Through the Recruiter's eyes

[img1]Sgt. Zach Coolidge says he's just a regular guy.

But as his title and camouflage uniform suggests, he's also in the military. Coolidge, a U.S. Army recruiter, came to the UW campus this week, pitching Army careers to students at a HUB career fair Tuesday.

Coolidge, Sgt. Steve Schoch and another recruiter came in uniform, along with a table of U.S. Army memorabilia.

Coolidge said landing in the recruiting wing of the Army wasn't necessarily his decision.

"I was chosen [by the Army] because of success in my career," he said, adding that many recruiters volunteer for recruitment positions.

Still, he said the Army for him is like any other "9-to-5" job.

"I'm a regular person," Coolidge said, pointing out his interests in snowboarding, music and art apart from the military. "It's one of those things where it's a job and there's more to a person."

All three recruiters appeared cautious in what they said about their jobs, saying the controversy over recruiters on high school and college campuses has spread misinformation about the level of convincing recruiters use, when finding people to join the military.

A federal law requires they tell the truth, however, each recruiter for the Army is responsible for recruiting two soldiers a month, which some see as a reason a few recruiters have cut corners to sign people up.

"That's one reason we're so gun-shy about it," Schoch said of reports of overly aggressive recruiting. "Once one person does it, it becomes the whole military."

He said the way he and most recruiters do their jobs is different and pointed out that even after papers are signed, recruits are free (but not especially encouraged) to change their minds until they are officially sworn into the military.

"We're trying to tell the truth here," he said.

Both Schoch and Coolidge said they go about their recruiting efforts honestly and understand when a student turns them down.

"Everybody knows the Army's not for everyone," Coolidge said.

1. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that recruiting visits like these were the armed forces' right, shooting down allegations that public institutions should be allowed to ban military recruiters from campuses due to the military's restrictive policies on homosexuals.

The decision upheld the "Solomon Amendment," a law passed in the 1990s that denied federal funding to colleges and universities that bar on-campus military recruiting. The opposition stemming from that decision has made recruiting more difficult, Coolidge said.

"It's frustrating, but at the same time you can't lead a horse to water," he said.

The military's overall presence at the UW, though, is fairly well-entrenched. The UW offers ROTC programs through the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force branches -- making it one of the few schools to offer all three programs, said Lt. Col. Gordon Cureton, enrollment and scholarship officer for the Army ROTC program.

The programs' roles within the University are different and would not have been affected by the ruling, Cureton said, adding that the only recruiting this department does is essentially for UW courses.

In this program the courses are electives, which Cureton said can -- but don't necessarily -- lead students to careers as officers in the U.S. Army.

"It's about leadership development, and it also provides opportunities for young people," he said.

Advising is another role, Cureton said.

"Our focus is to make sure that the student is making an informed choice and also that they know what they're signing up for," he said.

As for recruitment for military programs outside the UW, Schoch believes the choice should lie with the students recruiters target, and not college or high school administrators.

"Why should people make decisions for other people," he said.