Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- For the first time, the Alaska Air National Guard has a Mat-Su presence with the opening Monday of a new recruiting center in Wasilla.

The center's opening also marks a national premiere: Wasilla is the first place in the country where an Air Guard recruiter is sharing an office with an active-duty U.S. Air Force recruiter.

Military officials, hoping to capitalize on the Valley's growing population and general military support, say they don't care whether recruits end up in an Air Guard uniform or an Air Force one.

Wasilla and Palmer account for about 165 of the 1,700 members of the Guard's Anchorage-based 176th Wing.

The wing's commander said he hopes to bring in 250 recruits of all kinds this year, with help from Wasilla.

Right now, the 176th is especially eager to fill out about 70 positions on a new maintenance squadron for C-17 Globemaster transport planes, said commander Gen. Chuck Foster.

"I don't want people to get the idea if you don't want to be a C-17 mechanic, don't bother," Foster said. "We have a lot of opportunities for everybody."

Recruiting efforts will target recent high school graduates -- recruiters make regular trips to area schools -- and former active-duty members looking to serve but stay closer to home than they did on active-duty tours.

An agreement hammered out by Air Force and Guard senior leadership allows the Guard to share the space rent-free for a year, said Master Sgt. Richard Maxted, the wing's recruiting officer supervisor.

The Air Force already pays the lease on the office, located on the second floor of the big white commercial building at the intersection of the Parks and Palmer-Wasilla highways that also houses Wayland Baptist University and a drive-through espresso stand.

Master Sgt. Bethany Miller is serving as the only full-time staff at the Air Guard office. Miller served as an active-duty Air Force recruiter for 13 years.

"I can help folks looking for Air Force opportunities too," Miller said. "We'll play nice together."

The partnership should help both branches, officials said. The Guard can accept a wider range of recruits than the Air Force, including those with GEDs, those older than the active-duty cutoff of 27, and some with family issues that might keep them out of the Air Force, Maxted said.

On the other hand, the Air Force is the better path for someone who wants to serve overseas in, say, Iraq or Afghanistan, said Miller.

"The point is to get them here and find them a blue uniform," she said.

Gov. Sarah Palin presided over an opening-day ceremony Monday at the center. Palin later said a recruiter visiting Wasilla High School got her son, Track, interested in military service. He is now serving with the Fort Wainwright-based 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Iraq.

"I was one of those military moms that asked a heckuva lot of questions of our recruiters," the governor told a small crowd of military dignitaries and media packed into the center's small reception area.

Palin administered the oath of service to 17-year-old Jessica Newton and 25-year-old Justin Lawson, two slightly nervous siblings from Willow.

Afterward, the brother and sister talked about how they decided to join the Guard.

"I liked how it was military, but it wasn't active-duty," Newton said. She graduated last month from Correspondence Study School in Wasilla.

The two didn't initially plan to join up together. Newton wanted to visit a recruiter and Lawson came along for support. He's already served with the U.S. Army, four years that included a tour in Iraq building roads as a heavy equipment operator.

But, as a new father who's working part time as a paid on-call firefighter, Lawson decided to enlist again when he heard about the bonuses and tuition assistance.

Newton, who hopes to attend the University of Alaska, gets $10,000 now and another $10,000 after three years, she said. Her brother gets $7,500 in two installments.

Shantelle Rose, Lawson's 20-year-old fiancee, said she respects Lawson's desire to serve -- again -- but hopes he isn't sent overseas.

"He said there's really no chance of him getting deployed, but I know there's always a chance," Rose said.

Find Zaz Hollander online at adn.com/contact/zhollander or call 352-6711.

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