Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Jason J Behnke | Electronics Technician (Nuclear) 1st Class Moses Ortiz, assigned to Navy Talent...... read more read more
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DETROIT – The job of a Navy recruiter has its difficulties. It’s hard for some people to get in front of a classroom and try to properly communicate the benefits of the Navy to high school students who might already think they have their futures all planned out.
Electronics Technician (Nuclear) 1st Class Moses Ortiz struggled with this when he began recruiting at Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Heartland in April 2021. He would speak with students who seemed to have no idea of the cost of school and the debt they were about to incur. He knew the significant benefits the G.I. Bill and the Navy could offer them, but he struggled to fully paint that picture for the students.
“It seemed that they weren’t really self-inserting themselves into finding out what failure could look like,” Ortiz said.
He said students often don’t consider the college debt they’ll be paying for the next 10 to 15 years and the reality of what goes with that debt. He wanted to find a way to better explain how committing to join the Navy could vastly change their quality of life over the next decades.
“One of the key moments, and one of the key parts of when I started actually really caring about the presentation, before I had any materials in the first place, was when I had a nuclear prospect I was trying to get into the office,” Ortiz said. “He was on the fence for about two months.”
When Ortiz finally sat down with the student and his mother, he learned about the student’s excellent GPA and the scholarships already offered to him, but when he asked him to break down on paper his life expenses, future salaries and other statistics, both he and his mother started to see the opportunities the Navy could provide.
After that visit, Ortiz began to really dig into the numbers. It took a few more visits, but the student ultimately agreed with Ortiz that the Navy could offer him much more than the traditional college route.
“But I felt like I could have had that conversation faster if I had the materials on hand,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz spent months researching and working with a designer to create an infographic with verifiable statistics specific to Indiana, the state in which he works.
“From there, when I started doing presentations, I had an immediate and direct change on how teachers viewed us,” he said. “Before, we weren’t reaching the crowds I wanted to reach, which were students who were locked into the idea that college was the only option. They already knew what they wanted to be at age 17.”
He said this new presentation he developed opened up a wider discussion among the students, and in those discussions, he realized that not a single one had a decent plan or knew the consequences their actions may ultimately bring.
He continued to work on his script to hone the key message, which was the importance of having a realistic and attainable plan for the future, and also how the Navy could provide a more immediate means to get to where they wanted to be. He even created a website, www.whatisyourplan101.org, where students, parents and teachers could see for themselves where he got his facts from.
“Overall, it is informative and engaging at the same time,” said Gas Turbine Systems Technician 1st Class Justin Manalang, a recruiter at NTAG Heartland, after viewing his presentation. “Most of the kids don’t want to listen to a recruiter because all we do is talk, but the visual presentation helps a lot to overcome that.”
“I think his presentation broke down the benefits of the Navy, as far as a long term plan,” said another recruiter, Torpedoman’s Mate 2nd Class Andrew Williams. “It showed that you don’t have to do the normal mold of graduating high school and then going straight to student debt.”
Ortiz’s presentation skills caught the attention of his chain of command. Late last year, he gave his presentation to NTAG Heartland leadership in Detroit. More recently, during a visit to the region, Rear Adm. Dennis Velez, Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, had a chance to speak with Ortiz and see the presentation for himself.
Velez immediately saw the wider potential and immediately saw how it could benefit recruiters nationwide. Development of tools and displays that will work for recruiters in other regions around the world are being developed based on Ortiz’s presentation, including a website where recruiters can customize the information for their area or for a specific person’s situation. Ortiz hopes this will help other recruiters break through to potential future Sailors who might be on the fence about joining the Navy.
“The end result [of traditional college] will almost always be five to 10 years of debt,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz wants students to know the time spent incurring that debt could instead be spent earning an income and learning a high-level skill, while also earning a degree if they choose.
To see the presentation and the research Ortiz has available, go to www.whatisyourplan101.org.
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2022 16:16 |
| Story ID: | 414952 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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