division, was featured as the guest speaker at the R2PC.
“Retention is the commander’s program,” Rhodes explained. “It is the commander’s responsibility to work retention in their units, and retention is a challenge. It’s important we retain as many quality Soldiers as we can.”
R2PC is a forum to establish a perpetual partnership, improve communication and synchronize recruiting efforts between Army Reserve Recruiting Division, Cadet Command and Army Reserve Careers Division personnel within their respective areas of operation.
“The way recruiters can help is to be engaged in the units” Rhodes said. “If I were a recruiter, I would get to understand what units are in my area, I would have regular touch points with them for their needs, and if you have candidates who would like to join, take them to the unit.”
The R2PC had several objectives, such as strengthening partner communication and establishing clear, concise and routine communication channels between recruiting battalions, unit commanders and civilian partners to ensure seamless support and information flow.
“When I enlisted in the Army, I had a friend in the Army Reserve and he took me to the unit battle assembly, and it kind of sold me to make that decision to join,” Rhodes shared. “Those are small things that you can do to partner together and work collectively to increase our recruiting.”
Part of the R2PC event was a panel discussion which included key partners who contributed to the conversation, fielding questions and exchanging ideas with the participants.
“If you don’t engage the Soldier early and make sure they feel valued and make sure they understand their options, generally they will get out,” said Rhodes.
The forum tried to improve accessions training with a focus on strategies to ensure new accessions are trained, retained and transitioned effectively from the status of a future Soldier to ready-to-deploy unit members.
There was also an effort to synchronize mission requirements, including the review of the current Army Reserve recruiting mission and aligning specific unit needs with the available recruiting resources and future goals.
“It’s all about partnership,” Rhodes said. “It’s about talking and communicating and collaborating with each other, with the recruiters, and with the units - listening to what each side is saying and seeing what you can do to help each other out, and collectively we will get better.”