McAdoo, Armentrout promote Army's National Hiring Days

May 11—f you are someone who is thinking about joining the Army — or a young person who simply doesn't know what to do with your life right now — this might be the month to look into it.

This week, May 10 through June 14, is the Army's National Hiring Days campaign, an annual event that includes special bonuses for anyone who enlists.

That could mean a signing bonus of up to $40,000 or student loan reimbursement of up to $65,000, depending on qualifications, selected occupation and length of service contract.

"Those who may still be trying to figure out what it is they want to with their life and don't know anything about the military, I would encourage them to go and see our professionals at the recruiting station because they have two-year, three-year, four-year enlistments," said Command Sargent Major Anthony McAdoo, a Somerset native and the senior enlisted leader for the U.S. Army Human Resources Command.

"And you don't have to enlist in the Army for life. You can go into it a few years and get all the benefits," McAdoo said.

Those benefits include educational opportunities through the GI Bill — for both yourself and your children.

As McAdoo stated, "I sit here today with a bachelor's degree, a master's degree from coming into the military. The other thing about that is, I have two daughters. With the GI Bill, I am able to send them to college. One's going to the University of Arkansas, another's going to the University of Memphis. Those are Division I schools."

Sargent 1st Class Bradley Armentrout, the station commander for the active duty Army and Army Reserve recruiting station here in Somerset, said recruits start receiving educational benefits almost from the moment they begin training.

"A lot of people that I talk to, college is something that they're interested in. And in basic training, a large portion of the job training, probably 95% if not higher, is worth college credit. ... Prior to becoming a recruiter I was a medic, and just going through basic training and my job training with the Army, I got 34 credit hours of college. I've never had to take an elective, and I'm working on my master's degree now."

There are other benefits as well, McAdoo points out, such as medical coverage for both the recruit and their family members.

There's also having a place to live guaranteed to you. If you live on base, you are provided a place to stay, or you can be given an allowance to live in a house. That works either if you have a family or if you're single, McAdoo said.

He also points out that the only bills a young person needs to worry about are those extras they choose to take on, like a car payment.

"They're going to make you work a hard when it comes to the physical aspect of being a soldier, but you don't have to worry about those things" like medical costs and living expenses, he said.

While the Army has 150 possible occupations to choose from, there are 11 specific jobs being focused on for this particular campaign, according to Armentrout.

Those are: Infantries, special forces — "we can do enlistment contracts with a guaranteed special forces selection tryout," Armentrout said — fire control specialists, field artillery, air and missile defense, human intelligence, signals intelligence, psychological operations, CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear), EOD (explosive ordinance disposal), and parachute riggers.

He said that the Army can identify those areas as priorities because they believe they will be short on personnel to fill those needed roles.

Armentrout said they are looking for people between the ages of 17 and 35. "They have to be able to graduate basic training before their 35th birthday," he said.

There can be exceptions to that rule, however, if someone is older but is very fit and can pass physical requirements.

Recruitment centers can work with people who may not have a pristine past, too, he said. They are usually able to work with someone who may have gotten into a little bit of trouble, especially if it's just one arrest for a common offense like possession of marijuana or a DUI.

"That is something we can work on to a point. Once you have multiple arrests for possession of marijuana, our hands get tied," he said.

Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact Armentrout on his cell phone: 859-353-9699.

"I always tell people, if they're not comfortable calling, shoot me a text. They don't have to give me a name or anything like that until they're ready to."

Folks can also got to the Army's National Hiring Days website: www.goarmy.com/hiringdays.