USAREC IDs 3 recruiters to aid innovation
April 3, 2014
By Cathy Pauley, U.S. Army Recruiting Command PAO
U.S. Army Recruiting Commanding General Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet seeks good ideas. Three NCOs that shared theirs will be assigned to USAREC headquarters to work on a wide range of ongoing and emerging initiatives.
Sgt. 1st Class Steven Payne of Dallas Recruiting Battalion, Sgt. 1st Class Jeffery Crane of 1st Recruiting Brigade, and Sgt. 1st Class Richard Conerly, 10th Mountain Division USAREC liaison, will join the Commander’s Initiative Group, to focus on mobile recruiting initiatives.
Payne, recognized by the command last year for his social media prospecting efforts, is very excited that he was selected for the position.
“We will bring the field’s view to the headquarters and will not lose that,” he said. “We are the little guys and voice for what we need.”
Payne realizes that the command is behind the times in the world of technology when reaching out to potential Future Soldiers.
“Throughout the day I will answer my phone maybe once if you call,” said Payne. “However, if you text me I normally will give an immediate response. If I am that way, how are the kids these days? Social media and technology in general will better the command and lead us in the right direction.”
Crane was recognized as the 1st Brigade’s top innovator at this year’s Annual Training Leadership Conference for his “Victory Atlas” tool. He has a love for innovation and a desire to make information access to the recruiter level simple and mobile.
“I believe I can help simplify information access, and turn lost hours pulling reports into minutes,” said Crane. “In a resource-constrained environment, where time is our largest resource, this is critical.”
He is already thinking about the perspective he brings to HQ.
“I would like to provide the formation with a way to give USAREC leadership visibility of their ideas and innovations,” said Crane. “There are some really smart people out there, with advanced degrees and experience in their CMF who can accelerate the mobile transition if their voices are heard.”
Conerly knows what it is like to be a recruiter or a center commander feeling handicapped by inefficient tools and time-consuming processing systems for prospecting. He started as a recruiter in the early days of social media and noticed quickly the trends of how young people communicated.
“Against advice from fellow seasoned recruiters, I wanted to explore social media as a prospecting tool,” said Conerly. “I took the initiative to create a MySpace page and titled it ‘coolarmyrecruiter.’ It was an instant hit and word spread within my community that if you had a question relating to enlisting in the Army, you could simply log on and ask questions pressure free.”
These three NCOs knew that this social media transformation was the beginning of a technology revolution and there was a potential to change how we conduct recruiting operations. Conerly believes that USAREC got on board with modernization late, but he is excited to be a part of a team that will help put innovative ideas to action when it comes to the latest and emerging mobile technology and applications.
“The most important focus from my advantage point is that as we test, develop, and field this new technology, we maintain the perspective of the users,” said Conerly. “I am keenly aware of the priorities from the field and will work diligently to meet their demands.”
The three Soldiers begin their work at USAREC this summer. Follow them and the USAREC innovative initiatives on Twitter and Google Plus.
April 3, 2014
By Cathy Pauley, U.S. Army Recruiting Command PAO
U.S. Army Recruiting Commanding General Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet seeks good ideas. Three NCOs that shared theirs will be assigned to USAREC headquarters to work on a wide range of ongoing and emerging initiatives.
Sgt. 1st Class Steven Payne of Dallas Recruiting Battalion, Sgt. 1st Class Jeffery Crane of 1st Recruiting Brigade, and Sgt. 1st Class Richard Conerly, 10th Mountain Division USAREC liaison, will join the Commander’s Initiative Group, to focus on mobile recruiting initiatives.
Payne, recognized by the command last year for his social media prospecting efforts, is very excited that he was selected for the position.
“We will bring the field’s view to the headquarters and will not lose that,” he said. “We are the little guys and voice for what we need.”
Payne realizes that the command is behind the times in the world of technology when reaching out to potential Future Soldiers.
“Throughout the day I will answer my phone maybe once if you call,” said Payne. “However, if you text me I normally will give an immediate response. If I am that way, how are the kids these days? Social media and technology in general will better the command and lead us in the right direction.”
Crane was recognized as the 1st Brigade’s top innovator at this year’s Annual Training Leadership Conference for his “Victory Atlas” tool. He has a love for innovation and a desire to make information access to the recruiter level simple and mobile.
“I believe I can help simplify information access, and turn lost hours pulling reports into minutes,” said Crane. “In a resource-constrained environment, where time is our largest resource, this is critical.”
He is already thinking about the perspective he brings to HQ.
“I would like to provide the formation with a way to give USAREC leadership visibility of their ideas and innovations,” said Crane. “There are some really smart people out there, with advanced degrees and experience in their CMF who can accelerate the mobile transition if their voices are heard.”
Conerly knows what it is like to be a recruiter or a center commander feeling handicapped by inefficient tools and time-consuming processing systems for prospecting. He started as a recruiter in the early days of social media and noticed quickly the trends of how young people communicated.
“Against advice from fellow seasoned recruiters, I wanted to explore social media as a prospecting tool,” said Conerly. “I took the initiative to create a MySpace page and titled it ‘coolarmyrecruiter.’ It was an instant hit and word spread within my community that if you had a question relating to enlisting in the Army, you could simply log on and ask questions pressure free.”
These three NCOs knew that this social media transformation was the beginning of a technology revolution and there was a potential to change how we conduct recruiting operations. Conerly believes that USAREC got on board with modernization late, but he is excited to be a part of a team that will help put innovative ideas to action when it comes to the latest and emerging mobile technology and applications.
“The most important focus from my advantage point is that as we test, develop, and field this new technology, we maintain the perspective of the users,” said Conerly. “I am keenly aware of the priorities from the field and will work diligently to meet their demands.”
The three Soldiers begin their work at USAREC this summer. Follow them and the USAREC innovative initiatives on Twitter and Google Plus.