Legionnaires asked to help recruit soldiers
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Vereen came to the 99th American Legion National Convention in Reno, Nev., Tuesday with a request: “We need your help. We will need a future generation to step up.”
How can American Legion members do that? “Tell your story,” said Brig. Gen. Vereen, deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. “We want you to be an ambassador for our military.”
Brig. Gen. Vereen asked thousands of Legionnaires who gathered from around the world to visit their local recruiting centers, meet with those who are tasked with growing a U.S. military that now represents less than 1 percent of the American population and explain the benefits and opportunities of service.
He noted that the Army offers training in more than 150 career fields, including certification and credentialing programs for specialized civilian careers (an opportunity strongly advocated and forged by The American Legion over the last decade), and tuition assistance for troops looking to advance their educations while in uniform.
“They may not know what’s available to them,” Brig. Gen. Vereen said. “They will not know it unless we tell them.”
He told the crowd that the majority of young people today are “disconnected” with military service and cannot usually tell the differences between the branches.
Too many young people, he added, are not aware of what it takes to wear the uniform. He said 71 percent of Americans ages 17-24 don’t meet the qualifications to serve. “The No. 1 thing is obesity,” he said. “We need to work with our youth to be fit to fight.”
He added that too few young people understand the benefits of getting enough sleep, exercising and eating healthy. “We’ve got to educate them,” he said. “We all have a role to play.”
Brig. Gen. Vereen, who joined The American Legion at the convention, said members have “an open invitation to be a recruiter for us. You have access where we don’t always have access.
“Our military is built on people. It’s all about future generations.”