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NEWS | Feb. 23, 2016

Miami Recruiting Battalion hosts Recruiting Partnership Council in Puerto Rico

By Maj. Ruth Castro 1st Mission Support Command


FORT BUCHANAN, Puerto Rico – Miami Recruiting Battalion’s Recruiting Reserve Partnership Council brought Army Recruiters and Army Reserve command teams together at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, Feb. 20.

Miami Recruiting Battalion serves approximately 84 Army Reserve Units with vacancies in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. 

“The whole purpose of this Reserve Recruiters Partnership Council is for us to talk to each other,” said Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Harold E. Miller. “We have to establish that baseline of working together, synchronization and really look at our respective equities and make sure that we are all working together to execute our respective missions.”

United States Army Recruiting Command Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Troy D. Kok highlighted the importance of using Army Reserve Soldiers to help with recruiting efforts. 

“Our most untapped resource is our Army Reserve Soldiers. They are everywhere the recruiters work so hard to get into because they have different full-time jobs compared to active duty Soldiers,” said Kok. “Everyone in the room is responsible for our Army Reserve. Everyone is responsible for finding the right men and women to come in and fill the ranks of the best Army in the world so let’s use our resources.” 

Kok is an Army Reserve Soldier serving as an individual mobilization augmentee on active status. 

The ultimate goal of the Recruiting Reserve Partnership Council (RPC) is to build and sustain unit personnel strength by strengthening relationships between commanders and recruiters. 

“First of all, we have to recognize Brig. Gen. Kok’s leadership," said Brig. Gen. Jose R. Burgos, commanding general for the 1st Mission Support Command. “These RPCs were not happening at first, but after Kok became the deputy commander, he began to re-engage this program.”

Burgos mentioned that this is the perfect forum and opportunity for commanders and recruiters to establish or re-establish a relationship. 

“This is a great opportunity for our new commanders to meet and get to know the recruiters for their respective areas,” said Burgos. “We have discovered that a main issue is the vacancy system is telling the recruiters one thing but our system shows us something different. Now, we are able to start communicating more effectively and let the recruiters know what each individual unit's needs and vacancies are.”

During the day, the command teams were given the opportunity to ask questions and encouraged to interact with the recruiters. As the council continues to work together to address recruiting issues and synchronize recruiting efforts for the Army Reserve, the outcome should be very beneficial for all Army Reserve units.