JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska –
For more than three years, Alaska Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Sean Smack has been the only recruiter enlisting Soldiers in Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka.
“There’s something different about the way the sun sets here that gives me an appreciation for places like Juneau and Ketchikan,” said Smack. “It motivates me to talk to people about serving this state with this organization.”
Smack travels to high schools and colleges sharing the benefits of the Guard. He said the availability of scholarships and financial aid make attending college possible while serving.
In addition to the education benefits, Smack said the Guard teaches new Soldiers an array of life skills like discipline, fitness, adaptability, and resiliency. The Army’s unique training not only focuses on military skills but on developing well-rounded Soldiers, equipping them with tools for success for both military and civilian challenges.
Smack strives to give every applicant the best customer service experience he can and takes a genuine interest in the people he serves.
“I call it service after sale,” he said. “I follow up with the Soldiers I enlisted to see where they’re at after Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training and to make sure they’re getting the services I sold them with what the Guard provides.”
Reflecting on his time on active duty, Smack expresses his appreciation for the Guard’s flexibility.
“I wish I had known about the Guard sooner,” Smack said. "There's flexibility within the Guard that you won't get with active duty due to the nature of serving where you live.”
Smack emphasized that Soldiers may continue to pursue their civilian careers and lives while attending drill with their units once a month. For those Soldiers looking to serve the Guard full-time, they may have the option to go on Active-Duty Operational Support orders, a temporary opportunity that allows them to receive benefits and pay as active-duty Soldiers.
For several years, due to the limited number of Soldiers in Southeast Alaska, most Soldiers attended their drill weekends at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson. As a result, many Southeastern Alaskans were unaware of the military presence within their communities.
Smack recounted his first time attending the annual Blueberry Arts Festival in Ketchikan, where locals asked if he and the other Soldiers were from Anchorage. They were surprised to learn he was from Juneau and the other Soldiers with him were from Ketchikan.
The importance of having mission-ready Soldiers in Juneau became apparent this year after a glacial outburst event Aug. 6 caused the Mendenhall Lake and River to overflow their usual boundaries, flooding lakeside and riverside areas, impacting nearly 300 homes. Smack led a team of five Guardsmen in a coordinated effort with other state agencies to collect and remove debris in the aftermath of the flooding.
“For a while our presence in the Southeast and these outlying areas wasn’t so huge,” said Smack. “Now that we’re out here getting more involved with the community, we have an armory attendant in Ketchikan getting folks to come through the building, I think we’re establishing a presence here in the Southeast that we never had before.”