MARINE CORPS RECRUITING SUBSTATION WORCESTER, MA -- It is Marine Corps training at its finest. Each Marine fine-tunes his skills to continue the team's success. The Noncommissioned Officer In Charge chooses scenarios he feels need improvement and then focuses on ways to improve. There is excitement, anxiety and pressure during this training; however, it is not the stereotypical Marine scenario. There are no weapons, war paint or military vehicles, yet the tactics used to accomplish the mission are strikingly similar to a Marine Corps field environment.
It came as no surprise that with such emphasis on improvement that Recruiting Substation Worcester recently became 1st Marine Corps District's Fiscal Year-03 RSS of the year.
According to the Marines of RSS Worcester, the recipe for their success is based primarily on teamwork. Although each Marine is responsible for an individual recruiting quota, the entire RSS works together to achieve the total mission.
"We are a team," said Staff Sgt. Anthony M. Lanza. "I relate a lot of things to football. If the quarterback is down in the dump then you are not going to get a touchdown, if the running back is down or defense is lacking same thing ... I am very fortunate that I have good Marines. Given the mission that needs to be done, they go out there and do it. Sometimes they may fall a bit and you have to pick them back up, but ultimately we are a team. We are all helping each other out."
"The thing that has made us successful is teamwork," said Sgt. Keith Odle, RSS Worcester canvassing recruiter. "Not everyone is going to have a successful month every month, but when that one Marine doesn't have a successful month, the other Marines know that it is time to pick up the pace and come together as a team."
The team concept plays directly into the training. Each week on Friday the team gets together and focuses on ways to improve. Many times the recruiters go through role-playing scenarios that will help them when interviewing an applicant.
"It adds stress on the recruiter because now they are performing in front of their peers," said Lanza. "So they know now that whatever little mistakes they are making will be caught and brought up. It improves them and brings them back to the basics."
After each scenario, Lanza asks the recruiters to discuss the positive aspects of the scenario. The recruiters then discuss all the things that should remain the same before discussing how to improve.
"Training sometimes gets to a point where it is always negative; especially out here in recruiting," said Lanza. "What I mean by that is a lot of times you will see Marines when they do any type of training they are quick to say what they messed up on, but part of the coaching steps is to let them know what they did good and what you don't want them to change, because that is important. And then after that you want to let them know, this is what I would like to see you improve on."
Each week the training may change, but one aspect remains the same - improving the effectiveness of each Marine recruiter. "How effective are you?" asks Lanza. "You can make thousand upon thousands of phone calls, but how effective are you. I want them to work effectively. If they work effectively then they will produce the numbers."
Although training and effectiveness plays a large role in the success of RSS Worcester, there is another key ingredient in this recipe of success and that is the relationships of the Marine Corps in the community.
"It is not just integrity that you maintain amongst your poolees and your applicants, but having the integrity with your schools, your contacts - being professional with everybody," said Sgt. James T. Gray, RSS Worcester canvassing recruiter.
"The local community's support of the military and the former Marines and reservists are very helpful," said Staff Sgt. Charles A. McCullough, RSS Worcester assistant NCOIC.
The recruiters hope to continue their success by sticking to the basics and continuing to improve. "I see us staying on top like we have always been," said Staff Sgt. David Lawson Jr., RSS Worcester Canvassing recruiter.
Each month RSS Worcester continues to focus on improvement and success. With a strategy like that, it would not be unlikely to see the RSS Worcester Marines succeeding for two years in a row.