Meeting with a Marine Recruiter
Mattis: Our job as Recruiters is actually to teach you our way of life as Marines. You're the one that is gonna actually make the commitment to becoming a United States Marine.
Bell: It's my job to get someone prepared, and so I'll start introducing them to things that they might not have had an opportunity to think about—things like decisiveness and unselfishness, as well as initative.
Smith: I think most people would be surprised to find out how extensive the recruiting process is. I think that there's a misconception that if someone walks into the office, and they wanna be a Marine that we just put them into a van and ship them off to Parris Island. When people start to find out what a recruiter does, they are almost without exception surprised. It's a very extensive process.
Brown: Once we conclude an interview with that young man or woman, then the recruiter comes out to the house and actually sits down and talks to Mom and Dad and really kind of solidifies what the young man or woman wants to do.
Tallent: I remember Staff Sergeant Morris. He was the recruiter that handled Cody, and I was a little bit wary, I was kind of prepared for there to be a lot of happy talk. That wasn't the case. Staff Sergeant Morris was pretty honest in terms of pointing out the good things and the potential frightening things about being a U.S. Marine.
Thomas: I let the parent understand the Marine Corps is a fighting force, and once they know and understand that and we come to a agreement, we go through the rest of the process with the applicant and their parents just to make sure they understand and everything is okay.
Stigall: They made us feel very comfortable with the decision that Vincent was about to make. We discussed things about what he would be doing, possible travel, places he would go, opportunities that were there for him.
Mattis: Every week we meet as recruiters with the poolees to actually educate them, teach them more about our way of life as being Marines.
Long: I train physically with my poolees so I'm doing physical fitness with them. I am a mentor to those individuals and handling their personal problems or anything that might affect their enlistment.
Bell: I would say that that Marine Corps Recruiter is a duty expert in that field, so you should consult or seek guidance from that person.
Brown: A young man or woman that we prepare to go to recruit training goes through recruit training and is successful, comes back and shakes your hand and says, "you know Gunnery Sergeant Brown, I appreciate everything you done for me." And that's, that's a great feeling for me.
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