An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Jan. 28, 2010

Air Guard reaches out to separating servicemembers

By Air Force Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., - A new Air National Guard direct-mail recruiting campaign launched this month is educating active duty servicemembers leaving the military on the benefits of continuing their service as part-timers.

"This is an awareness piece to get people thinking about the Air Guard," said Tech. Sgt. Matt Leas from the Air Guard's marketing office here.

He said the Air Guard's recruiting and marketing office sent out information packets Jan. 4 to the mail boxes of nearly 100,000 Air Force, Army and Navy servicemembers, who have recently separated or are separating.

Leas said that direct-mail marketing is just one method the Air Guard uses to reach out and provide information on its opportunities. "The best way to reach out is through direct [face-to-face] interaction," he said, but advertising is a multi-tier process where you have to contact people a lot of different times in a lot of different ways.

The direct-mail packages contain a letter describing the benefits and opportunities of Air Guard service, with special, four-color inserts on the service's specific needs for health professionals as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance professionals.

Interested servicemembers can fill out and return a postage-paid reply card or call the Air Guard Call Center at 1-800-864-6264 to learn more. The Web site, www.goang.com, is also a good method of contact.

"At that point, our call center will reach out to them, talk to them a little bit more, pre-qualify them, and direct them to unit recruiters," said Leas.

The Air Guard's renewed marketing efforts and recruiting programs have helped put its recruiting and retention on a two-year gain, with back-to-back fiscal year end-strength goals exceeded.

For December, the Air Guard reported its monthly accession goal of 450 Airmen was exceeded with 692 Airmen, or 154 percent.

 

 

Related Articles
Colorado Army National Guard crew chiefs U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Wade Shore (left) and Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Hubbard (right), High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, perform maintenance on their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, in Gypsum, Colorado, July 23, 2025. Both Soldiers participated in a dangerous nighttime rescue that set the record for the highest hoist ever conducted in Colorado, saving two hikers who had become caught in a storm and were struck by lightning. The crew flew at approximately 14,200 feet above sea level, beating the previous record of around 13,700 feet by a military aircraft in Colorado.
Colorado National Guard Aircrew Breaks Record for Hoist Rescue
By Staff Sgt. Josiah Pugh, | July 25, 2025
GYPSUM, Colo. – Members of a Colorado Army National Guard Black Hawk aircrew tested their skill and pushed their helicopter’s performance to its limits during a dangerous nighttime rescue that set the record for the highest...

An Ohio National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter repairer assigned to Company B, 3rd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment, does in-flight inspections during a flight to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, July 14, 2025. The operation highlighted collaboration between Army and Air National Guard units, strengthening inter-branch coordination that is essential for mission success in both domestic and deployed settings.
178th Wing Scores in Top 5% of Total Force in Combat Readiness Inspection
By Shane Hughes, | July 24, 2025
SPRINGFIELD-BECKLEY AIR GUARD STATION, Ohio - The Ohio Air National Guard’s 178th Wing scored in the top 5% of all Air Force wings in a Combat Readiness Inspection completed July 17 at the Springfield-Beckley Air National...

U.S. Soldiers assigned to the Kentucky Army National Guard participate in a radio communications knowledge exchange with Djiboutian soldiers at the Djiboutian signal corps compound in Djibouti City, Djibouti, July 14, 2025. The State Partnership Program conducts military-to-military engagements in support of U.S. defense and security goals, facilitating cooperation across all levels of international civil-military affairs, and encouraging relationship building at the state level.
Kentucky Guard, Djibouti Military Partner on Cyber, Radio Exchange
By Staff Sgt. Marcus Hardy-Bannerman, | July 24, 2025
DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti - In the East Africa region where a single breached network can ripple across borders, Djiboutian soldiers and the Kentucky Army National Guard as well as other U.S. service members spent four focused...