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Recruiter leads on and off the field

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Article by Cpl. Elizabeth Scott, Maryland Public Affairs Office[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Working at a fast food restaurant and living out of his car, Staff Sgt. Kim Kerschner, a recruiter from Co. A, Recruit and Retention Battalion, Maryland National Guard, works to change the life of this potential recruit.

“He said ‘I need a job,’” recalled Kerschner. “‘I’m making $9.75 an hour and I need a job. I want a technical job.’ I am trying to put him as an air traffic controller or doing something with IT.”

Enlisting in the Maryland National Guard allows someone to train how to do a job that they have no experience in currently. Service members can then use the training that the Army provides as a way to help get a job in that particular industry in the private sector.

This past year, Kerschner exceeded her enlistment goal set by the Recruit and Retention Battalion. She was named the Director’s Strength Maintenance Award Program’s Chief 54, the top recruiter for Maryland, because she exceeded her enlistment goal by recruiting 23 recruits when her goal was only 16 recruits for the year.

In Maryland, Chief 54 is based on a percentage, rather than the number of recruits enlisted, said 1st Sgt. Tina Sievers, Co. A, Recruit and Retention Battalion. Each recruiter has a different goal based on their recruiting area.

In Maryland, there were two other recruiters who made the competition a tight race just to be named Chief’s 54 for Maryland, said Kerschner.

She appeared before a board to compete in the National Guard SMAG Region II’s competition against five other National Guard recruiters from Delaware, Virginia, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

“They look at your performance in front of the board, your appearance, your overall ship rate, and everything like that to represent the region in front of the national board,” said Kerschner. “This was my first board outside of Army training, so I was nervous that I would forget something that I already know or mess up something simple.”

“Kerschner is probably one of the hardest working, most dedicated individuals out there,” said Sievers.

Kerschner competed and triumphed against veteran Chief 54 winners in the National Guard SMAG Region II competition. She would then compete against the winners from the other six regions in the national competition. That competition is a two-day board, where the recruiters are grilled with questions, similar to a promotion board.

Though she didn’t win the national competition, it was a tight competition, said Kerschner. Sgt. Deborah Elliot from the Colorado National Guard finished first in the National Competition.

“I was very honored, and very proud that I was able to represent Maryland and Region II,” said Kerschner.

Kerschner was not a recruiter from the beginning of her military service. She originally ensted in the active Army because of her membership in the American Legion and the history of military service in her family. Her grandfather was in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, her father in the Marines, her sister in the Navy, and an uncle who served in the Marines and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

“I wanted to also join because I wanted to have pride in something that I do,” said Kerschner.

She started her military career as a chaplain’s assistant at Aberdeen Proving Ground for three years. She decided to leave active duty because she wanted to continue her education.

“I wanted to get a degree,” said Kerschner. “I was really having a hard time going to school full time and working full time.”

Kerschner didn’t know about the opportunities the National Guard could provide until she spoke to a career counselor in the transition assistance program.

She joined the National Guard as a saxophone player in the 229th Army Band. She earned her Associates Degree from Anne Arundel Community College and is currently working on a bachelor’s degree from American Military University in emergency and disaster management.

Kerschner missed working full time for the military and reached out to Sievers to find out how to become a recruiter. Once there, she proved herself by working in a temporary position with Recruiting and Retention. After an interview, she became a recruiter for the Maryland Guard in October 2014.

“She lives and breathes recruiting,” said Sievers. She’s very passionate about her job, and she’s very passionate about the Maryland Guard.”

Kerschner takes the time in her off-hours to help others. Since 2012, Kerschner balances her National Guard service with her service as a volunteer firefighter, EMT, and hazmat technician for Anne Arundel County and Prince George’s County.

Kerschner was selected to tryout as a goalie for the women’s Armed Forces Soccer Team in 2015. She has played soccer since she was five years old.

“As a goalie I get to be the leader on the field,” said Kerschner. “You control how the team plays, because you can see the whole field.”

Having the vision and leadership is not only evident in Kerschner’s feelings of soccer, it’s clearly evident in the way she recruits.

“I get to change people’s lives,” said Kerschner. “Being able to serve as a recruiter I know that I am impacting someone’s life.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]