National Guard Case Study

National Guard Recruiting Assistance Program Fraud and Abuse In 2005 the Recruiting Assistance Program was initiated to help the National Guard meet end strength requirements. Four years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq transformed the National Guard from a Strategic Reserve into an Operational Reserve and the National Guard was having a difficult time meeting end strength requirements due to operational tempo requirements and normal attrition from ETS and retirements. Being a member of the National Guard during this time I personally witnessed an increased number of ETS, retirements and transfers of Soldiers to the Army Reserves due to mobilizations or rumors of upcoming mobilizations between 2001 and 2006. The National Guard needing to fill shortages enlisted the help of a company named Document and Packaging Broker Inc. (Docupak, Inc.) who used a civilian based recruiting strategy to fill the

would hire the National Guard Soldier to recruit in a civilian capacity as a Recruiting Assistant. The Soldiers are not paid to recruit as a member of the National Guard, but Docupak used the National Guard Soldiers and retirees because they could speak about their own experience in the Guard as a way to interest potential Soldiers to join. The Soldier applied at the G-RAP website and once the application processed, Docupak verified and hired them as a subcontractor by Docupak as a part time Recruiting Assistant. The Recruiting Assistant then had to take a one-time online training course that explained the rules and policies of the G-RAP program. Once the RA had completed training, they could then begin identifying potential Soldiers. Once a RA had identified a potential Soldier, they had to enter their information into the G-RAP database. The RA was then responsible for setting up a meeting between the potential Soldier and a Recruiter or if the potential soldier was 17 years old the RA accompanied the Recruiter to a parental consent