Officers now eligible for SRAP hometown recruiting duty

Officers now eligible for SRAP hometown recruiting duty
By Lisa Burgess

ARLINGTON, Va. A program that allows enlisted servicemembers with war-zone experience to go home for two weeks’ TDY to help with recruiting is being expanded to include officers.

In late December, officials at the Army’s recruiting command at Fort Knox, Ky., decided to expand the Special Recruiter Assistance Program, or SRAP, to include enlisted soldiers who have served in Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom and are now back in the United States.

The program has been further expanded to include officers, who must be age 28 or younger, stationed in the United States and veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom.

During the 14-day recruiting duty, SRAP participants put in two 40-hour weeks working with personnel in the recruiting station nearest their hometown.

Duties may include speaking at college and community events, as well as participating in interviews with local media, according to information provided on the program’s Web site, https://www.usarec.army.mil/hrap/soldierapp/control.asp.

SRAP participants can claim reimbursement for travel expenses and a per diem allowance for their temporary duty assignment, or TDY, time.

Once their recruiting obligation is complete, SRAP participants whose commanders have given prior approval may take personal leave, if they’ve earned it.

Another option for officers who want to do recruiting is a long-standing Army Command Cadet program called Officer Returning Alumni Program, or ORAP, which allows an officer to return to his college alma mater on permissive TDY status.

But unlike SRAP, this program isn’t funded, so an officer is not reimbursed for time or expenses.

Officers interested should e-mail their completed applications directly to Maj. Mark Van Hout, retentions officer for Cadet Command, at [email protected].