Emily Smith Stewart correspondence, early 1944

Page 20

RECRUITERS Recruiters' Course Acclaimed Success On May 11, the first class of forty-five recruiters was graduated from the new WAC Recruiters' Course at the Adjutant General's School at Fort Washington, Maryland. In paying tribute to the graduates, Col Oveta Culp Hobby said, "You, in the recruiting field, are performing one of the most valuable of all services. Our strength today is largely a result of the efforts of you, and others like you, on recruiting duty." 1\'Iade up entitely of enlisted women who had met strict' requirements and had been especially· selected,-the class was a success in every respect. "' In. fact, in the ~ords of Col. Lathrop· B. Clapha~, Post Commandant of the Adjutant General's School, ".The entire class was outstanding because of. its intere~t, intel-:­ligence, and co-operatioi1. Ever.y woman in it appreciated the tremendous importance of the work. ahead and left here well"equipped to enter up<>n her duties of obtaining the recruits so, vitally needed to increase the .strength of the WAG/' . :. . .. ~- . · . . Recruitet~s· who took the course were equally enthusias­tic . . Pvt. Lura I .. Clark, who was in the Personal Affairs Division at fort Custer, M:ichigan, prior to being selected to attend the course, .said, "This is the. first ·real inspira­tion I've had in a long time. The job ahead is a challenge, and I'm armed to meet it now." Pdvate First Class· Verle Taggart, another who at­tended the ~9urse, is in complete agreement. "I thought the course was ·excellent. It was· concrete, intelligently plan~ed, and designed to give· you ·the specific answers to the problems a recruiter meet~." · The 88-hour course, given ~tone of the most beautiful and historic old Army posts in the country, the famous Adjutant General's School,· was drawn up by the Training Division of the Tt~p ~ranch of the Adjutant General's· Office at the request of the Planning Branch for WAC Recruiting. It·covers thirty-five subjects, from the Technique · of Interviewing, Public Speaking, . and Proper Use of the Telephone, to Physical Training, Or­ganization of the Army and Dismounted Drill. Not only is it an education in itself for the recruiter attending, but it also fills a long-felt need, which is ably summed up in the statement of Capt. Morris B. Abrams, faculty mem­ber ii1 charge of the course, who says, "Recruiting is an art. The .. WAC Recruiting Course is utilizing the ex­pertly developed facilities of the Adjutant General's School to teach the many ramifications of this art in fields such as salesmanship, classification, and public relations. The first class projected its personality and intelligence into the spirit of the school. The spirit is infectious. The instructors have profited and so wiU other classes." "The greatest assignment ever undertaken by any generation of American women is now being carried out by members of the Women's Army Corps." -Col. ELMER J. BOWLING, Commanding Officer, Maxwell Field, Alabama. • Women's A r rn y Corps Marks of Progress Your average monthly enlistments during the first four months of 1944 have been 140~1% of your average monthly' enlistments for the fi~l six months of 1943. Congratulations ! "How" l;.ivilian Groups He~p The Fifth Service Command, which climbed from ·last place in March to fourth place in April, has found that workable suggestions to · civilian groups on· "how,. they can bring eligible prospects into contact with recruiters pay big. dividends. WAC" mothers in one community were anxious to help but did not know just what was needed. When they learned that the greatest aid to a recruiter, visitiqg tl1e city for just' one day a week, i~ to have interested, · eligible prospects to talk to when she arrives, one pf tq~ mothers tendered a room in her home as an office at which prospects could call. Ineligibles are screened out by WAC mothers co-operat­ing in the program. The recruiter is. able t() utilize her brief time in the city much more effectively, since she does riot have to "scout" for recruits ·and does not waste effort talking to ineligjble persons. ·In one small Ohio city, this resulted in doubling enlistments over the pr vious month. Insurance Men .Help Recruiters Weekly classes in selling are being conducted by suc­cessful life-insurance g_eneral agents artd managers in Charleston, West Virginia, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky. In Indiana, members of the General Agents and Managers Associa­tion, in ten cities where there are substations, are giving personalized instruCtions to· recruiters. These insurance sales executives are not only perfect­ing recruiting methods by teaching the art of prospecting, how to approach a prospect, how to present facts, how to close a sale, but are· creating a new enthusiasm in recruiters. Requiting personnel in the Fifth Service Command praise these insurance men, who are contributing their time and abilities to theW AC recruiting program. They declare that time spent attending these classes is already paying dividends. ''Wacs Outstanding'' -Lt. Gen. MARK CLARK When Lt. Gen. Mark Clark recently awarded the Fifth Army Plaque and Italian campaign stars to the WAC platoon of fifty-nine women who work in his · headquarters, he praised them lor "invaluable service" to the Army. "Often in the face of serious obstacles, thf' organization has established an outstanding record in tlie performance of services invaluable to the Fifth Army," his official citation said. "We need several hundred more Wacs in the Fifth Army."