Seapower - August 2009

Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher Mattis

Staff Noncommissioned Officer in Charge Recruiting Substation, Silver Spring, Md.

SGT. GENOS L. ATHANASIOS

We work anywhere from 0800 to about 2100-2200. We do put in a lot of hours. My wife is a Marine, and she’s very supportive. She understands the hours, so it makes my life a little bit easier on recruiting duty.

Hostility comes with the territory of recruiting. A lot of times, it’s people not knowing what the Marine Corps is all about. Nine times out of 10, it’s the parent we have to convince. The biggest challenge is to break down the stereotype of Marine Corps as just always brutal. There are a lot of different sides to the Marine Corps than just the infantry, such as support elements and aviation.

Another big challenge is the physical fitness of today’s youth. There’s a big difference in attitude from when I went to high school, when most teenagers were more active outdoors. Now you find young men and women are more indoors, playing more video games. They’re more computer savvy, but we’ve got to constantly be working out with them and getting them in shape. PT [physical training] is conducted every single day here for the applicant pool because we have to lead by example.

In my experience, most applicants tend to go more for the infantry and other combat-type jobs. A lot of them joined because they’ve done high school and they want to get out in the real world. In the Marine Corps, they’re going to be able to get in the action and serve their country. The difference we make is the caliber of young men and women that we put into the Marine Corps. They tend to be unselfish and very patriotic.

The best part about this job is actually impacting the lives of the young men and women that we meet. Even though some of them don’t see it, we’re actually changing their lives. Doing something positive for them motivates me to come out and do that every single day. ■

I’m from New Jersey and have been in the Marine Corps 12-and-a-half years. I joined because I wanted to do something different. I did high school. I did technical school. And I just wanted a little bit more, a challenge. I became a motor transport mechanic. I’ve been a recruiter for two years.

I supervise five recruiters. Each recruiter is tasked to achieve a minimum of two applicants per month to join the Marine Corps. Every day is different, but we have a standard plan. We go out and prospect, anywhere from telephone calls to going to the local malls and stores. We’re very big in the high schools. From there we do a couple of homes. We get really personable as far as the door-to-door, face-to-face contact most of the time.