COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Youth of Color
Guard Inclined to Court Hispanics
Michelle Bradford, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
February 12, 2006
The Arkansas National Guard is tapping into a new market for recruits :
Hispanics in Northwest Arkansas.
To the National Guard and other military branches, Hispanics represent
a pool ripe for filling manpower needs created by the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The U. S. Army has focused on recruiting Hispanics and
Asians as the percentage of blacks enlisting dropped between 2000 and
2005, The Washington Post reported in March.
Master Sgt. Steve Loudermilk, commander for Guard recruiting in
Northwest Arkansas, said 23 percent of the state’s Hispanic population
lives in Benton and Washington counties.
For that reason, recruiter Sgt. Eddie Hernandez was assigned to
Northwest Arkansas last summer.
Hernandez made the recruiting rounds at Hispanic businesses in
Springdale and Rogers and gave presentations at English as a Second
Language classes in both school districts. He attended community
functions and met Hispanic leaders. He went on local Spanish radio.
In December, Hernandez quit the Guard without having recruited a single
Hispanic.
“Hernandez was an outstanding young soldier who did public relations
and got our face out in the community,” Washington said. “Not everyone
is meant to be a salesman, though. And that’s what this job is about.”
Recruiting goals for the Arkansas National Guard are up statewide and
in Northwest Arkansas, Washington said. Since October, the guard has
enlisted 512 recruits statewide— 50 percent more than the year before.
The push to recruit Hispanics is focused on Northwest Arkansas,
Washington said.
The Guard’s goal is to mirror the makeup of the general population,
Loudermilk said. Guard recruiters have quotas but they aren’t defined
by race or ethnicity.
“If 20 percent of your population is Hispanic, then the recruiting
population should be that too,” Loudermilk said.
Foreign nationals who join the military can get a jump on U. S.
citizenship.
In 2003, President Bush ordered automatic citizenship eligibility for
foreign nationals on active duty, retroactive to those who joined on or
after Sept. 11, 2001. The federal provision, which applies to resident
aliens with “green cards,” lets soldiers apply for citizenship after
one year of service, rather than three.
Major Michael Washington, commander of recruiting for the Arkansas
National Guard, said the federal provision hasn’t made an difference
in Northwest Arkansas. The eight Hispanics who joined were U. S.
citizens when they enlisted, he said.
DESIRABLE CANDIDATES Shawn McGrew, president of the Northwest Arkansas
chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said Hispanics
take pride in military service and historically have proven to be
dedicated soldiers. “When the conflict in Iraq first started, some of
the first fallen were Hispanics,” Mc-Grew said. “Take Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez. He’s an example of a Hispanic high up, in charge. Hispanic
youth took to him as an example to follow.” Today, Hispanics have more
opportunities for higher education, careers and higher earning power.
Joining the military may not be as attractive when weighed against
newer options, he said.
McGrew said immigrants who become citizens must declare on citizenship
applications that they’ll sign up with Selective Service and even be
willing to fight against their own country.
Sgt. Jason Wilson is one of the Guard’s top recruiters in the state.
Assigned to Northwest Arkansas, Wilson enlisted 31 recruits last year,
five more than his quota requires.
Wilson enlisted all eight Hispanic recruits since October.
“It was tough because my Spanish isn’t that good,” Wilson said. “I’ve
had to rely on an interpreter to communicate with some of the parents.
Anytime you’re talking through an interpreter, it’s an obstacle.”
Wilson recruited Luis Orellana last year after the Rogers High School
student scored high on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
The battery, a military aptitude test, is taken in English, and that’s
problematic for people who don’t read or understand the language.
“He scored quite well on the test,” Wilson said of Orellana. “His
comprehension of English is excellent, it’s just when he speaks, you
have to slow him down.”
Before taking the test at school, Orellana had never heard of the
Arkansas National Guard. Now he thinks it might be a stepping stone to
a career in aviation. Three of the Hispanics recruited by Wilson were
deployed overseas last year with Battery B and Battery C of the 142 nd
Field Artillery Brigade. Orellana isn’t opposed to fighting in Iraq. “I
support the war, I guess,” Orellana said. “Yes, I do, because with all
these terrorists, we need to stop them from running loose. Otherwise,
it would be pretty scary.”
NEW RECRUITER Spc. Isabelo Rivera, 29, plans to pick up where Hernandez
left off. Rivera, who served in the Army, hurt his knee at Fort Bragg,
N. C., while training to go to Iraq in 2004.
After his knee healed, Rivera deployed to Louisiana for Hurricane
Katrina duty.
Wednesday, Rivera passed a test that will allow him to become a
recruiter and step into Hernandez’s shoes.
Rivera chatted at the Fayetteville armory Wednesday with Sgt. Raymond
Sandoval and brainstormed on his new job.
Rivera, who is Puerto Rican, said he’ll play up benefits of joining the
Guard, such as college tuition assistance under the GI Bill, traveling
and learning job skills.
Rivera sees the key to success in recruiting as getting to know the
parents.
“My focus will be on the parents and recognizing the generational
differences,” Rivera said. “These Hispanic parents, many are
foreign-born and don’t speak English.
“ They’ve never heard about the benefits of the National Guard before.
I’ll educate them.”
Sandoval, who is Mexican, thinks Rivera should get established at an
Hispanic church and set an example for the congregation.
When they learn Rivera is a recruiter, they’ll already know and respect
him.
As Sandoval sees it, recruiting Hispanics is tough right now but will
get easier in the future.
“For this generation, it’s harder to recruit,” he said. “The Hispanic
soldiers now, they’ll pass on the tradition to their children, and on
and on. It’s like a farmer, whose son is a farmer, and his son.
“ It’s a family tradition. Eventually, it will grow and spread out.”
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