The Army National Guard launched a new recruiting effort recently, dubbed 'Active First.' The program targets new recruits who want to serve on active-duty but then are willing to return to the Guard to finish out the remainder of their initial military service obligation.

Officials hope to recruit as many as 2,000 soldiers into the program this year nationwide, said Army Lt. Col. Gregg Bliss, branch chief for the National Guard Bureau recruit sustainment program. Of those, National Guard leaders hope to see as many as 1,400 return to the Guard, he said.

"A lot of soldiers like the opportunity to serve their nation and come back and serve their community, as well. We think we're offering them both options in a manner that really benefits them," Bliss said.

Most initial active-duty enlistments are followed by a remaining service obligation in the Individual Ready Reserve. For example, four-year active-duty enlistments typically are followed by four-year IRR obligations, in which soldiers are not paid and are no longer required to perform any duty, but are subject to be called back into active service.

Under the new program, soldiers return to the Guard to fulfill the remaining obligation. The Guard benefits because soldiers enter their Guard units trained, experienced and ready to fill leadership positions. Recruits can receive bonuses as high as $40,000, officials said.

Recruits who enlist under this program serve in the Army National Guard until completing their initial entry training and then serve 30, 36 or 48 months on active duty. After completing their active-duty tour, recruits can re-enlist or return to the Guard.

Under the new Active First program, recruits receive as much as $20,000 after finishing initial training. Up to $20,000 more can be paid once soldiers return to the Guard after active service, National Guard officials said. Because bonuses are based on length of enlistment and are not job or qualification specific, recruits who don't mind finishing their initial military service obligation in the Guard can earn big bucks. The average bonus for an active-duty enlistment in 2006 was $16,500, officials said.

Bliss said the Guard always has provided soldiers to the active component, allowing them to be discharged for enlistment into active duty. But this program puts in place a process for returning those soldiers to the Guard.

"All we're doing is formalizing the process, not only to team more effectively with the Army, but to also take care of these soldiers a little bit better, as well," Bliss said.

Army National Guard officials reported finishing fiscal 2007 at 101 percent of its planned end-strength, nearly 3,000 troops above its planned 350,000-soldier end-strength and with almost 6,500 more troops than it started the year with.

For more information, please contact Master Sgt. Brad Wilkinson at (801) 476-3802 or visit http://www.1800goguard.com/activefirst/index.php.

***

"Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves."

-Helen Keller

***

"Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family."

-George Bernard Shaw