MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- The Marine Corps’ top performing recruiting stations were awarded the fiscal year 2004 (FY04) Superior Achiever Award in a ceremony held Oct. 13, here.
The ceremony was part of a three-day commanders’ conference that gathered approximately 120 Marine officers from recruiting commands throughout the nation. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, presented the award to 22 of the Marine Corps’ 48 recruiting station (RS) commanders. Also in attendance were the Commanding General of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, Brig. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, and commanders from both the Eastern Recruiting Region (ERR) and the Western Recruiting Region (WRR).
The award ceremony, now in its 23rd year, is held annually to honor all RS commanders who meet or exceed the Corps’ recruiting goals for the fiscal year. Recipients receive an engraved plaque from the Commandant of the Marine Corps to be displayed in their headquarters.
“Our Marine recruiters are recruiting the future Marine Corps and they are doing a tremendous job during very challenging times,” Hagee said. “We have a challenge this upcoming year but I feel quite confident that the Marines we have out there are going to recruit the right young Americans to come in and earn the privilege of wearing the Eagle, Globe and Anchor.”
With conflicts continuing in the Middle East, the Corps’ leaders are conscious that recruiting efforts may become more challenging. However, Gaskin remains confident that the conference will help recruiting commanders prepare for the future.
“This conference gives us the chance to find out in this business what confronts our recruiting efforts and what the solutions are,” Gaskin said. “We are doing well in recruiting but we know there are going to be tough times ahead based on what’s happening in the world, so we are here to share successes and failures and discuss the strategies that will help us maintain the Corps’ strength.”
While recruiting commanders discussed recruiting issues and created ideas for the upcoming years, some of the award recipients were just proud to have achieved or exceeded their recruiting goals from the previous fiscal year.
“I feel extremely proud of my Marines, because it is never necessarily the work done by the recruiting station commander but it is the staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge (SNCOIC) in every tactical fight and in every RSS across America that is really doing the job of attaining the mission for the Marine Corps,” said Maj. Shane Tomko, commanding officer, RS Portsmouth, N.H. “These guys are the real true winners of the Superior Achiever Award.”
For nine consecutive years, the Corps has continued to meet its recruiting goals by enlisting approximately 38,000 new recruits a year to fill the Corps’ ranks. In FY04, Marine recruiters sent 36,794 young men and women to recruit training for the opportunity to become a United States Marine.
A complete list of the recruiting stations that were awarded the FY04 Superior Achiever Award is as follows:
RS Buffalo
RS New York
RS Portsmouth
RS Springfield
RS Harrisburg
RS Cleveland
RS Detroit
RS Atlanta
RS Nashville
RS Orlando
RS Fort Lauderdale
RS Columbia
RS Phoenix
RS San Antonio
RS Albuquerque
RS Houston
RS Chicago
RS Indianapolis
RS Lansing
RS Milwaukee
RS Twin Cities
RS Sacramento