Shelter
Prepared
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVII • Number 44
County to use
Walnut Park
building for
homeless
Honoring
VETERAN’S DAY
See Local News, page 3
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • November 7, 2018
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
The first female senior enlisted leader in U.S. Army Recruiting Command history, Sgt. Maj. Tabitha Gavia takes a selfie in Vancouver with Union High School Associate
Principal Tony Miles during a recent recruiting stop at the school. Moments earlier, Gavia gave Miles a military coin, considered a special honor.
Recruiting Challenge
Army jobs can appeal to all, top recruiter says
by D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Service, teamwork, and career opportu-
nities are what are in store for people who
join the Army. That’s the message from
Sgt. Maj. Tabitha Gavia, the first female
senior enlisted leader in U.S. Army Re-
cruiting Command history.
Gavia made stops in the Portland area
last month to visit Armed Forces recruiting
stations and local schools. Based in Fort
Knox, Kentucky, she is essentially the right
hand for the command general in charge
of recruiting for the entire country, offi-
cials said, which means being responsible
for enlisting more than 90,000 people for
Army jobs.
Recruiting for the military is a chal-
lenge, especially in Portland where there
is a lack of knowledge about military life
because of a low military presence in the
area, a relatively low unemployment rate, a
high volume of white color jobs, and high
college enrollment rates.
Nationally only about 29 percent of
youth 17-24 years old qualify for mili-
tary service, and a full 50 percent of those
youth know little to nothing about military
service, according to the U.S. Army Re-
cruiting Command.
Gavia, 49, is at the peak of a 30-year
career in the Army. During her recent vis-
it, she spoke with high school students in
Vancouver about the benefits of joining
the Armed Forces and let them inspect and
participate in demonstrations of some real
military hardware like flight simulators.
She wanted them and others to know
they too can find the level of success and
satisfaction she had by joining.
“I can think of no greater honor than ser-
vice to country. And believing and doing
something greater than yourself. And so
that is my reason for serving,” Gavia told
the Portland Observer.
With benefits like tuition assistance,
traveling to different countries, and instill-
ing good work ethics, Gavia said there’s a
variety of Army jobs that can appeal to just
about anyone.
“Whether you are the adventurous type
and you want to go down that route, or if
you’re interested in STEM and you want
to do science and technology....everything
C ontinueD on p age 8