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quotas—I arranged staff meetings, received briefings and estimates and we developed Public Relations strategies to attract more young men and women to the Corps. I traveled the State often unannounced to inspect our sub stations and check on the recruiters who manned them—I wanted to see their records , their ‘contact list’, records of high school visits, drop ins, etc. Initially, I had to get a few ‘salty’ Marine recruiters ‘squared away’ by reminding them that they were ‘still in the Corps.’ and refreshed their memories about the care of the uniform and the condition of their office. For a Captain I was still ‘youthful’ in my appearance but that initial reaction on their part was quickly dispelled when they had their first ‘dressing down’ discussion with me. My initial reaction to my first visit ‘to the field’ is that we had some complacency and therefore, some ‘slippage’ in our sub stations—something the Sgt. Major agreed with when I shared my observations upon return to the Station. The word quickly got around ( the recruiters called each other to share their experience ) that the new OIC was a ‘hard ass’ ( according to the Sgt. Maj.) and for the most part the recruiters knew that things may have gotten too lax over time. We had a budget that required that our expenses be tied to our recruiting quota—how much were we spending to recruit each new Marine—by Station—By sub station and by recruiter. I worked with my immediate staff to figure ways to reduce spending and increase ‘production’. Basically, I was operating as a CEO or a manager—and this was a new experience for me.
Meeting Chesty Puller
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