The Marine Corps recognized its top two recruiters across the service last week. Competing with more than 3,200 other recruiters in the Marine Corps, Gunnery Sgts. Russell Cowan and Tristan Wiggin earned the titles of top recruiter and runner-up, respectively.
“These recruiters are the hunter-gatherers,” Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney said Friday. “They are the ones who go out and sell inspiration to the best of America’s youth. They create motivation and then bring it into the Marine Corps.”
Overall, military recruiting has been in crisis over the last five years, though one branch — the Marine Corps — has managed to squeak by on its numbers since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and kept recruiters away from community events, cutting them off from the primary demographic they tap to put new troops into military service.
Read Next: VA Plan to Issue Urns, Memorial Plaques Sparks Concerns Veterans Will Be Barred from Burial with Spouses
“We’re not going to pick … the low-hanging fruit,” Wiggin said. “We want the best of the best to maintain the structure of the Marine Corps. It’s a little bit more challenging, but at the same time … we need to maintain the Marine Corps’ strengths. And that’s why we are continuing to win as a branch.”
The Marine Corps, which also benefited from being the smallest branch outside of the Space Force, has been the only service to meet its recruiting numbers…
