Los Angeles Battalion Staff Sgt. Yu Rhee receives congratulations form Brigadier Gen. James Iacocca USAREC Deputy Commanding General in September for earning the Master Badge.
Master Recruiter Badge Recipient, Former Medic Uses Recruiting
Duty to Help People
By Lynsie Dickerson, USAREC, Public Affairs Office
Photo by Fonda Bock
Jan. 6, 2015
Soldiers become recruiters for a variety of reasons. For Los Angeles Battalion’s Staff Sgt. Yu Rhee, a Master Recruiter Badge recipient, recruiting is a way to help others.
Rhee said he became interested in recruiting after being a part of the Hometown Recruiter Assistance Program.
“I was able to actually bring someone into the office that ended up enlisting. Ever since then, I had an interest in recruiting duty,” he said. “I enlisted in the Army in the medical field to help people, and I thought recruiting might be another way to help people while helping the Army as well.”
Before becoming a recruiter, Rhee was a medic and deployed with the 62nd Medical Brigade to Africa and Kuwait from 2002 to 2003 and Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He became a cardiovascular specialist in 2007 and was assigned to the cardiac catheterization lab at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington.
Recruiting was not what Rhee had imagined it would be, he said. After arriving to recruiting duty in January of 2013, he realized how challenging it can be and gained a lot more respect for recruiting.
“When you come out to recruiting, it’s a very new environment,” he said. “You’re not in the typical military type of environment. Most of the people that you work with don’t know about the military or the Army.”
This presents unique challenges when interviewing, processing, and getting people to enlist, Rhee said.
“Learning from the other recruiters and the leadership was very important,” he said, adding that time management is one of the most challenging aspects of recruiting.
“I do a lot of presentations at schools, I meet with reserve units, of course I interview qualified applicants throughout the day, we do community events,” Rhee said. “I don’t know if there is an average day for me.”
Rhee stood out from his peers in his professionalism and ability to spread Army awareness, said 1st Sgt. Jorge Larez, Long Beach Recruiting Company.
“He’s just a stand-up guy,” Larez said.
Rhee enjoys recruiting duty — enough to do it for the rest of his career. He is in the process of becoming a 79R.
“The way I approach recruiting is, of course I’m helping the Army provide the strength in numbers, but when I talk to the applicants, people interested in the Army, my approach is that I'm here to help them as well,” he said. “I really get to know what their goals are in life and why they’re here sitting in front of me in my office and I really try to help that person.
“Just like in the medical field, there’s that job satisfaction that comes with helping others and I think that’s what I enjoy most about it.”
Larez called Rhee a “very genuine” person and said he executed well any task assigned to him.
“He speaks intelligently, has a great Army story, and he is passionate about the mission and his team’s success,” Larez said.
Rhee tell people considering becoming a recruiter that recruiting duty is "challenging, but great."
“I tell them that the Army career is a 20-plus year career,” he said. “If they’re looking for something new, a new way to serve, to challenge themselves, this is a great way to do it because you have to be creative.”
Enjoying talking to people and helping people as well as having an outgoing personality are qualities useful to recruiters, Rhee said.
“Recruiting is a good challenge in a positive way if you have the right mindset,” Rhee said. “Whenever we get new recruiters, right off the bat I tell them, ‘the most import thing for you is a positive mindset and the desire to succeed.’”
By Lynsie Dickerson, USAREC, Public Affairs Office
Photo by Fonda Bock
Jan. 6, 2015
Soldiers become recruiters for a variety of reasons. For Los Angeles Battalion’s Staff Sgt. Yu Rhee, a Master Recruiter Badge recipient, recruiting is a way to help others.
Rhee said he became interested in recruiting after being a part of the Hometown Recruiter Assistance Program.
“I was able to actually bring someone into the office that ended up enlisting. Ever since then, I had an interest in recruiting duty,” he said. “I enlisted in the Army in the medical field to help people, and I thought recruiting might be another way to help people while helping the Army as well.”
Before becoming a recruiter, Rhee was a medic and deployed with the 62nd Medical Brigade to Africa and Kuwait from 2002 to 2003 and Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He became a cardiovascular specialist in 2007 and was assigned to the cardiac catheterization lab at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington.
Recruiting was not what Rhee had imagined it would be, he said. After arriving to recruiting duty in January of 2013, he realized how challenging it can be and gained a lot more respect for recruiting.
“When you come out to recruiting, it’s a very new environment,” he said. “You’re not in the typical military type of environment. Most of the people that you work with don’t know about the military or the Army.”
This presents unique challenges when interviewing, processing, and getting people to enlist, Rhee said.
“Learning from the other recruiters and the leadership was very important,” he said, adding that time management is one of the most challenging aspects of recruiting.
“I do a lot of presentations at schools, I meet with reserve units, of course I interview qualified applicants throughout the day, we do community events,” Rhee said. “I don’t know if there is an average day for me.”
Rhee stood out from his peers in his professionalism and ability to spread Army awareness, said 1st Sgt. Jorge Larez, Long Beach Recruiting Company.
“He’s just a stand-up guy,” Larez said.
Rhee enjoys recruiting duty — enough to do it for the rest of his career. He is in the process of becoming a 79R.
“The way I approach recruiting is, of course I’m helping the Army provide the strength in numbers, but when I talk to the applicants, people interested in the Army, my approach is that I'm here to help them as well,” he said. “I really get to know what their goals are in life and why they’re here sitting in front of me in my office and I really try to help that person.
“Just like in the medical field, there’s that job satisfaction that comes with helping others and I think that’s what I enjoy most about it.”
Larez called Rhee a “very genuine” person and said he executed well any task assigned to him.
“He speaks intelligently, has a great Army story, and he is passionate about the mission and his team’s success,” Larez said.
Rhee tell people considering becoming a recruiter that recruiting duty is "challenging, but great."
“I tell them that the Army career is a 20-plus year career,” he said. “If they’re looking for something new, a new way to serve, to challenge themselves, this is a great way to do it because you have to be creative.”
Enjoying talking to people and helping people as well as having an outgoing personality are qualities useful to recruiters, Rhee said.
“Recruiting is a good challenge in a positive way if you have the right mindset,” Rhee said. “Whenever we get new recruiters, right off the bat I tell them, ‘the most import thing for you is a positive mindset and the desire to succeed.’”