Now an official part of the Sandie family, Sgt. Troutman has taken up the mantle of Marine recruiter for AISD.
Troutman started his recruitment work in January after receiving training in Albuquerque. Since then, he has given class talks in which he discusses the importance of taking advantage of programs offered by the school and outside sources, instead of just attempting to recruit for the Marines.
One program he talks about is Amtech which allows students to leave the main campus to take part in courses for animal science, architecture, business, culinary and more. Amtech serves as a resource for students to find and hone skills associated with their future career.
“Amtech is the best thing ever, every day I find out you guys have one more additional course available to you,” Troutman said.
In addition to Amtech, Troutman suggests students participate in jobs affiliated with their future and accept offers by local organizations or churches to travel abroad.
He also suggests those who want to attend college to look out for scholarships and avoid student loans.
“If you wanna go to college then go to college but look at all the scholarships, don’t take out loans,” Troutman said. “I took out loans but college didn’t work for me right, and you have to end up paying those back. My loan I took out wasn’t too big, I think it was like $500, but I’ve seen people that take out their full tuition in loans.”
The Marines are also an available option he said while putting on his “recruitment hat.” All military branches come with educational opportunities, retirement benefits and easier access in to federal positions, but Troutman states that bonds formed in the Marines are stronger than in the other branches.
“We’re the smallest branch, we get the least amount of money, but we make do with what we have and the connections that we make that stay throughout our careers and our lives,” Troutman said.
While in his last unit, he received a courtesy qualification called “All Systems Call” which Troutman said means, “Hey, congratulations you actually learned how to do everything”.
He will continue to work as the recruiter for three years and then go back to work on helicopters for the Marines. He has an office off of Soncy and will be in the college advisor Billy Borden’s room when meeting with individual students.