Photo By Aren Everett | Yeoman 1st Class Michael Fisher is highlighted in this week's "Recruiter Spotlight."... read more read more
Subscribe
CHICAGO (Jan. 29) -- Many child abuse victims work hard to break the cycle of abuse as they grow into adulthood. For St. Petersburg, Florida, native Michael T. Fisher, breaking that cycle was contrasted with another family pattern.
Fisher knew he had to make life changes, so he joined the Navy, and currently he is assigned to Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Great Lakes as a Yeoman First Class. He holds the positions of command career counselor and operations administration officer.
As a child, Fisher experienced the effects of being raised in an alcoholic abusive environment along with a period of homelessness. Fisher always had hope for more in life, and stories of naval service passed on to him from his grandfather and other family members inspired and led him to his current path.
“I focused on sports, school and work to make it through,” said Fisher. “I joined the Navy at 18 to first get away, but ultimately I wanted to experience everything family members told me about when they served.”
At first, his path seemed to hit a dead end. Early in his career, Fisher married and had a child shortly after. He decided to get out of the Navy and start a restaurant in Florida. The economy, however, proved to be a daunting obstacle. Fisher realized his path had never ended but merely took an unexpected turn. He sold the restaurant and rejoined the Navy Reserve.
“I served on many different platforms while on Reserve orders which led me to recruiting duty,” said Fisher. “The Navy has given me a great opportunity to see and influence Sailors and civilians all around the world, and being at a recruiting command is important to me. I wanted to recruit to be able to directly influence the type of Sailors I would want to serve with and to know that I had a hand in developing Future Sailors, directly help shaping the force of the Navy.”
Fisher believed his path had finally straightened out. He reported to Navy Recruiting District (NRD) Chicago, now NTAG Great Lakes, in 2018, fully expecting to jump right in. The command, however, had other needs that he was uniquely qualified to fill, and Fisher’s path came to another bend.
“I came here to recruit, but upon arriving, I was personally recruited to be a one-man operations administration department gearing up for an inspection,” said Fisher. “Soon after, I became activity manning manager, in which I assist the chief recruiter with maintaining proper manning levels throughout the NTAG. This led to my recent selection of becoming the command career counselor for 215 enlisted Sailors.”
Although it was not what he anticipated, Fisher continued forward on his path and ran with it. Navy leadership says, he is not your typical Navy Recruiter. In fact, he’s not technically a recruiter at all, but he doesn’t let that stop him from doing the job in addition to supporting the recruiting mission.
“Even though I am not performing the work of your typical recruiter, I am constantly selling the Navy,” said Fisher. “I am consistently developing leads and providing them to our local Navy recruiting offices. The most rewarding thing is being able to actually change someone’s life by giving them options outside of ones they are currently facing.”
In his unique role, Fisher not only establishes connections with Future Sailors; he also aids his coworkers in their professional goals outside of recruiting.
“The other side of the coin is being able to effectively impact career decisions to our recruiters and support teams,” added Fisher. “In this role, I can be there and provide the best support I can to ease the typical challenges my colleagues face in managing their Navy careers while they focus on the mission and their families.”
Fisher believes that his perseverance, management and leadership skills have grown due to the ever-changing nature of his path, but he believes what makes him unique is that he genuinely cares about what is best for the Sailor.
“I do not quit when I hear ‘no,’” said Fisher. “I look for every avenue to ‘yes’ as if I was fighting for myself. I take every situation to heart and do everything in my power to not let others down.”
Whatever turn his path takes next, Fisher has no fear where it may lead.
“I attribute almost everything I have done to the Navy,” said Fisher. “My son is now 12. My ultimate goal is to be the best father I can be and raise a family that many would be proud of. Without the Navy, I wouldn’t have met the many people who have helped shape me into the man, father and Sailor I am today. I will figure out the best way to make it work because of the lessons I have learned from them.”
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions, 26 NTAGs and 64 Talent Acquisition Onboarding Centers (TAOCs) that serve more than 1,000 recruiting stations around the world. Their mission is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MyNAVYHR), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.29.2021 14:50 |
| Story ID: | 387949 |
| Location: | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 309 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Following the Path, by Aren Everett, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
