9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2003 - Page 0051
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2003 |
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REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) 49 Regimental Recruiting - (view From an Ivory Tower) aving assumed the $03 appointment at Commander Regional Recruiting (East) and having spent three years as RCMO, and been involved in Regimental Recruiting the view from here is distinctly clearer than trying to juggle recruiting with many other hats at Regimental Duty. The reality of Regimental Recruiting, the pit falls, pooh traps, and best prac- tice becomes more apparent when you have the ability to com- pare different teams and recruiting activities. Currently in the 49(E) Bde area we have 4 AYTs, 8 affiliated RRTs 6 visiting RRTs and 4 CCTs. -View from the Ivory Tower. For recruiting to truly work all recruiting activity needs to be dynamic. All RRTs and KAPEs tours need to avoid children of the wrong sex and age. Recruiting is the ‘active measure’ that recruits for the Army and particularly regiments. Public Relations (PR) and Community Relations (CR) and possibly Ethnic Minority (EM) recruiting are not the problems of the RRT, these areas are best left to the strategic recruiting effort. We need to identify those areas where we are already effectively recruiting and reenforce success. The value of each recruiting activity should be assessed. How many recruits are enlisted from a County Show, not many I would guess. Good PR, and good CR are not effective recruiting. Regular visits to ACF detachments will probably produce more recruits than a county show. - If it doesn’t work then don’t do it. It is acknowledged that there is a problem within the system in finding bed spaces for some cap-badge intakes and that some potential recruits are lost as a result of this. Nurturing is the activity where interest is show and Regiments maintain regular contact with children who are likely to fall out of the system eg. a recruit who is enlisted and in February and is waiting for a September Harrogate intake, may loose interest before his reporting date. Other areas are young people whose parents are unwilling to sign consent forms and will have to wait until they are 18 years old may have found employment and never enlist. Good liaison between the Recruiting Offices, RRTs and their El and Special Recruiters should keep these individuals in the sys- tem. - Show that we are interested, ifwe don’t someone else will. The Army cannot choose when it recruits, and we are judged against “Army Be the Best” in all that we do. The better teams a manned with high quality soldiers, a have good display stands, and they are efficient and effective in recruiting as you would expect them to be on the battlefield. Recruiting is a competitive business, and children can tell the difference between good and In HF mu Looking 000/ bad teams. Our team and its activities is what a potential recruit assesses the Regiment against. Ifwe want recruits then we must ensure we are the best. The link between RRT team members and the potential recruit needs to be tangible. It needs to be balanced with the corporate image of ‘Army Be the Best’ and the availability of quality regi- mental manpower. There is a fine line to be trod, the ‘battled hardened war hero’ and the ‘medically downgraded overweight dissatisfied soldier with welfare problems’ the truth is both are possible equally unsuitable. Young soldiers with good inter -personal skills, which are smart and satisfied with Army life is possibly close to the point. Currently in the Brigade area there are some individuals from some teams and offices who are one-man recruiting machines, and all of these individuals have four things in common, drive, motivation, enthusiasm and per- sonality -Our recruits will probably reflect our recruiters. Any RRT has to be manned so it is able to conduct and sustain the full range of recruiting activities seven days a week. These will involve weekdays in schools, working in the evenings with ACFs and the general public at weekends. In addition most activities when working with children have to be conducted in pairs. The added problem of vehicle security and the reversing of vehicles trailers and unloading tracked vehicles means that each team possibly needs to consist of two three-man teams which can be independently deployed. Each teams will have to conduct recces, attend briefings and carry out pre and post event admin, so each team must have a SNCO or JNCO who is respon- Future 9th/7 2th Lancers |
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