{"id":50225,"date":"2023-11-01T21:20:17","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T21:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/11\/01\/army-apologizes-for-sending-soldiers-last-minute-recruiting-orders\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:14:11","slug":"army-apologizes-for-sending-soldiers-last-minute-recruiting-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2023\/11\/01\/army-apologizes-for-sending-soldiers-last-minute-recruiting-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"Army apologizes for sending soldiers \u2018last-minute\u2019 recruiting orders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Throughout the week, noncommissioned officers across the Army have received notices through their branch managers and other officials that the service needs more recruiting NCOs \u2014 and it needs them fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to requisition emails <\/b>posted to social media channels like Army Reddit, the Army is seeking volunteers to attend recruiting school as soon as Nov. 6, and has waived a host of standing qualifications in order to boost attendance. But other users reported receiving notifications for involuntary orders directing them to attend the course at <\/b>Fort Knox, Kentucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After public outcry about the move and instruction from Gen. Randy George, the <\/b>service\u2019s chief of staff, the Army\u2019s top personnel officer, Lt. Gen. Doug Stitt, spoke with reporters Wednesday and apologized \u201cto the soldiers and the families that received this last-minute notification\u201d and told reporters \u201cthat mistake is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Col. Dave Butler, a spokesperson for George, said that when the Army chief of staff \u201ccaught wind of how this was communicated to members of the force, he immediately directed the Army reassess this effort. He directed the staff to get commanders involved in the process and take into consideration operational readiness, the soldiers, and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Stitt, the sudden need emerged when the Army discovered it faced a recruiter shortfall due to \u201cerrors\u201d in its forecasted recruiter strength \u2014 the three-star claimed the unspecified forecasting failures \u201chave been fixed.\u201d He declined to link the shortfall to Recruiting Command\u2019s ongoing purge of non-performing recruiters<\/a>, but rather attributed it to a multitude of factors including \u201can uptick in no-shows\u201d at the Army Recruiting College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army hopes to source an additional 800 attendees for the November and December courses at the recruiting school. But Stitt emphasized that officials will consider individual hardships when meting out assignments, even if it means not filling all 800 seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a soldier has a life situation, or a family situation, or professional situation that the chain of command, or their career manager and Human Resources Command is not identifying, we\u2019re going to talk to that soldier \u2026 we\u2019re going to work through this to ensure that we have the right NCOs at the right time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stitt and his enlisted advisor, Sgt. Maj. Christopher Stevens, said the service has expanded its cash and career incentives to reward those who complete these short-notice assignments \u2014 regardless of whether they volunteer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevens said that in addition to a one-time lump sum bonus of $5,000 available to volunteer Army-selected recruiters who complete recruiter training by February, any sergeant who completes the school and successfully reports to their recruiting assignment will be promoted to staff sergeant. That promotion will occur regardless of the soldier\u2019s promotion points, time-in-grade, or completion of professional military education \u2014 so long as the soldier\u2019s personnel file is not \u201cflagged,\u201d blocking them from favorable actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to volunteer bonuses and sergeant promotions, Stevens announced that staff sergeants selected in the current wave of recruiter assignments will earn \u201cmeritorious promotion\u201d to sergeant first class if they secure 24 recruits who ship to basic training in a 12-month span \u2014 regardless of their position on their career field\u2019s promotion order of merit list \u2014 as long as their evaluation board found them fully qualified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the interviews, Army G-1 spokesperson Maj. Shahin Uddin said \u201ceveryone\u201d who attends Army Recruiting College in November or December will receive an unspecified additional bonus. Uddin did not have more details about the financial incentive, however, and he was unable to immediately provide policy documents detailing the new suite of benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\t