Future Soldier Embarks on Quest
(June 27, 2010) |
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Future soldier Paige Nye canvasses for people
interested in registering for a chance to win an “Army Strong” iPod
Nano at the 82nd Annual Jubilee Day in Mechanicsburg, Pa., June 17,
2010. Nye joined the Army in July and will be departing June 30,
2010, to take basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. |
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MECHANICSBURG, Pa., June 24, 2010 Paige Nye will board a
plane for the first time June 30 for a life-changing quest
that she said she is “extremely over-prepared for.”
She laughed as soon as she said it, but the 18-year-old
woman who joined the Mechanicsburg U.S. Army Recruiting
Station's Future Soldier Program while she was still a
junior at Northern High School in Dillsburg, Pa., wasn't
joking.
“Paige has always been very motivated,” her mother, Susan
Nye said. “She's played all kinds of sports and musical
instruments, but the one thing she seems to really enjoy the
most is the Army.”
After being in the program for about eight months, Nye
enlisted in the Army in July, and a month later, she became
the platoon guide – equivalent to an officer rank in the
active-duty Army – for the Mechanicsburg Future Soldier
Program. |
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“I led the platoon,” she explained. “I called them out to
formation. I taught facing movements and drills. I helped to
prepare them for basic training.”
The platoon consisted of anywhere from 15 to 20 future
soldiers at any given time, Nye said.
“We've watched the whole progression of her going through
this program from learning about the Army to teaching it to
future soldiers,” said her recruiter, Army Sgt. 1st Class
Scott Newcomer, who credits Nye with helping to prepare as
many as 60 fellow future soldiers for their new lives in the
Army.
Newcomer added that when Nye heads out next week for her
nine-week basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., she will
do so as a private first class, E-3. Most recruits, he
explained, come in as a private, E-1, and most E-2s are in
the Army for a year and must have their supervisors'
recommendation before making E-3.
The pay difference between a private and private first
class, Newcomer said, is more than $500 a month. Nye also
will have a head start in making specialist, E-4, he added.
Nye jumped up the ranks by referring someone into the Army
and completing the Future Soldier Program, which includes
marching, reading maps and passing a physical training test,
the same one needed to graduate from basic training.
A recruiter for four years, Newcomer has enlisted about 65
young men and women in the Army, and he said that only two
or three other future soldiers made E-3 using the same
method as Nye. “It takes a lot of commitment,” he said.
In her senior year, Nye did her high school internship with
the Mechanicsburg recruiting station, where she came in
every day and did office work. Nye said she even learned how
to conduct an applicant interview. These interviews, she
said, are conducted to tell applicants what the Army has to
offer and to find out if they are eligible to join.
“Nye is high-speed – the best future soldier I have had in
my company,” said Army Maj. William Hammac, who has been the
Carlisle Recruiting Company commander for the past 18
months. The Mechanicsburg recruiting station is one of seven
stations that fall under Hammac's command.
“We are very proud of her,” said Nye's mother, who admitted
to having mixed emotions, as Paige is the last of three
children to be leaving home, and the only girl in the
family, but she endorsed her daughter's decision to enlist.
“I think [the Army] is a wonderful career choice,” she said.
Once she completes basic training, Nye will learn how to be
a military intelligence analyst at the U.S. Army
Intelligence Center of Excellence at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
Asked what she will be doing, Nye quickly replied, “A whole
lot of stuff I am not allowed to talk about.”
She laughed at this too, but again, she wasn't joking. |
Article and photo By Christine June
U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion Harrisburg
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010 |
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