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New recruiting office enhances customer service, professional development

  • Published
  • By Christa D'Andrea
  • Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs
AUSTIN, Texas --  More than 60 future Airmen had the opportunity to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony here Aug 1, officially opening the Air Force's newest recruiting office.

Col. Robert Borja, 369th Recruiting Group commander, Joint Base San Antonio Lackland, officiated the event which marked the last of five flight-centric recruiting offices to open nationwide.

The office, strategically located in a strip mall next door to a movie theater, is part of the Air Force Recruiting Service's transformational efforts to consolidate recruiting offices into centralized locations.

"This office completes the initial phase of the recruiting transformation that will ultimately provide better support to our future Airmen," Borja said before administering the oath of enlistment. "We will have more recruiter availability in the office and a flight chief on site to help with the professional development of our force."

The recruiting service is constantly developing new and innovative ways of conducting business, especially in light of current budget constraints. With the need to operate with fewer resources, these consolidated offices are designed to strengthen the recruiting force while simultaneously requiring fewer resources to carry out the mission.

The current recruiting model is based on one- or two-person offices where recruiters are separated from their teammates and flight chief; and are frequently away from their offices due to community engagement activities. This has led to a more expensive resource footprint and challenges with recruiter professional development and applicant access to a recruiter. The flight-centric concept will improve these areas.

The new Austin hub recruiting office covers seven recruiting zones which include 62 high schools. The furthest point a recruiter will have to drive to cover their area of responsibility is approximately 2.5 hours.

"I feel the new flight-centric office is going to provide more opportunities for better quality training, mentorship and leadership oversight," said Master Sgt. Shawn Amerson, 341st Recruiting Squadron Flight Chief. "Ultimately this will lead to a better trained recruiter."

Four other offices throughout the Austin area were closed and consolidated into this central location.

The new office's flight chief added that the concept will result in fewer customer service complaints due to having a constant recruiter presence in the office.

Future Airman Francisco Ornelas was on-hand for the event and took the oath of enlistment, alongside Chief Master Sgt. William Cavenaugh, AFRS command chief, who reaffirmed his commitment to the Air Force at the ceremony.

"I'm excited about this new office because I can train with other DEPpers [Delayed Entry Program members] and build team camaraderie," Ornelas said.

The future aircraft maintenance Airman is leaving for Basic Military Training in October. He wanted to join the Air Force because he was impressed with the type of people serving and wanted the opportunity to broaden his horizons.

Just before cutting the red ribbon, Borja said the lessons learned from this and the four other flight-centric offices will be applied across the nation as AFRS moves forward with implementing the transformation over the next several years.

The other four flight-centric offices are located in Bedford, N.H.; Macomb Township, Mich; Lexington, Ky; and Kennewick, Wash.