Recruiting in ROTC

[6-gun Mikey]

ok kids....heres the deal....I am currently working in ROTC as a Gold Bar Recruiter......I have been told that a certain class will not make mission, which means that they wont have enough commissioned in that year to satisfy Cadet Commands projection for our program.....the only way for me to fix this is to get a bunch of current sophomores to commit to going to LTC this summer..........

does ANY ONE have ANY suggestions on what type of campaign I should launch in order to get sophomores to join the program?...and please dont say mass-email...that methods gayness is directly proportional to how much it doesnt work.....

[neo]

You're fucked

[Associate289]

Yeah and the ratio of morons to worthwhile future LTs at LTC is extremely high. Ill let you chaps figure out which category I fell into.

And as to your quandry mikey, are you trying to get sophomores already enrolled in the program to go, or just any sophomore at the school? If its the former, I know I saw some kind of high speed (well I thought it was at the time) video, and my RO talked it up a bunch, thats why I went. You can also try to get III's and IV's who have gone there to talk to them about LTC. If its the latter, thats harder. Maybe hold recruiting tables at your school using current cadets?

[6-gun Mikey]

yeah Associate...Im trying for kids who arent already enrolled....this is where the big problem is....keeping in mind that I work at Johns Hopkins, there are so few kids here that would want a job in the military in the first place...but, according to my boss and commander, they say I should be able to grow the numbers without trying....the table thing is a good idea, and one that we have almost used to exhaustion, which is the other reason Im looking for brainstorms from yall....

[Un4given]

Money... Flash money. Like, show them how much they can make RIGHT out of college and how much money they can get from stipend and tuition. Money talks dude.

[6-gun Mikey]

I would have already suggested that one Bro....but, fact is our new colonel is more interested in what he defines as
"quality leaders, who will stay for the long haul and perform well" than he is interested in what he defines as "shit bags only out for money whom dont care"....see why I have to ask for ideas now?...theyve shot down all the normal ones Ive come up with....DAMN!

[Un4given]

Hmmm... Well there's good people out there really needing some help financially.

I dont know Mikey... You're right that is a tought one. I'm not much of a salesman. :(

[Gambit]

OK, this is something I never understood about JHU, and something that more than one cadre member there has complained to me about... it's a fucking NERDY school, but all of the posters in the student paper are hooah-hooah and show people doing one-rope bridges and shit (last I heard, the PMS actually was NOT the person who picks what ads go in the paper, oddly enough). Don't get me wrong, that's high speed, but it's the WRONG MARKET. People at Hopkins (By and large) aren't there to be superstars (as evidenced by our football team), they're there for med school and shit like that.

My point? You've got a BIG stick to shake with pre-med students. The Army pays you better than most while you're training, and if you go to the military med school (USHS?), you actually get a 2LT's salary AND free school... I don't think anyone can match that. Add that to the fact that (someone correct me if I'm off here, but I think it's this way) you get more experience quicker than in the civilian world, and you get a better pension, and it's really hard to say no.

That would be my first angle. If that doesn't work... well, I suppose an M-16 in their back and a pen in their hand can do wonders. ;)

[neo]

JHU has a football team?

[6-gun Mikey]

Ill tell you what...the PMS might not select which ads go in the paper...but, since he was a brigade budget officer in a past life, he can flip shit over money and ROTC BN expenses, and thus say "no more ads in papers"....hows dat?

[TheKMan]

Here's a clue, start writing ads in korean, that should get you a good 60% of JHUs student body, not to mention the limitless possibilities at our own school.

[6-gun Mikey]

Here's a clue, start writing ads in korean, that should get you a good 60% of JHUs student body, not to mention the limitless possibilities at our own school.

hahaha...crack head

[killernurse]

"Are you a fat mother who put on the freshman 15 your first two years? Are you a complete nerd who can't attract members of the opposite sex for the life of you (listen girls really do like men in uniform)? Are you a tree-huggin', birkenstock-wearin, shower-hatin' disappointment to your family who just realized that there is no job for you once you get out of college? Have we got a program for you... By attending a 31-day training camp over this summer...(go on about the leadership, influencing/leading others, taught to clean yourself/shave(darned standards), hugging trees--with a rope as you're tying it to get your peeps across, and money for school and a job when you get out). The end.

Really, here's the truth- if you want to increase the size of the program you need to do it their freshman year. After that, people are into their routine, classes get more specialized/difficult, and it's harder to adjust to the culture. So, bro, you're kinda screwed. Try handing out MRE components at a table... ;)

[Storming Heaven]

You're a goldbar right? Which means you'll stick around the unit for like 3 months untill you head off to OBC?

So just propose an "intensive recruiting campaign, using a highly effective mix of prior and modern methods. That you expect the new program to be slow for the first 3 months, then peak in a hail of dramatic success".

BTW, "hail of dramatic success" also means "pop smoke and run".



Okay, you want real advice? You had better get real friendly with the Current MS-IIs. Their friends are your best chance. If you go about it right, you should be able to get at least 2-3 promising people.

And if you're going to do recruiting events, skip the BS, and go for something good, like a large paintballing event. Something that will engage people, and before they realize it, they're having unabashed fun around people in uniform.

And dont think they're going to listen to any cadre. College kids think recruiters are evil, and are trying to steal their soul. If you want to get to their hearts, use your cadets. If you have any nice fun cadets with people skills, make them buddy up to the prospects.

Oh, and at a school like yours, you're gonna be best off pushing the Reserves or National Guard. Let them know they can still have the money making career of their dreams, AND serve their nation. That they can be doctors or engineers or whatever, and the Army will bankroll their future career with a benefits package thats hard to beat.
Let them know that they are getting a step up to their careers from the army, not postponing anything, not selling their soul, not going active.


Good luck, Thats alot of pressure with only marginal hope. Oh... and dont act desperate, and dont push to hard. Nothing is more unattractive than that.

[HerdROTC]

Marshall did a recruitment thing this past spring. We are having problems as well getting people who wanna take the program w/ the goal of commissioning rather than just the easy A. We set up a table, had all the scholarship guys there, set up a one rope bridge demo (why does ROTC love that thing so much?). In the 4 hours the perspective freshmen were on campus, we had 1 person express any interest. With the current issues in Iraq, the military is not nearly the big draw it was immediately following 9-11. ROTC needs to push its benefits and your future in the Army more. Right now, all the ROTC recruiting posters are too Hooah. They show cadets going across one rope bridges, shooting M16's, rappelling, and all that stuff. Yes, that's all fun and stuff, but that honestly IS NOT what ROTC is. We shoot 1 time a semester, rappel once a semester, and do more 1 rope bridges than any human should ever have to do. College kids love money, ROTC needs to push the fact that ya get money for books, they need to push the fact that ya get a stipend. ROTC also needs to REALLY push the fact that everyone does not go Infantry! I have had countless kids say they don't wanna do it cause they don't wanna be a grunt. I think today's students are misinformed when it comes to what ROTC is, what ROTC offers, and what ROTC can do for them as a future Cadet and when they enter the Real Army. I guess if I was ever stuck w/ the recruiting job for my battalion, I'd push those issues. If you can give people a no BS assessment of what ROTC really is, they might realize that it isnt just corny one rope bridges and free food, but rather something that is gonna be a huge part of their college life, and an even bigger part of their post college life.

[Un4given]

"Are you a fat mother who put on the freshman 15 your first two years? Are you a complete nerd who can't attract members of the opposite sex for the life of you (listen girls really do like men in uniform)? Are you a tree-huggin', birkenstock-wearin, shower-hatin' disappointment to your family who just realized that there is no job for you once you get out of college? Have we got a program for you... By attending a 31-day training camp over this summer...(go on about the leadership, influencing/leading others, taught to clean yourself/shave(darned standards), hugging trees--with a rope as you're tying it to get your peeps across, and money for school and a job when you get out). The end.

HAHAHAHAHA! Ahhhhhh hahahahaaha! OMG I'm really laughin' at that one, exactly how I picture JHU students. lol!

[6-gun Mikey]

hahahaha...........naw, theyre just all crasians.....and rich-bitches....(thanking God right now that I went to a sattelite school for the education part of it...)

[Un4given]

There's lots of asians there or something?

[Un4given]

Most Drs I encounter on military installations are named Mohammad. :(

[Gambit]

hahahaha...........naw, theyre just all crasians.....and rich-bitches....(thanking God right now that I went to a sattelite school for the education part of it...)

*sigh*... the most painful sounds in the world are the rants of the uninformed...

:razz:

[6-gun Mikey]

listen G, just because you didnt fit the jhu mold, and are actually a "normal" person, I still dont wanna EVER see you downsize my observation/perception of your alma mater in public again....do you un-na-stan dat Jeh-my Bahn?!

[TheKMan]

I reference the infamous "Hopkins 500" on that one G. You and I both know that beyond that we are dealing with the vast majority of the aforementioned steretypes.

[6-gun Mikey]

"Are you a tree-huggin', birkenstock-wearin, shower-hatin' disappointment to your family

and all this time I thought birkenstocks were hats..."fuckin-gay-ass-Buhjesus-sandals" is what I call them......

[TheKMan]

wait wait wait, the hippies have hats too? I thought they just used their giant quantities of unwashed dreadlocks to keep warm.

[Gambit]

lI still dont wanna EVER see you downsize my observation/perception of your alma mater in public again....

lol.

I still wanna know what you think about my idea, tool.

[6-gun Mikey]

which idea are you referencing, G?

[Gambit]

umm.. the one that's on topic, in this thread... last page... did you even read it?!? *sniff*...

[neo]

Staying on topic??? Whats that???

[TheKMan]

yeah seriously since when do threads here stay on any semblence of topic?

[Storming Heaven]

Can you people believe that Bush actually won? What crap is that?




/my first troll-threadjack

//and it wasnt even good.

[Gambit]

OK, who in vited him?

Beats.

[TheKMan]

couldn't tell you G.

[6-gun Mikey]

at least he could have submitted an idea...for my perusal...........and G, I have, in fact, suggested the use of my personal firearm (a Browning .30-06 named 'Ginger') to persuade students to sign up, but it was shot down...so as to your idea of the M-16, perhaps my commander would be more keen to that because of his direct affiliation with such a weapon....

[Cadet_Rittard]

Ok... I was gonna post some advice on getting people interested in LTC, but then we started talking about how nerdy JHU students are, and then about stupid hippies with... hats(?), and then about how our schools are mostly asians anyway, and then something about George Bush. I'm so confused.

But on a completely unrelated topic, I agree with KMan's signature block. FUCK UMBC... after next semester.

[6-gun Mikey]

I guess that confusion just goes along with your handle there CDT "Rittard"....

[Cadet_Rittard]

I guess that confusion just goes along with your handle there CDT "Rittard"....

How? I don't get the connection.

Jackass.

[6-gun Mikey]

rittards are usually confused, broseph....am I right or am I right or am I right?...right...right....

[Cadet_Rittard]

Um... right. No, no.. left. I meant left. Or right? Hell, I don't know. Just keep going straight until you fall into the ocean.

[6-gun Mikey]

hahaha...crackhead