Green card Soldiers

Couple of nice tidbits I realized recently. I interviewed a gentleman a couple years ago who immigrated here to the US when he was 11 yrs old. I did not understand his status because he was working but did not have a green card as of yet. He was 31 and wanted to serve in the military since he had been here for 20 years and wanted to "give something back". I was not able to work with him because he lacked a green card, plus I was also thinking he thought he could get his green card if he joined. He was working legally due to his status somehow, I don't understand all the alien statuses, maybe I should work on that.

Anyways, two years had passed since I met with him and I get a phone call from him. He told me that he now has his green card and he would now like to join. Awesome! So I started processing him to be a mechanic. H e has had a medical stopper that needs to be cleared, but soon he will be a soldier.

What I learned from this is never assume some one's motivations. While I am a staunch supporter of immigration reform to include securing our borders, there are many people that come here in some sort of legal status and most will contribute positively to our society.

Which brings me to my next recruit, Charles. Charles immigrated legally to the US 5 yrs ago from Kenya. he learned English there and graduated high school there. He went through a 5 year process to immigrate here legally with his wife. When he got here he got a GED so he was able to show employers his understanding of the English language. He is 40 yrs old, has 2 young children and now wants to join the military. When I met with him, he said he came across our web site from a search engine as he was researching military information, he did not know the difference between Guard and active, so I told him about both. He has always had an interest in the military and his wife supports him fully. One thing he told me was the isolation he and his African friends felt. They feel they don't get the same information, but granted, its out there, you just need to know how to look. So, like any good recruiter, I asked him if any of his friends would like to look into this, he said off hand he knew of four to five that would probably like this. Immigrant communities are tight knit and usually do not let outsiders in to their peer group, but once you get in and gain their trust, you can reap the benefits (marketing 101) So Charles is testing today and if all goes well, he will be in boots by end of the month, being 40 yrs old, he has extra medical stuff to go through, so it will not be a quick one. MEPS is really slow in that area.

So remember, we do have a number of green card holders in the military that serve honorably to protect our freedoms we are spoiled on and protect their new found freedoms, even though by joining the military, you give up alot of freedoms sort to speak. I even knew a Iranian who actually served in the Iranian military before immigrating to the US legally, I served with him on a mission for a year. Great guy.

So, whenever one deals with an immigrant alien, I stress look past stereotypes and put them in boots. If you them right, they may help you make mission the next couple months without working hard to find them.

Please share any thoughts!!

Recruit the recruiter

That's exactly what I ended up doing. We had one of the recruiters in my office quit in October, yes you can do that in the Guard. Anyways, I met this teacher at one of my high schools who is a substitute for the JROTC. Nice guy, did 9 years in the Corps, is 40 and still in good shape. His senior instructor was joking one day while I was there that he should get a gig like mine. The comment was made that those opportunities do not arise often. Well, I stepped in, talked to him a bit, pulled his scores and he was qualified. So I made my move. Two weeks later, I had him his physical and enlisted. He starts tomorrow. He is so pumped that he is not waiting for his uniforms to come in, he came with me to the PX and spent $200 to get a complete set of ACU's. Motivation, I love it.

I look forward to working with him, his personality will blend in nicely with the four of us already here, he has no apparent baggage that will wear him down like the last guy who left. The last guy has marriage issues, ex wife, baby's momma he was still in love with etc etc.

This also brings to light a trend that I see in the recruiting world, at least in my world, "older" citizens, particularly men, want to serve. I get alot of prior service people as old as 50 want to serve again. Some of the older guys don't cut it medically, but our office has succeeded in putting a couple nearly 50 guys. Granted, they are not combat troops, but the desire to serve, even part time is there.

I am also speaking to alot more 30 somethings about military service. they call me and some end of joining. The oldest person I have enlisted who never served was 38 and went to be a medic. I am excited about this trend, I do tell them about having much younger guys as their NCO's and they are not phased. They come from all walks of life, family guys, single, divorced, laborers and professionals. Their reason for joining usually is service to country or they want a change of career field and look to the military for the training.

The area I see the most lacking is the 23-29 age frame. Most of these young men think they are above military service and I have met some pompous asses for sure. I do find good one in the mix though.

Be assured readers, that as long as I am recruiting, there will be qualified good people who will enlist to protect our freedoms for years to come. They know what they are getting into and no one has ever accused me of lying or hiding something from them.

Till I blog again( I promise it wont be so long)