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Pinnacle C:The Future of Army Recruiting'

By Mikie Perkins/Indianapolis Recruiting Battalion Public AffairsMarch 24, 2010

Pinnacle C
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Long gone are the days when a lone Army recruiter spent countless hours out on the street, trolling video arcades, hanging out in high schools and pounding the pavement till dusk looking to recruit a citizen into the ranks of the Army. Gone too, are the insane number of hours spent by that same recruiter making endless phone calls, filling out pages and pages of paperwork and processing a recruit from start to finish all by himself. "The Army does things as a team now. That's the future of recruiting."

During a recent visit to the Indianapolis Recruiting Battalion to present Soldiers and civilians with awards recognizing their service to the Indy recruiting mission, USAREC Commanding General, Major General Donald M. Campbell Jr. talked about Pinnacle C, a new recruiting plan of operation that's working in Radcliff and Elizabethtown, Kentucky and proving its success. Maj. Gen. Campbell said he's worked closely with his staff to make the task of recruiting a more simplified process. "I have instructed them (my staff) to find ways of making your job easier," he said to the Indy Battalion, "and Pinnacle C still follows the mindset of team mission, except it's a more pumped-up version."

So, exactly how does Pinnacle C work' It draws from a pool of individuals to handle the various taskings associated with recruiting. And, at a time when stress levels are high for everyone in uniform, Pinnacle C just makes sense because civilians are also a part of the processing.

Jason Stewart is the First Sergeant of Radcliff Company, in the 3rd Brigade's Nashville Battalion. "Our recruiters have their work day planned out for them by our civilian Recruiter Support Team or RST's. The civilians build the packets, engage in some prospecting over the phone and conduct local background checks on people. " That means recruiters have much more time to spend with high school seniors then they did before RST's were in place. Prior to Pinnacle C, "our green suiters were doing all the processing from beginning to end."

Stewart speaks with firsthand knowledge about Pinnacle C and knows it's working because it's his company that's setting the standard for its inevitable use throughout USAREC. "We started using it in October and only missed mission once; by one contract, no less. " He added, "Floor efficiency-the process of eligible civilians who want to join and flow through the recruiting process without a hitch- was well below 80 percent before Pinnacle C . Now, that efficiency rate is well above 97 percent."

Recruiting numbers aren't the only good thing to come from using Pinnacle C, though. Stewart says it's cost effective, but even more importantly, recruiter morale is great. "They (recruiters) have predictability in their work day now. Previously, they didn't know what they were doing two hours out."

Pinnacle C is a concept the USAREC commander would love to see used throughout the command. He plans to ask top Army leaders for additional resources to begin moving in that direction very soon.