LV military recruiters shift tactics

Stacy J. Willis

Sunday, Oct. 10, 1999 | 10:22 a.m.

Sgt. Brian Meyer is selling the Army life.

He's looking for someone to buy it. Today, he's looking in the Boulevard mall.

He surveys the crowd as he walks -- "After doing this for a couple of years, I can tell by looking who isn't qualified," he says. He passes by the old and the overweight, the physically infirm, and those with "gang apparel" who are likely to have legal problems.

Finally he approaches a teenage boy wearing a backwards baseball cap and tent-sized shorts.

"How's it going?" Meyer, the fully uniformed father of three, asks the teenager. "Has anyone ever talked to you about your future?"

The teenager looks askance.

They exchange a few sentences and Meyer gives him a business card. They are not a match -- the teen says he has had several felony convictions, which is either true and prevents him from serving his country or, as Meyer says, "Sometimes they just say that to get me to leave them alone."

Meyer has spent 15 years in the Army, serving as a military police officer until joining the Las Vegas recruiting office.

"It can be rewarding," he says. "And it can be hard."

He makes more than 1,400 telephone calls a month to Las Vegas teenagers and 20-somethings. He walks the mall at least once a week. He frequents laser tag centers and arcades, high school football games and wrestling matches, and even bus stops.

His goal: to convince two people a month to join the Army.

The United States spends more than $275 billion annually on defense. Nearly $2 billion goes to recruiting about 200,000 soldiers each year. In 1989 the United States spent 20 percent less, adjusted for inflation, and signed up 40 percent more soldiers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"Interest was greater when the (Berlin) Wall was still up," Army 1st Sgt. Scott Jensen, a Las Vegas recruiter, said.

In fiscal year 1997-98 the U.S. military fell short of its congressionally established recruiting goals; media reports abounded saying that the military lifestyle could not draw qualified candidates.

It sent recruiters into a year of full-throttle salesmanship.

The recruiters expanded Internet websites and launched new advertising campaigns; they recruiters out into the field armed with dozens of incentives meant to lure qualified candidates between the ages of 18 and 35 into the service.

This week the Pentagon announced that the Army, Navy and Marines all made their 1998-99 fiscal year goals set by Congress; the Air Force fell short by 2.8 percent.

Challenged by a good job market and more students with access to college than ever before, the task of pitching military life is a daunting one for recruiters all over the nation and in Las Vegas.

On an East Sahara Avenue strip mall facade, lost amid signs that read "Beer and Wine" and "We Buy Gold and Diamonds" is a banner:

"U.S. Army: We Are Still Hiring."

Under a balcony from which bartending school students ash their cigarettes is the entrance to the Armed Forces Recruiting Center, where all four branches of the military have offices. There are plans underway to move the offices to improve the image, recruiters said.

Pinned to the wall in the Navy's section are a dozen Polaroids of smiling teenagers wearing civilian clothes and standing in front of an American flag. Their smiles are broad. They have just signed up for the Navy.

"We put about 400 sailors into the Navy from the Las Vegas area last year," said Petty Officer 1st class Mark Long. "But we missed our goal. This year, we made our goal. "But nowadays it's a little harder to sell the product."

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Winton, a San Diego-based public affairs specialist for the district that includes Las Vegas, agrees.

Meeting goals

"We're doing a lot of marketing. We're trying to make the taxpayer dollars go further. No idea is too outlandish. We are doing whatever we can to meet our goal," Winton said.

"We are trying a lot of new things in Las Vegas because it's fairly isolated but is also fairly large with mixed demographics."

For example, the Navy is testing new information kiosks here which allow people to walk up and view videos about the Navy and then, if so inspired, pick up a telephone attached to the kiosk and speak directly with a recruiter.

"The first time we ever tested the kiosks was in Las Vegas at a Stars baseball game," said Winton. "People liked them. They were attracted to them. We are planning on putting a permanent one in Las Vegas and maybe one in Havasu and Bullhead City."

The Air Force launched its first television ad campaign last spring during the NCAA basketball tournament -- making it the last of the four branches to get into TV. The Navy's commercials are produced by director Spike Lee.

"The idea of ads is, 'Hey -- the Air Force is still here,' " said U.S. Air Force Sgt. Chris Greer, who works in the Utah-based public affairs office for the region that includes Las Vegas. "'We're a viable career option, not a last resort -- that's the message."

Last year the Air Force ad budget was about $15 million and the Army's was about $90 million, Greer said. This year, the Air Force's advertising expenses reached nearly $75 million.

Greer said it is too early to tell whether the ads are having a significant effect.

"But we're being optimistic," he said.

The Marine Corps, the smallest of the four branches, has maintained its recruiting numbers over the years. The Corps' success is attributed partially to a family tradition among Marines -- sons and daughters of Marines tend to choose the Marines -- and successful advertising campaigns -- "The few, the proud, the Marines."

Earlier this year the Army began testing the use of private call centers to narrow down the field of telephone leads for its recruiters. Capt. Geoffrey Stevens, the head of recruiting for the Army in Las Vegas, said that private call centers were tested here, but the results are not known and it is uncertain whether they will continue to use them in the valley.

Another strategy the Army has for increasing recruiting efficiency is bringing servicemen and women back to their hometowns to recruit.

Meyer, for instance, grew up in Las Vegas, and said that he feels he can more readily connect with the young adults here because of it. Still another recruiting tactic is a program that offers new recruits a promotion if they convince a friend to join up, too. The referring soldier then actually goes into boot camp one level above his fellow recruits.

Military lifestyle

Recruiters also try to pitch the military lifestyle -- although the pitch sometimes sounds like it describes a vacation rather than a tour of duty:

"We have a great quality of life," Greer said. "For instance, you get free rent, no utility (bills), and the recreation facilities at most bases are superb...

"We have a bowling alley, theater, 18-hole golf course, three swimming pools, gymnasium with all the exercise machines, an outdoor recreation office where you can rent camping equipment and skis and canoes, an auto hobby shop and a skills development center."

Greer said Las Vegas is the third most productive recruiting center for the Air Force, due in part to the presence of Nellis Air Force Base, the home of the well-known Thunderbirds flight demonstration team. The Air Force nationally has been losing numbers in part because pilots have been taking jobs with commercial airlines. Recruiters also dangle hefty education incentives in front of potential recruits. Today a recruit can get as much as $50,000 toward higher education upon entering the U.S. military. And in addition to getting hands-on skills training while in the service, in some cases they can earn college credit for completing military training courses.

"A lot of people have the misconception that it is an alternative to education, but we are an educated organization now," said Capt. Stevens. "It's a really good opportunity for people who want to go to college."

But sometimes it's the salary that doesn't perk the interests of potential recruits. Although next year's defense budget includes a 4.8 percent pay raise, some recruiters say the packages aren't competitive with civilian opportunities.

As it stands, an Army enlisted person can expect to start at about $900 a month, according Jensen. Four years later, he may earn $1,300 a month -- "if they do all the right things," said Jensen.

In the Air Force, Greer said, a new recruit will earn $887 per month in the first four months, $959 after the first four months, and after four years, about $1,428.

Not everyone can be a soldier or a sailor. Recruits must pass physical, moral, and intellectual tests prior to going into the service.

They can't be overweight or have asthma. They shouldn't have "serious" felony convictions, Long said.

They can't fail the academic entrance exam, which includes algebra and is "a step above" the Clark County School District's proficiency exam, which 24 percent of seniors failed last year.

"One in three don't meet the standards," Long said.

In the driver's seat

Given the market, interested and qualified 18-year olds are in the driver's seat.

"Nowadays a kid can say, 'I want to be an air traffic controller, who's going to give me the biggest bonus and the best training?' and shop around," Long said.

Shalita Dodson, an 18-year-old Valley High School graduate, will be shipping off with the Navy soon.

"I was going to join the Army first. Then I talked to the Air Force, and the Marines, but I decided on the Navy," she said.

"I just clicked with (recruiter Long.) I just really like his approach, it wasn't too heavy, and it wasn't too lenient," she said. "He came to my house and my mom was very impressed with him too.

"Also, I liked the educational focus of the Navy -- college is very expensive."

Dodson plans to become an air traffic controller.

"I wanted something that I use my brain in. I think I'll get good training in the Navy," she said.

In spite of -- or perhaps because of -- this era in military recruiting's challenges, Long takes pride in finding a good match.

"I love this job," he said. "It is long hours, yes. I work 9 to 9 most days. But it is rewarding to help a young person make a good decision.

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