VaARNG recruiters named runners-up at national conference

Virginia Army National Guard recruiters came in as runners-up for both the top recruiter and top section chief in the nation at the Director of the Army National Guard’s Strength Maintenance Conference. Staff Sgt. Sydney Mapp took the second place top recruiter spot, called the Director’s 54, while Master Sgt. Thomas Clarke Jr. took the second place section chief, or Expert 7, spot.

“There has been only one year in the last decade that Virginia didn’t have a Soldier competing for the national honors in either the Director’s 54 of Expert 7,” explained Sgt. Maj. Paul Johnson, senior enlisted leader for the Virginia Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion. “I feel this is a true testament to the caliber of leadership we have had in this battalion and will continue to have for the next decade.”

The annual DSMAC, held this year in New Orleans, Louisiana, provides not just an opportunity to recognize the nation’s top recruiters, Johnson explained. It also allows a chance for those recruiters, along with their leadership teams, to network, share best practices and bring helpful tips and tricks back home to their respective states.

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Master Sgt. Thomas Clarke Jr., Sgt. Maj. Paul Johnson and Staff Sgt. Sydney Mapp pose together at the Director of the Army National Guard’s Strength Maintenance Conference March 23, 2023, in New Orleans, Louisiana.