Master Sgt. Donald Gallagher, Master Badge recipient.
Recruiter Masters Art, Science of Recruiting
By Lynsie Dickerson, USAREC, Public Affairs Office
Dec. 3, 2014
From 1,300 nominations and 33 recruiters in the competition, only seven people received U.S. Army Recruiting Command’s first-ever Master Recruiter Badge in September. Master Sgt. Donald Gallagher was one of them.
“When I joined the Reserves, I joined with the intent of becoming a recruiter,” he said. “I like helping people. I like talking to people and helping young men and women discover what they want to do in life and how the Army’s going to help them with that.”
Gallagher’s interest in being a recruiter started with friends talking about their own experiences in the field. It seemed to him like a very fulfilling assignment.
“Just through talking to them, and seeing their enjoyment within recruiting, I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” Gallagher said.
Before becoming a recruiter, he was an active-duty 14 Juliet, Air Defense C4I Operator Maintainer from October 1996 to August 2006. After a break in service, Gallagher joined the Army Reserve in January 2008. Eight months later, he submitted a packet for AGR to become a 79 Romeo.
“It was a big leap going from a combat arms MOS to a noncombat arms support-type position,” Gallagher said.
His first recruiting assignment was in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
“When I first got into recruiting, I found that it was very fast paced and you had to really work hard,” Gallagher said. “Your work ethic was pushed. The harder you work, the more success you see.”
After two years, Gallagher spent nearly a year and a half as a center leader in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He then went to Indianapolis and took over as first sergeant for the Indianapolis Metro South Recruiting Company. Gallagher came to Fort Knox to work at the Recruiting and Retention School this past September.
“He’s a great person,” said Capt. Larry Lowrance, Indianapolis Metro South company commander, of his former first sergeant. “He has a strong knowledge base, great research abilities and excellent leader development skills.”
Recruiting is both an art and a science, Gallagher believes.
“The art is your ability to interact with individuals,” he said, “your ability to talk to people, to counsel people, to read their body language, and really get to know them and understand their goals and aspirations and how the Army will help.
“The science is what tells you how to put yourself in the position to be at the right place at the right time.”
Serving as a recruiter is a great career progression move that strengthens many essential skills, Gallagher said.
“I truly believe that when a noncommissioned officer comes into recruiting duty and when they leave, they’ve made immense leaps in their ability to coach, teach, mentor and council individuals,” he said. “Recruiting also teaches you how to manage your time properly. You develop great time management skills, you develop administrative skills, and you’re also going to develop leadership skills.”
Gallagher said recruiting is a broadening assignment that gives Soldiers a bit of a break from their regular MOSs.
“I would just tell anybody that’s potentially looking at coming into recruiting that if they want a challenging assignment that offers great career progression and is going to help them become a better noncommissioned officer, that they should really look at coming into Recruiting Command,” he said. “The command has made great strides forward in ensuring that our noncommissioned officers receive the best training, are given the best tools, and are taken care of every day.”
Lowrance said Gallagher instilled a “will to win” attitude in the Indianapolis Metro South Soldiers.
“I think he did a good job of taking care of the Soldiers here,” Lowrance said. “They wanted to be here. They wanted to work, they wanted to win. That attitude to win, that attitude to be hungry, is still here.”
Even though recruiters frequently hear ‘no’ from prospects, it’s important to keep working, Gallagher said.
“Keep putting your nose to the pavement every day; get out there and you’ll be successful,” he said. “Eventually it will pay off for you.”
By Lynsie Dickerson, USAREC, Public Affairs Office
Dec. 3, 2014
From 1,300 nominations and 33 recruiters in the competition, only seven people received U.S. Army Recruiting Command’s first-ever Master Recruiter Badge in September. Master Sgt. Donald Gallagher was one of them.
“When I joined the Reserves, I joined with the intent of becoming a recruiter,” he said. “I like helping people. I like talking to people and helping young men and women discover what they want to do in life and how the Army’s going to help them with that.”
Gallagher’s interest in being a recruiter started with friends talking about their own experiences in the field. It seemed to him like a very fulfilling assignment.
“Just through talking to them, and seeing their enjoyment within recruiting, I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” Gallagher said.
Before becoming a recruiter, he was an active-duty 14 Juliet, Air Defense C4I Operator Maintainer from October 1996 to August 2006. After a break in service, Gallagher joined the Army Reserve in January 2008. Eight months later, he submitted a packet for AGR to become a 79 Romeo.
“It was a big leap going from a combat arms MOS to a noncombat arms support-type position,” Gallagher said.
His first recruiting assignment was in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
“When I first got into recruiting, I found that it was very fast paced and you had to really work hard,” Gallagher said. “Your work ethic was pushed. The harder you work, the more success you see.”
After two years, Gallagher spent nearly a year and a half as a center leader in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He then went to Indianapolis and took over as first sergeant for the Indianapolis Metro South Recruiting Company. Gallagher came to Fort Knox to work at the Recruiting and Retention School this past September.
“He’s a great person,” said Capt. Larry Lowrance, Indianapolis Metro South company commander, of his former first sergeant. “He has a strong knowledge base, great research abilities and excellent leader development skills.”
Recruiting is both an art and a science, Gallagher believes.
“The art is your ability to interact with individuals,” he said, “your ability to talk to people, to counsel people, to read their body language, and really get to know them and understand their goals and aspirations and how the Army will help.
“The science is what tells you how to put yourself in the position to be at the right place at the right time.”
Serving as a recruiter is a great career progression move that strengthens many essential skills, Gallagher said.
“I truly believe that when a noncommissioned officer comes into recruiting duty and when they leave, they’ve made immense leaps in their ability to coach, teach, mentor and council individuals,” he said. “Recruiting also teaches you how to manage your time properly. You develop great time management skills, you develop administrative skills, and you’re also going to develop leadership skills.”
Gallagher said recruiting is a broadening assignment that gives Soldiers a bit of a break from their regular MOSs.
“I would just tell anybody that’s potentially looking at coming into recruiting that if they want a challenging assignment that offers great career progression and is going to help them become a better noncommissioned officer, that they should really look at coming into Recruiting Command,” he said. “The command has made great strides forward in ensuring that our noncommissioned officers receive the best training, are given the best tools, and are taken care of every day.”
Lowrance said Gallagher instilled a “will to win” attitude in the Indianapolis Metro South Soldiers.
“I think he did a good job of taking care of the Soldiers here,” Lowrance said. “They wanted to be here. They wanted to work, they wanted to win. That attitude to win, that attitude to be hungry, is still here.”
Even though recruiters frequently hear ‘no’ from prospects, it’s important to keep working, Gallagher said.
“Keep putting your nose to the pavement every day; get out there and you’ll be successful,” he said. “Eventually it will pay off for you.”