RS LA balances excellence in 2002;Station awarded for quality applicants;

21 Feb 2003 | Marine Corps Recruiting Command

The results are in from Western Recruiting Region for 2002 and after a year of hard work and a teams commitment to finding America?s finest young warriors, Recruiting Station Los Angeles earned the title ?Quality Recruiting Station of the Year.?
Announced at the commanding officer?s recent conference, the news reinforced the commanding officer?s intent, which is to reinforce quality and not quantity, according to SgtMaj. Reginald B. Taylor, RS LA sergeant major.
The station, also known as ?LA Hard,? was first nominated by 12th Marine Corps District and then competed with the other three districts? top stations in the Western Recruiting Region.
A select panel looked at issues such as missing documents (when recruits arrive at the Marine Corps Recruit Depots) and failed ISTs (initial strength tests), according to Maj. Trent A. Ferris, WRR?s operation chief.  
Before the general sets eyes on a potential winner, the statistics are verified, said Ferris.
The panel focused on three main elements in recruiting: shipping, production and quality, according to Ferris.
?RS LA did an awesome job leading from the front in the past as far as high APR (average per recruiter),? he said. ?Typically, when you are a large station, you chase an APR and tend to lose quality. This year, RS LA proved they could provide the Corps with a balance of excellence in new recruits while continuing to maintain a high APR.?
Quality is important to the Marines because they want the best and ?the ultimate goal for us is to get a recruit passed the first training phase and eventually graduate,? Ferris said.
Other issues looked at were service record book discrepancies and ?moment of truth? disclosures.  Moment of truth disclosures happen during the first 48 hours a recruit arrives to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego or MCRD Parris Island, S. C. for boot camp, according to GySgt. Albert Delamora, RS LA?s operations chief.
At the RS level, ?our recruit liaison section begins the ?granddaddy? of quality control screenings,? he said.
Delamora went on to say, ?they sternly question the applicants with an intense amount of authority in order to weed out any information that could have been missed or unsaid to the recruiters.?
Once at MCRD they will be screened again and it will be even more intense than the screening they receive here, he stated.
According to the Guidebook for RS Operations, Volume III, Chapter 7, the MEPS Liaison is personally responsible for ensuring that any applicant who enlists or ships to recruit training meets the Marine Corps? enlistment criteria and that every applicant?s enlistment package is complete and correct.
Currently GySgt. Oscar S. Colindres, MEPS senior Marine liaison, SSgt. Jarrod D. Washington, MEPS liaison staff noncommissioned officer in charge and Cpl. Isaac Moreno, MEPS liaison assistant, ensure all applicants are in compliance with the Corps? enlistment criteria.
Colindres considers the three of them as the point men or forward observers who are on the lookout for anyone that could cause harm to the Corps.
?Basically, we are concerned with identifying people who want to enlist in the Marine Corps that would pose a medical threat to others or themselves,? said Colindres.
Besides keeping recruits from getting hurt, ?we want to keep the Marine Corps clean and preserve the integrity of both the applicant and the Corps,? he said.
Los Angeles MEPS wants to identify problems before applicants get to boot camp and are faced with ?the moment of truth.?
?We are looking for basic red flags such as criminal tendencies, drug use and other affiliations. Also, we want to identify incidents in their past which may indicate a trend that may cause discredit to the Marine Corps.? Colindres continued.
The Liaisons are not taking all the credit for this award.
?Winning this award starts with the sweat and hard work of the recruiters on the streets,? Colindres said. 
Things like this do not just happen, ?It takes a combined effort from the whole team. It starts from the command level and works its way throughout the team as a whole. Our secret to success is no secret. It is what was instilled in every Marine from the day they stood on the footprints; teamwork,? he said.


Marine Corps Recruiting Command