NY Army Guard tops in recruiting for third year

LATHAM, New York -- The New York Army National Guard was tops in recruiting and retaining Soldiers for federal fiscal year 2023, outdoing the other 53 state and territorial Army National Guards, according to figures released by the Army National Guard.

The New York Army National Guard achieved a score of 118.12 percent for the 12 months from October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023, according to a year-end analysis of each state’s recruiting and retention success.

The score is based on the number of enlisted Soldiers, the number of new officers and warrant officers who joined, and the number of Soldiers who reenlisted as a percentage of each state’s total Army Guard strength.

A score of 100 percent means the state met its recruiting goals. Scores above 100 percent indicate a state exceeded those recruiting goals.

This was the third time that New York was rated best in recruiting among the states with “large” Army National Guard contingents and the second time the New York Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion has been rated best in the nation, according to Lt. Col. Josh Heimroth, the commander of New York’s recruiting force.

At the beginning of fiscal year 2023, the New York National Guard was authorized a strength of 10,209 Soldiers and had 10,706 personnel assigned.

The New York Army Guard finished the fiscal year with 10,969 Soldiers in the ranks. According to New York National Guard officials, this reflected an increase of 270 soldiers, 760 soldiers above the authorized strength for New York’s Army Guard.

During that fiscal year, the New York Army National Guard recruited 1,594 Soldiers, with 1,521 new enlisted Soldiers and 73 officers who were not previously in the ranks, according to Heimroth.

Another 1,731 Soldiers chose to reenlist in the New York Army National Guard during the year, while 1,235 Soldiers left the force.

All these gains and relatively few losses resulted in New York finishing first in overall recruiting achievement for 2023, Heimroth said.

“We just had the best year for our retention mission that we have ever had,” Heimroth said.

“Our people focused, and Soldier first strategy is showing results. Our leaders at every level and our recruiting and retention teams are performing at an exceptionally high performing level of effort and achievement,” said Major General Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York.

Success in recruiting and retention also led to the Army Guard ranking New York as the number one state for Army Guard “Strength Health” in 2023, according to Col. Mark Frank, the personnel officer for the New York Army National Guard.

The combination of assigned strength, recruiting efforts, moving Soldiers who missed drills out of the ranks without delay, resulted in this designation for fiscal year 2023, Frank explained.

This recruiting and retention success means that New York currently fields the fourth largest Army National Guard, Frank said. This recruiting success has also allowed New York to add a division artillery headquarters and a finance battalion headquarters to the Army Guard force structure, he said .

Recruiting and retention success is a result of Shield’s emphasis on recruiting and retention, which has been embraced by leaders at all levels, said Command Sgt. Major Anthony Abbate, the New York Army Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion senior enlisted advisor.

“It is the senior NCOs and company leadership teams working with their recruiters and hiring and training their NCOs to enlist people out in their communities and working and forming relationships,” Abbate said.

Retention success is also being driven by New York Army Guard leaders offering Soldiers the opportunity to go to schools to further their military careers and participate in unique training opportunities, like overseas training exercises to Brazil, he said.

“We continue to invest in our Soldiers,” he said.

New York National Guard Soldiers have been busy at home responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and now a migrant crisis, so there is “a sense of fulfillment and the belief that what they are doing matters,” Abbate said.

A real key, Abbate said, is the adjutant general’s commitment to resourcing the recruiters. Out of the over 800 Active Guard and Reserve Soldiers in the New York Army National Guard, 207 are working in recruiting, he said.

The command is committed to keeping the recruiting battalion full – with 124 “production recruiters” interacting with potential Soldiers – and allowing recruiters to be successful by giving them autonomy, Abbate said.

Recruiting, he said, is vital.

“We are the only [occupational specialty] in the military that’s wartime mission and peacetime mission are the same,” Abbate said.