Coast Guard: No shortage of recruits here
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Staffers at the Coast Guard recruiting office in Pearlridge are a little less high-sell than the average military recruiter, and they've earned the relaxed self-confidence.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
While the Army, Navy and Air Force have faced staffing crises in recent years, Coast Guard recruiters across the country have surpassed recruiting goals.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Tom Hopkins is a Coast Guard recruiter at Pearl Ridge. Two of his sons also serve.
"The Coast Guard and Marine Corps were the only ones who were meeting their missions,'' said Senior Chief Petty Officer Tom Hopkins, who heads the recruiting office at Pearlridge.
"Meeting missions" is recruiter jargon for filling recruitment goals. No matter what words are used, the Coast Guard is doing it, helped along by the service's high profile in news accounts, books and movies.
The Coast Guard has reached 97 percent of its goal for this fiscal year, which doesn't end until September, Hopkins said.
In recent years, the Pearlridge office produced the two top Coast Guard recruiters in the country.
They're helped out by the large Coast Guard presence here, especially when recruiting those who would prefer to stay close to home.
"About 99 percent of our people say, 'What are my chances of coming back here to Hawai'i?' " Hopkins said. "We tell them the chances are pretty good. About seven in 10."
Other recruits walk in with thoughts of travel on their minds and "we say 'We can help you with that,' " Hopkins said.
Coast Guard stations are found across the Mainland.
"Any navigable waterway," Hopkins said. "We have Coast Guard stations on the Ohio River, the Mississippi and the Great Lakes."
There is also a smaller Coast Guard presence overseas, he said, in places such as Italy and Japan.
The service's roll in searching for or rescuing survivors, especially when accompanied by news coverage, brings in a lot of recruits, Hopkins said. The Ehime Maru recovery efforts boosted business at the Pearlridge office.
Movies also affect recruiting, but not always in the expected direction, he said.
One potential recruit was almost through the enlistment process, pleased with the way his future was shaping up and supported in his decision by his wife. Before he signed his contract, however, the couple went to see "The Perfect Storm."
"I think she thought enlisting in the Coast Guard instead of one of the other services was going to take him out of harm's way,'' Hopkins said. "Then she saw the movie. We had to spend a little extra time talking to her.''
As for retention, the Coast Guard suffers from some of the same problems experienced within high-tech fields in the Air Force, Hopkins said. Some Coast Guard members with training in telecommunications are lured away by higher-paying civilian firms.
Still, the romance of Coast Guard life helps to keep members coming back, often bringing others with them.
Hopkins, with 25 years in service, has passed his passion on to his family.
One son is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, one of the nation's most selective colleges; another is a Coast Guard reservist.
The promise of adventure often draws enlistees into military service, Hopkins said. But the Coast Guard offers one experience that will hook even the even-keeled.
"All you have to do is save one life," Hopkins said. "It's enough to last an entire career."
