Photo By Alun Thomas | Lt. Col. Brandon Oliveira (left), commander, Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, Navajo...... read more read more
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The lineage of Navajo veterans has taken them to the battlefields of all major conflicts during their proud history of service. The Navajo Code Talkers are perhaps the most famous example of all – their integral and valiant efforts during World War II enshrined in legend and a key factor in the war being won.
The next generation of Navajo Soldiers looking to emulate their brethren continue to serve today, aided by the efforts of Navajo recruiters in the Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, all of whom are making a concerted effort to promote the Army mission to their respective Navajo communities.
It’s far from an easy task – gaining access to the Navajo reservations has proved to be challenging – but for these recruiters the challenge has been accepted and is proving to be a success, as they continue to make significant inroads to the Navajo youth they seek to inspire.
The process has been a constant and ongoing one for Staff Sgt. Patrick Nezzie, recruiter Flagstaff Recruiting Station, Phoenix North Recruiting Company, a native Navajo Soldier who has always sought to educate those around him on Navajo history.
“About a year ago I was selected for recruiting duty … I’ve been in the Army for 10 years and always wanted to come home and help my tribe,” said Nezzie, a native of Show Low, Ariz. “I’ve always been involved in the Navajo culture wherever I’ve been stationed, with the Native American Heritage Month and trying to get Navajo history recognized. I was the first indigenous, full blooded Native American many of my younger Soldiers had ever met.”
“During recruiting school I learned I’d be assigned to the Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, so I jumped on the opportunity to be assigned to Flagstaff Recruiting Station and come back to the reservation,” Nezzie added.
Serving alongside Nezzie in Flagstaff is fellow Navajo recruiter Staff Sgt. Nicholas Greyeyes, who grew up in nearby Page, Ariz., and jumped at the chance to recruit in his native Navajo environment.
“I also requested to be stationed here … I have a traditional Navajo background. My father was a police officer on the reservation, my uncle was a medicine man and my grandfather was a Soldier,” Greyeyes said. “I’ve also spent 10 years in the Army and in that time I’ve found Navajo communities everywhere I’ve served. On my deployments I’ve had at least one Navajo Soldier in my unit every time.”
Both Nezzie and Greyeyes immediately recognized the need to reach out to the local Navajo communities and gain access to the reservations, in order to provide knowledge about Army opportunities to local youth.
“I arrived before Nezzie, so I began with community leaders and going out to chapter houses on the reservation and talking to them,” Greyeyes said. “I’m from the Western side of the nation, so a lot of them are related or distantly related, so that proved to be a way in for me.”
“I spent a lot of time going to Native American high schools making sure I was pushing out what the Army had to offer them, “he continued.
The same applied to Nezzie, who quickly sought to reach out to the local Navajo community upon his arrival at the recruiting station.
“When I arrived here I was given free reign by my station commander to build relationships with local Navajo,” Nezzie said. “I grew up in the area and speak enough Navajo to get around, so that really impacts the kids when I talk to them. Usually it takes them by surprise and they’ll think ‘hey, he’s one of us.’”
Both Nezzie and Greyeyes found the amount of distance traveling to reach remote reservation and town quickly added up, but it’s something they’re happy to do to perform their jobs.
“We service about 30 Navajo Chapter Houses and 25 high schools. We also go to the dormitories here. The area is so geographically disparate, the students will stay in dorms when going to schools,” Greyeyes said. “We put about 3700 miles a month going out to the reservation. The towns are very remote in our area … the furthest is four hours away in Navajo Mountain.”
However the Navajo recruiting mission isn’t confined to Arizona, it’s also active in New Mexico, where Staff Sgt. Shandlin Lee, recruiter, Farmington Recruiting Station, Albuquerque Recruiting Company, is also striving to enlist local Navajo youth.
Lee, a native of Shiprock, N.M., eagerly took the opportunity to recruit close to where she was born, having grown up on the reservation and left to join the Army, which she has now done for 13 years.
“I come from a Marine family and I figured the Army would be something different. Also on my mother’s side I come from a military family and I was the first female on her side to join,” Lee said. “My grandmother used to have all these photos of our family members who had served, but there were no females so I wanted to be the first.”
Similar to Nezzie and Greyeyes, Lee was given the chance to recruit close to her hometown, something she gratefully accepted.
“I’ve been here a year and a half … I volunteered to come back because obviously I’m from here and the Army has given me so many opportunities to do so much. I want to pass that on to others,” she said.
Lee said she can identify with the students she talks to, having once been in the same situation as them.
“It’s easier for me to relate to the students around here … I grew up on the reservation, so it’s natural for me to talk about leaving home,” Lee added. “For a lot of Native American students it’s a tradition to stay home and care for the elderly. I’m trying to inspire them to leave for a little bit, do what they can and then come back and help the reservation.”
Lee said her efforts to reach the local Navajo youth have been paying off so far, with the majority of her Future Soldiers being Native American.
“I haven’t had much difficulty getting access to the reservation and local schools, because I’m from the area. When I tell them I’m from Shiprock they’re surprised I’m from around here and it helps open doors for me,” she stated.
“It’s important for me to educate people on the way the Army is today and what’s it done for me and many others. I think our messaging and efforts are paying off – over 90 percent of the Future Soldiers we put in are Navajo. I’m very proud of that,’ Lee said.
For Nezzie the drive to gain access to the community continues, aided in part by a relationship he formed with President Jonathan Nez of the Navajo Nation. This has paid dividends for both groups, Nezzie said, with a meeting between himself, President Nez and Lt. Col. Brandon Oliveira, commander, Phoenix Recruiting Battalion.
“I had met President Nez at a conference in Phoenix earlier this year and introduced myself to him. My station commander asked if I’d considered trying to get a meeting with him,” Nezzie said. “After a month of emails, calls and texts, (Lt. Col) Oliveira and I finally got to sit down and talk with him on April 12.”
“We discussed outreach programs and getting out into the community to promote the Army, to let people know ‘hey, this is actually a good thing.’ We also talked with the president about trying to get local schools to teach Navajo language, Navajo history and the military in general,” he continued.
Nezzie said President Nez was appreciative for the meeting and the Phoenix battalion reaching out to him.
“With the school districts, council members and tribal leadership I’ve talked to, they all see our presence in the schools as a positive. They recognize that we’re showing these kids a way out of here,” Nezzie continued. “President Nez and his cabinet loved everything we had to say. We’re the only military branch who’ve reached out to him and actually taken the time to sit down with him and his staff.”
The relationship has allowed increased access to locations previously not visited by recruiters, with the hard work now paying off, Nezzie said.
“We’re now starting to see the impact of these visits, where the negativity of the youth is starting to become positive. They’re seeing these two Native Americans repeatedly showing their faces, which means they care,” he said.
“I don’t want them to fall into the same vicious cycle that my family experienced, with alcoholism and going in and out of jail. I want them to understand they have the greatest opportunity sitting right here in front of them,” Nezzie continued.
Nezzie always tries to stress the importance of Navajo’s who have served to the youth he meets and the impact they’ve made on military history.
“I’ve had a lot of family members who were in the military, most of them in the Marines. My grandfather was a code talker in World War 2 and I’ve had multiple relatives who served in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq,” Nezzie said. “I always tell these kids they come from a great background of warriors. If they join they get the knowledge, education and job experience which they can then bring back to the reservation when they’re done serving.”
Both Nezzie and Greyeyes agree they are seeing a shift in the way the local Navajo youth think and feel about the Army and its benefits.
“We’re really starting to see a shift … the kids are starting to contact us and we’re becoming really well known in the schools. It’s almost as if the kids are showing us off and saying ‘hey look, these are two guys who’ve done something with their lives and are hanging out with us,” Greyeyes said.
Nezzie said they’re now reaching vast sums of people they never thought possible.
“At one of our schools they hadn’t seen an Army recruiter for four years. I reached out to them and said we need to change this. That school opened up to us and afforded us the chance to hold an Army career day,’ he said.
“We did another career day at a school in Joseph City and completely filled the room. We had every college there you can think of, Marines … you name it. They had never seen us before; now we're here to stay."
| Date Taken: | 04.14.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.14.2022 19:43 |
| Story ID: | 418550 |
| Location: | FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA, US |
| Hometown: | PAGE, ARIZONA, US |
| Hometown: | SHIPROCK, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Hometown: | SHOW LOW, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 477 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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