Guam native named 2026 Air Force Recruiter of the Year

Master Sgt. Shaun Marvin Kho, an enlisted recruiter assigned to the 333rd Recruiting Squadron, here, has been named the 2026 Air Force Recruiter of the Year.

Kho has served 11 years on active duty, the last two as a recruiter. He said the decision to become a recruiter grew out of his own experience going through the Delayed Entry Program.

“I took a look at the three options as far as Recruiting, Military Training Leader and Military Training Instructor, and the one that stuck out the most to me was specifically recruiting,” Kho said. “I never really imagined myself becoming a recruiter. It was never really in the cards.”

Kho credited his own recruiter with setting the example he now follows.

“My recruiter from the get-go provided an awesome experience, just being able to change a person’s life and set them up for their next chapter,” he said. “I took that as a challenge on why I wanted to do this and bring it back full circle.”

At Royal Palm Beach, Kho worked alongside fellow recruiters Justin Doherty, Matthew Marcus and Dillon Hill. The team’s combined effort helped drive a successful fiscal year 2025, Kho said, built on a balance of hard work and camaraderie.

Kho said the job has let him connect with people from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who are homeless, whose college plans fell through, or who are simply looking for a different path and show them a bigger picture through service in the Air Force or Space Force. Over his time as a recruiter, he has helped guide both special warfare candidates and other prospective airmen and guardians into the service.

“It’s really awesome that we get to work with civilians and help them understand this is something worth looking into,” Kho said. “This is what your nation will ask of you, but in return it will give you all the different things to be successful in life as well.”

Kho said his own path to the Air Force shaped how he approaches recruiting today. He grew up in Guam, the oldest of four siblings, and said he struggled to navigate steps like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as he planned for life after high school. A Spanish teacher who was an Air Force veteran encouraged him to consider the service, and Kho said his own recruiter was honest and transparent about what military life would look like.

“I just wanted the opportunity to change my life and also be able to go to school and prove to my parents that this is something worth looking into aside from the traditional route of college,” Kho said.

Reflecting on more than a decade in uniform, Kho said he never expected to end up where he is today.

“I never really would’ve pictured myself being where I am today in the past 11 years,” he said.