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Sgt. Hodges: My name is Carlton Hodges, and I'm in the Marine Corps, of course, and my
rank is a E5, which is a sergeant, and my job is a recruiter. Hey, Thomas, how was your
day today at school?
Thomas: It was pretty good, you know. It's tough, but...
Sgt. Hodges: When they come in, we just basically, we talk to them, find out what they want to
do with their life, try to find out what type of programs the Marine Corps offers as far
as supporting them going to college, or if they just want to start their career off,
find out what type of jobs that the Marine Corps has that's in the particular field that
they want to go into. Let me go to my Marine Corps opportunities book. That way you can
see it in black and white, exactly how we're going to help you get that professional development
that you're trying to get.
Thomas: All right.
Sgt. Hodges: A lot of times, people have this misconception that all we do is kick in doors
and blow stuff up. They don't know all the programs that we have out there. They don't
know what the TA program that we have, tuition assistance program that we got.
Thomas: He really just enlightened me about the Marine Corps, made me feel a lot better
about the career opportunities, the challenges it puts in front of me.
Sgt. Hodges: Take your time, and I'll figure out which ones is most important to you, from
your first down to your last. So make sure that they get something out of the Marine
Corps versus them just going there and saying, "Hey, I wanna join the Marine Corps," but
they're not really getting anything out of it. Make sure that they look at all the avenues.
Thomas: All right, I would say those are my top five.
Jamal: My name is Jamal Coffield. I've already depped into the United States Marine Corps.
Sgt. Hodges: After we've already talked to the individual, the applicant, we set the
appointment with them. They come in. They do the interview. If they decide they want
to commit with us, we set up a date where we take them to MEPS, and then they take the
ASVAB. They get medically and physically qual'ed, and after they pass that, they get sworn in.
After they get sworn in, that's when they come into our DEP program, which is the Delayed
Entry Program.
Jamal: Sgt. Hodges, once he came in, got real close to him, really cool guy. Checks in with
me all the time. He's, he's the man.
Sgt. Hodges: A lot of times, I talk to parents. I let them know, just, hey, just support your
son or daughter. This is the goal that they've got set up for themselves, and we basically
help, can help them get there. We let 'em know, hey, we got a mom and dad, too. And
they sat in that chair just like you did, and you know, we went through the same thing.
Let 'em know we're human, you know? We're not robots.