Greenville, N.C. Recruiting Center meets recruiting targets

Photo and Story by

Shahron James

Public Affairs Officer

Raleigh Recruiting Battalion

Sgt. 1st Class Meola, Center Leader for Greenville Recruiting Center

The Greenville Recruiting Center has met their targets for fiscal year 2015. As part of the Raleigh Recruiting Battalion, the Greenville Recruiting Center has performed as one of the better recruiting organizations.   

They are rank #7 within recruiting stations in North Carolina trending for #5 rank.

Currently they have enlisted 98 Regular Army (RA) and 10 Reserve (R) personnel.

Today Center Leader Sgt. 1^st Class Meola sat down with the local paper, the Daily Reflector reporter Abbie Bennett, to discuss their success. 

“I will say that many of the recruits today are joining the Army for job opportunities and educational benefits,” said Sgt. 1^st Class Meola.   

Even though the Greenville Company has met their targets, they are still enlisting recruits from the greater Greenville Area. According to Sgt. 1^st Class Meola their goal is not to drain or take from the community, but to build solid citizens.

“Even though many people are joining the Army for benefits, many of them are coming back to improve the community,” he said.

Sgt. 1^st Class Meola stressed the fact that they are looking for qualified individuals, making note of some of the disqualifiers for military service.

“We need people that are medically and morally qualified and are able to pass the ASVAB. Failing the ASVAB is perhaps the greatest deterrent to recruiting in our area,” he said.

Despite having disqualified candidates, the center has met the goal and state that since September 11, 2001 they have enlisted over 1500 recruits in the U.S. Army.

“I am not sure many of today’s recruits are joining for the same reasons they did back then. You have to consider that some of the freshmen in high school weren’t even born when 9/11 happened,” said the Center Leader.

“I joined the military 13 days before 9/11 and was looking for a way to pay for college. Many of today’s recruits are doing the same thing,” he said.

Those that are joining the Army today are considered to be the top 1% of the population that are qualified for military service in the Regular Army or Reserves.  

The focus of the Army is to build a force for 2020 and beyond. That means that there are benefits to serving that may not be available in other branches of service. 

The U.S. Army is still the only branch in which recruits are allowed to select their job and plan their future before shipping out to Basic Training. This is part of the tools that have allowed companies like Greenville Center to meet their goals.

Furthermore, Sgt. 1^st Class Meola says that the recruiters are heavily involved in the high schools.

“We are in the high schools 4 to 5 times a week and we get involved in the community with such things as high school football games,” he said. 

The Greenville Company will be sponsoring the Friday Night Football at North Pitt High School this Friday and possibly having Future Soldiers “swear in” their enlistment.

People in the Greenville area are encouraged come out a join in the festivities.