Recruiters officially recognized for excellence

by Master Sgt. Shawn J. Jones
Air Force Reserve Command Recruiting Service Public Affairs

12/9/2013 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GA. -- Airmen of the Air Force Reserve Command Recruiting Service learned they were selected to receive the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award Dec. 9.

The award will be conferred to the nearly 500 Airmen of the Recruiting Service for their exceptional service during the period from October 2010 to September 2012.

Recruiting Service commander Col. Steve Fulaytar said the recruiters have impressed him with their ability to continuously overcome obstacles in their drive to accomplish the mission.

"I've seen them move mountains," he said. "I couldn't be more proud of any organization I've been affiliated with than I am of the Recruiting Service."

With the best recruiter-per-accession ratio in the Defense Department, Reserve recruiters can lay claim to being the best at what they do.

During the award period, they achieved their recruiting goals for the 11th and 12th consecutive years by accessing nearly 30,000 new Citizen Airmen, which directly contributed to AFRC exceeding its congressionally programmed end-strength requirement. This is especially significant, because if AFRC fails to meet its end-strength, then its share of available defense resources could be in jeopardy.

Reaching and exceeding accessions goals and end-strength requirements are very important to the Recruiting Service, Fulaytar said, but his recruiters won't chase quantity at the expense of quality.

"We have wing commanders across the country who need good Citizen Airmen," he said. "The best thing we can do is get them the right Airmen with the right qualifications that will help them fly, fight and win."

Going forward, Fulaytar said he expects the Recruiters to continue their successful ways despite the potential obstacles presented by sequestration.

"Resource constraints mean we must find new and better ways of carrying out our mission," he said. "We must identify best practices and apply them across our recruiting force."

Along with its many obstacles, sequestration presents a particular opportunity for Reserve recruiters. Budget cuts may force the regular active-duty Air Force to trim 25,000 experienced Airmen from its payroll. Those Airmen are fully trained and qualified and would provide an exceptional value as Citizen Airmen when compared to new recruits who come in without any training.

"If we can capture their experience is the Air Force Reserve, it will make us a stronger Air Force overall, and that is the bottom line of what the recruiting mission is all about." Fulaytar said.