Photo By Cpl. Fred Garcia | U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Eduardo Villalobos, a canvassing recruiter with...... read more read more
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For today’s youth, charting a course through life becomes exponentially tedious when there is no one to provide guidance along the journey. Once high school is over, exams completed and going away parties had, what’s to do then?
A unique mentor from Recruiting Station Orange County has made himself known for getting young men and woman on the path to an exciting future. Gunnery Sgt. Eduardo Villalobos, a canvassing recruiter with Recruiting-Substation Norwalk, is being recognized for the uncommon achievement of contracting 100 men and woman into the United States Marine Corps. He is now classified as a “Centurion”.
“The way I see it is you give the best service to them,” said Villalobos. “Then, they’ll recommend their friends. But it wasn’t about the numbers; it just happened to lead to 100. It was more about am I really helping this person? Is this person going to actually be successful?”
Villalobos, a native of Fontana, California, spoke of one inspirational figure that “had it together” in his eyes; his brother-in-law, Leo Banuelos, was the only Marine he knew growing up.
“I’d say my brother-in-law was a big factor when it came to joining the Marine Corps,” said Villalobos. “He was a Marine, and I didn’t know anything about the Marine Corps, I didn’t know anything about the military.”
Disinterested in higher education, he focused his time into a job immediately following his high school courses. According to Villalobos, he never felt satisfaction from the work he did and was in search of his calling elsewhere.
Villalobos would make the decision and commit to becoming a Marine. He enlisted into the Marine Corps as an administrative specialist and was stationed with Headquarters and Service Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina; Recruiting Station Sacramento; and Special Operations Command Europe in Stuttgart, Germany. After completing three successful duty stations, Villalobos then volunteered to take on the rigorous challenge of recruiting duty.
Upon completing Basic Recruiter Course, Villalobos determined that the best piece of advice he had received was to “be yourself.”
“When I first got here, I was stuck in I need to hit the next step,” said Villalobos. “I need to hit that step, I need to hit X, Y and Z. Test for commitment, all that stuff. I was just psyched about every single step to a tee that it was messing me up.”
To succeed as a recruiter, he had to become more personable in his approach. Focusing on his own method of appealing to people is where he found success in recruiting. This self-reflection of character and professionalism became the byproduct of an ambition to advance in his career field.
“Up until this tour, I’ve never really thought about why I joined,” said Villalobos. “Getting asked 100 times, day in and day out ‘why did you join?’ ‘Why should I join the Marine Corps?’ All this really makes you think. Recruiting has taught me more about myself during these last three years, then probably my last nine in the Marine Corps.”
For Villalobos, it wasn’t until he came to a better understanding of himself that he was able to establish this personal connection with his poolees and become a better mentor.
“I treat people the way I want to be treated,” said Villalobos “I treat them like siblings. People even call me their big brother; some see me as a father figure. There’s a lot of things they see me as, because of how I treat them. I’m just trying to look out for them.”
According to Maj. Michael Nolan, commanding officer of RS Orange County, Villalobos’ success can be contributed to his passion.
“I think the thing that makes Gunnery Sgt. Villalobos special is how much he genuinely cares about the applicants that he’s working and the poolees that are under his charge,” said Nolan. “He generates just so much momentum from a contracting perspective, based on people he is truly invested in and passionately led. I think the key to his success is just genuine passion and care for the people that he’s helping get into the Marine Corps. That’s allowed him to be the most successful recruiter in the county.”
| Date Taken: | 12.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2024 15:34 |
| Story ID: | 486995 |
| Location: | NORWALK, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | FONTANA, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 443 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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