In today’s recruiting environment, success requires more than just waiting for prospects to walk through the doors of a recruiting station. It demands a proactive, integrated presence within the community. For the Phoenix Recruiting Battalion (PHX BN), building that presence means leveraging every asset available, from wrapping a fleet of 150 unbranded government vehicles, to forging deep ties with Centers of Influence (COIs), to deploying cutting-edge mobile sports applications.
"We have over 150 vehicles that may not have any kind of branding on them," noted Lt. Col. Brandon Staub, Commander of the PHX BN. Recognizing this as a massive, missed opportunity for visibility, the battalion has secured the funding and the "thumbs up" to wrap these vehicles, transforming them into mobile billboards across the Southwest.
But visibility is only the first step. The real work happens through human connection and strategic partnerships.
A massive component of the battalion's community integration is driven by the Partnership for Your Success (PaYS) program and local academic institutions.
Jaison Bloom, the Advertising and Public Affairs Chief for the Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, spearheads the integration of these critical community ties.
"If you look in the system, there are 29 [PaYS partners] out there in Arizona, and then there's another 15 in New Mexico," Bloom explained. "One of the big things is making sure we reach them and invite them to events, making it a different type of relationship."
Typically, PaYS only offers interviews to veterans but including them in other efforts levels up the partnership.
A prime example of this synergy is the battalion's recent collaboration with the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University (ASU). Marine veteran Chuck Hale and Dr. Rachel Cassalia, a Clinical Associate Professor at ASU, recently executed a robust training program for local Army Recruiters and Master Fitness Trainers.
"We have four initiatives, and one of them is helping with recruitment into the service," Hale stated.
The ASU team utilized both Arizona National Guard classroom space and the expansive Sun Devil Fitness Center to elevate the Recruiters' physical readiness knowledge. "We were teaching more on the physical fitness side of things," Dr. Cassalia added. "We did a couple of lectures on physical conditioning, resistance training, and then did breakout sessions with your Master Fitness Trainers."
Grassroots Engagement: Serving Alongside the Community
To reach younger demographics, PHX BN Recruiters are also rolling up their sleeves alongside local non-profits. Tonya Piatt, President of the Anthem, AZ-based non-profit Youth for Troops, highlighted how her organization, originally founded by six local kids, provides a natural bridge for Recruiters to connect with high school and college students.
Youth for Troops engages volunteers of all ages to assemble care packages for deployed service members and transition baskets for at-risk veterans.
"We are out there encouraging patriotism, talking about community service and engaging them with veterans and active duty," said Piatt. "We actually had one of your Recruiters at our Monday night event, right there packing care packages with us. We're getting that involvement and that opportunity to have those conversations going on because we have high schoolers and college students at all our events."
Digital Integration: GoArmy Edge Apps
While local partnerships build physical presence, the Army is also aggressively pursuing prospects in the digital space through the GoArmy Edge suite of applications (including Football, Soccer, and Fitness).
Lt. Gen. Edmond Brown, Acting Commanding General of T2COM, emphasized the massive, largely untapped potential of these applications as lead-generation engines. By offering high-quality, free coaching and modeling software to high schools and colleges, the Army gains direct access to athletic, motivated youth.
"There are a lot of apps that we're paying for and they're really good," Brown noted, pointing out that elite college programs, including Ohio State University's national championship team, have utilized the GoArmy Edge Football app in their weekly practices.
The true value for Recruiters, however, is the built-in lead generation mechanism.
By combining this innovative digital reach with grassroots non-profit engagement, academic partnerships like ASU and a highly visible vehicle fleet, the Phoenix Recruiting Battalion is redefining the modern accessions mission. It is about meeting future Soldiers where they learn, play and serve — building the force of tomorrow through deep-rooted community integration today.