Army Reserve taking on retention challenge in theater
By Sgt. Reeba Critser
September 27, 2004
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 27, 2004) - The Army Reserve is now sending career counselors to the battlefield, for the first time its history, under a pilot program that began in March.
"The Gulf War taught us that allowing a Soldier's contract to expire is a disaster," said Master Sgt. Rebecca Sewell, senior retention and transition NCO, Camp Victory, Iraq. "Having a Soldier make a major career decision immediately after coming back from a miserable situation is a mistake. And the Reserve Soldiers are spending a lot longer in theater than was ever done before."
The nation has called forth many of its best and brightest Reserve Soldiers to fight, an official said, adding that harsh conditions, separation from families and jobs put stress on them, potentially causing them to leave the Army Reserve.
"The Reserve is not a one-weekend-a-month, two-week summertime assignment anymore," said Master Sgt. Gregory A. Jacobs, senior Army Reserve retention NCO for Combined Joint Task Force - 76 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. "The active component can't fight a war without the Reserve Soldiers being here."
As a result, changes in retention had to be made.
"This mission in Southwest Asia is going to be a sustained effort," said Sgt. 1st Class Todd Cummings, retention NCO and career counselor, Tallil Air Base, Iraq. "We will be having Reserve units rotate in and out of here on a year-long tour. Anything can be put off, such as re-enlistments, for a few months, but after about six months, things need to be addressed and taken care of. The active-duty component already has a big advantage over the Reserve as far as re-enlistment opportunities. One way to level the playing field is to allow reserve-component Soldiers to re-enlist in a combat zone, thereby affording them the tax-free bonus."
"There are some things that the active career counselors can offer that we can't, which sometimes make our job just a little harder," said Jacobs, who hails from Findlay, Ohio.
For example, the active-component career counselors can offer, in most cases, more money to re-enlist.
"Currently the Army is offering Selective Reenlistment Bonuses to all MOS' in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait," said Master Sgt. James D. Riley, Army G-1. "SRBs are paid to Soldiers in the rank of (specialists to sergeants first class), with at least 17 months of continuous active service to 14 years of active service who reenlist for a minimum of three years of active service. The SRB is capped at a maximum amount of $10,000 with the current average SRB of $8,100."
The Reserve system offers two three-year re-enlistments for which the Soldier gets $2,500 in the first three years and another $2,000 if he or she re-enlists for the second three years. The highest RC bonus is $5,000 for a six-year or indefinite re-enlistment.
Even with this disparity, Army Reserve counselors are making a difference, said Sgt. Maj. Mark T. Magnussen, theater retention manager.
"The Army Reserve sees the need to retain quality Soldiers in order to sustain the operational tempo needed for rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan and defeating terrorism," said Magnussen, who works out of Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. "Also, every Soldier we retain saves the American taxpayer approximately $100,000 in recruiting and training costs."
The counselors volunteered for their assignment from across America and now cover the grounds from the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan. Some of their challenges are steady office spaces, communication and transportation.
"It's always difficult to convince someone that things will be better, or get back to normal, while they're in the midst of their misery," said Sewell, from Cape Coral, Fla. "There's also the difficulty of travel and finding the Soldiers in the (forward operating bases). It's not like I can just jump in my little car, look at a map and off I go. It's dangerous out there. People are trying to kill us. Convoys have to be arranged and chopper flights, going and coming back. Units need to be found and identified. No one unit is supporting me here, so I have to network, find and make my own arrangements, get my foot in the door."
Despite the challenges, these Reserve counselors said the rewards are worth it.
"I've re-enlisted more than 100 Soldiers and have counseled probably five times as many," said Sgt. 1st Class Reggie J. Crawford, senior career counselor and retention NCO, Logistical Supply Area Anaconda, Iraq, from Jackson, Tenn. "I think the one milestone that touches me the most is to not have any of the people I have helped, counseled, or re-enlisted to come back and say I did them wrong. That to me says 'job well done.'"
In addition to retention issues, these counselors go a step further. They answer questions from pay to promotions, sanctuary programs to retirement and transfer to the active component.
"Understand that the Reserve career counselors do more than just re-enlist Soldiers; we work with the Soldier on putting in application for active duty, warrant officers and active Guard and Reserve," said Cummings, from Charlotte, N.C. "We are also the eyes and ears for Reserve affairs out in the field. We field Soldier's questions on education benefits, civilian employment issues, promotion, as well as any other issues the Soldiers may bring us."
Even with all these additional duties, the team of pioneers have re-enlisted more than 600 Reserve Soldiers and contracted out more than $1 million in bonus money.
"I don't consider myself as having a number-one need to make," Sewell said. "I don't have a quota, and I'm not selling something. I don't work on commission, so I can be brutally honest with the Soldier I talk to. I'm not trying to convince anyone to do what I need him or her to do to help with my stats. I just want to give the Soldiers I'm talking to, all the information they need, so they'll do what's best for their own personal careers. It's my duty to make sure they have all the options and know what the consequences are when they make certain career decisions."
One lesson these counselors learned is of the spirit of the Reserve.
"The nation's Reserve Soldiers are far more ready and willing than the American people think to defend the U.S.A.," said Sgt. 1st Class John A. White, theater retention NCO, Camp Buehring, Kuwait.
"Out here being thousands of miles away from home, we need to be there for the Soldiers, because in the long-run, if the Soldiers are taken care of, then they can concentrate on their job and that is to fight and win this war," Jacobs said.
The Army Reserve is working on continuing this pilot program as long as Reservists are deployed for long periods of time.
"We normally work with Soldiers one-weekend-a-month, 12 months a year," said Sgt. 1st Class Amy J. Phillips, retention and transition NCO, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, who hails from Colorado Springs, Colo. "Now we see Soldiers every day. We will share what we have done and learned with everyone when we return home.
"Army Reserve retention is a small piece of the big scheme of things," she said, "but the Soldiers want us here and they want us to listen, guide and help when they ask."
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