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Lead recruiter returns to wing

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Crystal Charriere
  • 419th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  Senior Master Sgt. Shawn Moore returned to the 419th Fighter Wing after five years at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, where he served as assistant senior recruiter and an instructor at the Air Force Reserve recruiting school. Now the wing's senior recruiter, the reservist is bringing new ideas to reach recruiting goals.

"I came back because I was very successful here as a recruiter," Moore said. "Plus, I'm biased. I like Utah a lot. My whole family likes Utah, and I've worked very hard because I couldn't wait to get back here."

Since returning, Moore has been busy reconnecting with his recruiters and the rest of the wing.

"The first thing I did when I came back was open lines of communication with my staff and the squadrons," Moore said. "I'm impressed with the recruiters because they had a very good training plan before I got here."

Moore said many things changed while he was away, not only in the wing but also in recruiting, including high retention rates that have affected the number of jobs available to new recruits.

"It's a different way of recruiting," Moore said. "We used to have a plethora of jobs to choose from, so it was easier to find people to fill the positions. Now we need a more proactive approach. We have to narrow our focus down to find the right people for the right jobs."

The recruiting area for Hill AFB has also changed significantly.

"Our demographic for Hill is larger than it used to be," Moore said. "It used to be Utah, the western part of Wyoming, and the southern part of Idaho. Now we're recruiting from the Canadian border all the way to the borders of Arizona and Nevada, and that's done by only six recruiters."

Even with these changes, Moore says he's excited to serve in his new position and lead his team into a new age of recruiting.

"The main thing I'm excited about it giving the wing highly qualified people," he said. "We have a seven percent attrition rate, which means when the wing gets new recruits, they're training and utilizing them, and those recruits are staying here. Manning the wing with motivated people allows the 419th mission to be successful."

Last fiscal year, 419th recruiters reached 110 percent of their recruiting goal. The Air Force Reserve as a whole reached 101 percent of its goal.

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