2008 Annual Report - West Virginia Army National Guard - U.S. Army

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 2008
Teamwork was the key to the Recruiting
and Retention Battalion’s successful
2008 mission year. Through outstanding
coordination between the battalion staff and
the units across the state, West
Virginia finished the year as the
number one state in the nation
in strength for the fourth year
in a row. Over 4,600 soldiers
were members of the West
Virginia Army National Guard
at the end of the 2008 mission
year. In addition, this marks the
11th consecutive year that West
Virginia has been at or over 100
percent strength. West Virginia
is one of only two states to grow
in end strength each of the last
13 years.
The Guard Recruiting
Assistance Program (GRAP)
completed its third full year
and continues to bring new
Recruiting & Retention Command
The Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP),
which helps prepare Army National Guard
recruits for Basic Training and Advanced
Individual Training, is paying great dividends
for the state as soldiers are performing much
better under the grueling demands of entrylevel
training.
The West Virginia Army National Guard
has worked diligently in establishing a great
relationship with the West Virginia Secondary
Schools Activities Commission.
The affiliation with an organization
that schedules and monitors all high school
sporting events in the state is positive exposure
to young men and women throughout West
Virginia. The Guard has participated in over a
dozen events throughout 2008 and is presently
working the entire 2009 state high school
tournament schedule to coordinate color guard
support and recruiters physically present to
allow young people to interact and learn about
the opportunities in the National Guard.
soldiers into the Guard, while providing current
members with financial reward. West Virginia
has assessed 400 soldiers at an expenditure of
$800k for FY 2008 using the GRAP program.
With the assistance and support from
Guard members across the state, the Recruiting
and Retention Battalion had another successful
year and is already pushing toward another
record-setting mission in 2009.
38