Despite challenge of virtual recruiting, Army finds interest on the rise in C.O.

'Folks (are) looking to the Army as potentially a second career.'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Army has been forced to make the recruiting process virtual.

Despite that, interest in joining the Army is up in Oregon.

"I think the trends continue to work in the Army's favor, in terms of virtual recruiting," Craig Wilhelm, Oregon's civilian aide to the secretary of the Army, told NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday.

Wilhelm can back that up because, nationally, the Army hit its congressionally mandated recruiting target for the fiscal year 2020.

That's without having many recruiting offices open, and without many of the typical visits to schools.

But there's a new source of interest.

"Folks that have potentially left the job market because of COVID are looking to the Army as potentially a second career," said Wilhelm, who lives in Bend.

Nick Choy, public affairs chief for the Portland Recruiting Battalion, which oversees Central Oregon, said the pandemic's impacts just might have been the push some people needed to join up.

"When you have this worldwide, life-altering event, such as the pandemic, it motivates people to go ahead and make that decision that they've been pondering for some time," Choy said.

Wilhelm said the Army needed to strategize, to take advantage of some of those people on the edge and let them know the Army was still hiring.

"We were able to shift pretty quickly to meet that challenge,” he said. “So our recruiters are recruiting day in, and are finding the social media way to get the recruiting message out."

This week will bring another chance for people to join up: a virtual Army career fair on Thursday, with recruiters taking part from all over Oregon and Washington. You can find more information on the event or register to attend here: https://events.indeed.com/event/69810/.