Marine Recruit Donating Hair To Locks Of Love

BRISTOL, Va. – With unemployment increasing and an unstable economy continuing to spiral downward, the U.S. military is seeing enlistment numbers grow.

“I can’t find a job, I can’t keep a job, I got laid off,” U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Tyler said Thursday, repeating the frequently offered reasons he is seeing more men and women visiting his recruiting station in Johnson City.

“They can’t find employment to take care of themselves or their families,” Tyler said.

With the unstable job market, the armed forces becomes a more-attractive option for job security and education benefits, said recruiters and those checking out enlistment offices. The U.S. Department of Defense is benefitting, labeling this the strongest recruiting year it has seen since 2004.

Among the new recruits is Virginia High School senior Nathan Stallard, who was visiting the Klassy Kutters salon in Bristol on Thursday to cut his 17-inch-long hair so he could acclimate to the Marines’ grooming standards.

“It’s a good career choice. I can go in and they’ll give me money to go to college, a steady pay check, and they can train me in any field I’d like to go in,” Stallard said.

Discussing his decision as a stylist removed his long, sandy blond locks, Stallard, 17, said he has chosen a career path to serve others and that starts with losing his hair. He plans to donate his hair to Locks of Love, a nationwide organization that creates wigs for cancer patients.

The U.S. Department of Defense reports that so far this year, all active duty and reserve branches met or exceeded recruiting goals. The Marine Corps and Army actually increased their recruiting goals for 2008 as both services expand their ranks to meet the demands of two wars. The Army was the sole active-duty service to exceed its goal by a full 1 percent, recruiting 517 more soldiers than its 80,000 target.

And U.S. military recruiters said it’s not just teenagers out of high school who are enlisting.

“We’re getting a good breed from the people that tried the college route, but it just wasn’t working out for some reason, possibly because the cost was too much for them,” said Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Lutz, the U.S. Marine Corps recruiter who signed up Stallard.

Stallard leaves for Parris Island, S.C., for Marine Corps boot camp in July. He said he is confident in his decision to enlist not only for personal reasons, but for the long-term job security it offers.

“They give medical care, dental care and such, and for your immediate family they give it as well,” Stallard said. He will receive a good steady paycheck; full medical and dental benefits for himself, his spouse and children; a life insurance policy; and training.

He’s also looking beyond his military career and plans to take advantage of the educational opportunities the Marine Corps provides.

“After I retire I would like to become a history teacher,” Stallard said.

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