Service before self: a recruiter’s story

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Mota
  • 434th ARW Public Affairs
GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. --  Her neatly pressed blouse and overall appearance exemplify excellence in all we do, and her story is one of integrity first; but what recently stood out was her service before self as she followed her passion of mentoring others.

Tech. Sgt. Sharon Stevens, 434th Aerospace Medical Squadron dental assistant, recently accepted a new role as an Air Force Reserve Command recruiter, but her story of recruiting started many years before accepting her new job.

“I’m a mentor at heart, and I love helping people,” said Stevens. “I like what I did [as a civilian] but that was a ‘like’ and this is a passion.

“There is a drive behind serving, and being part of something bigger than me,” she explained. “I want people to know their options.”

Like many high school upper-classmen, growing up in the inner city of Chicago, Stevens was undecided about her future and what life had in store for her until she met an Army recruiter.

“At the time we didn’t have Air Force recruiters in our schools, but we did have Army recruiters,” said Stevens. “When I spoke with him he told me about the military and all it had to offer, and I just knew it was for me.”

After serving seven years in the regular Army and Army reserve, Stevens took a break in service to care for her daughter, but her passion for serving remained in her heart.

“My goal was always to return to the military after I got my daughter off to college, and that’s exactly what I did,” said Stevens. “I wanted to be in the Air Force when I was in the Army, but they wouldn’t allow me to switch, so when I went to reenlist I knew exactly where to go.”

With the same drive and motivation that led her to joining the Army, Stevens proudly reenlisted in the Air Force Reserve in 2011 to pick up the part of her life she had left behind.

“I became a dental technician as opposed to administration [in the Army] because I saw it as a way to help people, and I knew it would put me in a position to speak with people from all areas around base,” said Stevens. “I really hoped I could see a lot of people, and impact them in a positive way.”

Helping people in a positive way was exactly what Stevens did as she adapted and progressed in her new career in the Air Force.

“She is a picture of what the Air Force should look like; she takes pride in her appearance and it shows,” said 2nd Lt. Shannon Tribley, 434th AMDS health services supervisor. “The first day I met [Stevens], she was asking what she needed to do to make the next step in her career, and after she completed that step she mentored others who needed to do the same.”

With the dental section being one of the most over-staffed positions, Tribley said it allowed Stevens to step out of dental and take on additional duties such as training manager.

“The training manager role allowed her to mentor and provide guidance for other Airmen,” explained Tribley. “People began to come to her with their upgrade training and school requests not only because she was the training manager, but she just has that motherly instinct where she is naturally drawn to help people.”

Stevens’s inclination to help others wasn’t just making an impact in her unit, it had also been sowing seeds in people much closer in her life.

“My mom has been a mentor and example for me all my life,” said Te Shar Williams, Stevens’ daughter. “During her first two years at Grissom, she would always come back and tell me what she had done, and I wanted to be part of that.

“I knew my mom had always wanted to be part of something bigger than her, and I grew to have that same love for my country as well,” she said.

Williams’ same desire to serve prompted her to join the 49th Aerial Port Flight as an aerial port specialist, and her mother soon had another opportunity to mentor even more Airmen.

“When I first joined, my Air Force recruiter said I should be a recruiter,” said Stevens. “A year later she sent me her flight chief’s information, but at the time I didn’t want to be a recruiter because I was happy doing the job I was doing.

“Flash forward to 2016 and I received an email about recruiting, and a lightbulb lit up,” she said. “I thought, this is a job where I could help even more people; I would be in touch with even more people because I could have an impact that would affect them for the rest of their lives just as the military has done for me.”

With a renewed desire to help Airmen, Stevens put together her package and submitted it to Air Force Reserve Command to begin the selection process.

“The process of becoming an AFRC recruiter is extremely competitive,” said Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Zwelling, AFRC recruiting service superintendent. “We start by selecting potential candidates from their packages and then invite those who were selected to come down for an evaluation and selection course.

“Recruiters have to be more than someone who just needs a job,” explained Zwelling. “They have to start with a strong foundation; someone who is a good Airman, and then you have to ensure that Airman is also enthusiastic, self-motivated and has a love for the Air Force.”

After completing the process, Stevens was selected to be a recruiter at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, and with that new journey she hopes to give people an option she didn’t have in high school.

“When I joined the military, only the Army recruiter came to my high school,” said Stevens. “I want to go into those inner city schools so I can let them know there are more options, because at one time I was in their shoes.

“I’m ready to be the one who says ‘You can join the Air Force and it’s an option for you,’” she said. “My goal is to make sure younger people have an option; it’s what I love to do!”