Photo By Staff Sgt. Kyle McNan | U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Justin Baldwin, a Prior Service Recruiter with PSR...... read more read more
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. — Without U.S. Marine Corps recruiters there would not be a Marine Corps. Marines selected for recruiting duty have the task of reaching out into the civilian population and screening the most qualified Americans who want to rise to the challenge of becoming a Marine. Prior Service Recruiting (PSR) runs its own challenge of convincing Marines who are no longer active duty and affiliate them with their local Marine Corps Reserve unit. Staff Sgt. Justin Baldwin is one of these Marines.
In 2005, Baldwin enlisted out of Salem, Oregon, to become a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear specialist (CBRN). He served until 2009 and, like 75 percent of Marines, left active duty after his first contract. In 2011, Baldwin received a phone call from Staff Sgt. Mellissa Gardner — a prior service recruiter from 6th Marine Corps Recruiting District. Gardner helped Baldwin enter the reserves and by 2012 he entered the Active Reserve Marine Corps, allowing Baldwin to serve full-time in CBRN as a reservist. In 2015, Baldwin changed careers and became a Career Planner, a Marine whose mission is reenlisting qualified Marines in the career path best fit for them.
Marines who enlist into active duty contracts are obligated to at least three years of reserves after they complete their active duty service, if they don’t reenlist. When PSR affiliates these Marines to the units near them, they are able to retain their rank, supplement their income working part-time, and keep other benefits while fulfilling the obligated reserve time already contracted.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Baldwin found out he would be recruiting for PSR Station 6 in January 2021. When Baldwin arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, recruiting was mostly virtual with candidates through a screen and over the phone. Baldwin said the challenge of recruiting virtually is the lack of connection gained from in-person interviews.
“There’s no sweet talking the Marine Corps, they know what it’s already about. We have to come at it a different angle with selling the reserves,” said Baldwin. “Some of them have been out of the Marine Corps three plus years, and we have to try and affiliate them to a reserve unit.”
Convincing someone who has already served in active duty and made the decision to not pursue a Marine Corps career, to come back to service, is challenging enough without the barrier technology places between connecting to another person.
“This job is always just a grind. You can go from hero to zero really quickly, so it’s always just about keeping your population of joins rolling from month to month,” he said. Baldwin quickly learned the many challenges of recruiting, but he knew he had to work hard. “I was close enough at the end of this FY to push for Centurion. Building back that pool every month is tiresome, to say the least.”
Centurion is an accomplishment recruiters achieve by enlisting at least 100 Marines within 36 months; for a prior service recruiter, they have to reach 100 Marines within 18 months. Baldwin surpassed 100 joins in 16 months on prior service recruiting duty.
“This award can only be achieved by the recruiter's ability to proficiently execute his duties on an individual level, while having the mindset and willingness to put the team first by ensuring that the station, district, region, and MCRC achieve their mission,” explained Master Gunnery Sgt. Vincent Sicilia, a previous Centurion and the 6th Marine Corps District Prior Service Recruiting Operations Chief. “The Centurion Award has a numerical value of 100-joins, however, the award carries a legacy value amongst recruiters and career recruiters that speaks volumes about the character of the Marine!”
Baldwin said he didn’t want to miss his mission goals, so he has always overshot what mission the Marine Corps gives him. “My main goal for that was never awards, it was just to spend time with family.”
Baldwin’s dedication to his family drives his focus on his missions during work. “If you put in an honest day’s work, and you can go home knowing you put in an honest day’s work, then there’s nothing that can be said about that.”
Despite the challenges and unique opportunities of prior service recruiting, Baldwin’s drive, hard work, and constant focus on the recruiting mission has led him to reward and success. Achieving Centurion is a feat any recruiter can accomplish with the same mindset. “I didn’t come here for awards; at the end of the day, I just produced joins.”
| Date Taken: | 07.15.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2022 11:13 |
| Story ID: | 425154 |
| Location: | CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | SALEM, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 261 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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