RICHMOND Va. –
The Virginia Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion marked a milestone Aug. 20, 2025, when it surpassed its National Guard Bureau mission of 851 enlistments in what has been an exceptional recruiting year. With weeks still remaining before the Sept. 30 end of the recruiting year, the battalion’s recruiters have continued to build on that success, adding dozens more enlistments.
“This remarkable achievement, the first time since 2014 that we have surpassed our accession goal, is a testament to your collective dedication and hard work,” said Lt. Col. Eric Johnson, commander of the Recruiting and Retention Battalion, to the battalion in an email sent to mark the milestone.
Virginia’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion is organized into two companies: Alpha Company, which covers the western side of the state, and Charlie Company, which covers the east. Recruiters are assigned to specific areas, each with its own challenges and opportunities. Recruiting in Virginia Beach beneath the roar of fighter jets, for example, looks very different than in rural communities like Abingdon or Gate City. But no matter where they serve, success for Virginia’s recruiters ultimately comes down to consistent hard work.
“There is no secret sauce or magic pill that makes a recruiter successful,” said 1st Sgt. Arkadiy Knopov, the first sergeant for Alpha Company. “Work ethic is the key! When you are at work—work! Eliminate the time wasters, audit your time and get rid of things that are not productive, and most importantly, follow up on things that are due and follow through on things that you said you would do.”
To date, two of Alpha Company’s four areas have met or exceeded their mission, including Area 1, where Sgt. 1st Class Rane Cooke, currently the nation’s top recruiter, is assigned. With more than 50 accessions since the start of the recruiting year in October, Cooke, the on-campus recruiter at Virginia Tech, said he still expects to enlist a few more before the year is up.
“Honestly, my motivation this year has just been to help every student possible on the campus,” Cooke said, explaining that he recognized opportunities to grow the number of enlistments coming from Virginia Tech and “went to work and made it happen.”
Cooke said he never expected to be among the top recruiters in the nation and credited Master Sgt. Jason Haynes, the Area 1 section chief, for his support, guidance and friendship.
“With him keeping me and my family happy, I want to work as hard as I can to make him be the best in the state also,” Cooke said.
Nearby, in Roanoke, part of Sgt. 1st Class James Maish’s success came from gaining a foothold at Roanoke College, a private institution that historically delivered few enlistments. This year was different, though—Maish said he was consistently able to generate applicants from that campus.
“I’m not sure what changed,” Maish said. “Most just want to serve and do something cool for the weekend.”
Across the state, in Charlie Company’s Area 5, Staff Sgt. Jake Locas, responsible for recruiting in Hanover, also exceeded his mission. Locas said the bulk of his enlistments came from the high schools in his area and said that, in the two years that he’s been recruiting, he’s focused on building relationships.
“I have dedicated myself to being a resource, not only for the National Guard, but mentoring students as they begin their journeys toward education, trade or careers,” Locas said. “I’ve shown them that I am committed to their individual success in or out of uniform, whether they join the Guard or seek other opportunities.”
In Springfield, part of Alpha Company’s Area 4, one of the state’s newest recruiters, Sgt. Zineb Majaoudou, has also met success this year, even though she hasn’t yet been to the recruiting course. Majaoudou, a first-generation Arab American, said she wanted to be a recruiter because “the Army National Guard changed my life in so many positive ways,” including, she said, through the use of education benefits and access to low-cost health insurance.
“I took advantage of all the great benefits and realized that sharing this information with people who may face similar struggles would be an extremely fulfilling career,” Majaoudou said, who said the best part of her job is helping young people achieve their goals.
While much of the battalion’s success rests on recruiters working in high school lunchrooms and on college campuses, a lot happens behind the scenes. Across the state, a dedicated handful of Soldiers work as part of the operations team, on the battalion staff, or at Military Entry Processing Stations to ensure applicants have a smooth journey throughout their enlistment process.
In an email to the battalion, Johnson highlighted the individual efforts that led to the unit’s success. He thanked the recruiters for their dedication, MEPS personnel for their service and support, the command team and battalion staff for their leadership and expertise, the Recruit Sustainment Program for their professionalism and training, and the retention section for their support to Soldiers across the force.
“As a team, this accomplishment underscores our commitment to providing the Virginia Army National Guard with the quality Soldiers it needs to maintain its readiness and fulfill its mission,” Johnson said. “Carry yourselves with pride, knowing that you are part of a team that has achieved a historic feat.”
Among those who work behind the scenes at the Fort Lee MEPS is Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Liller.
“Our job is to expertly manage the processing of all applicants that come through the Fort Lee MEPS,” Liller said. For most individuals who choose to enlist into the Virginia Army National Guard, MEPS is their first exposure to a military environment. Liller and her team ensure requests for testing and medical evaluations are processed on time, and they make sure every part of the enlistment process is done to standard.
“To uphold the integrity of the enlistment process, we perform quality control checks on all applicants’ files, meticulously verifying the eligibility of every individual,” Liller explained. “In coordination with our recruiters and the staff available at our MEPS, we strategically manage a master calendar to maximize efficiency for all recruiting stations, guaranteeing we process as many qualified applicants as possible.”
Liller said she’s already busy preparing for the next recruiting year, one she expects to be just as successful as this year.
Liller’s work exemplifies the battalion’s dedication at every level, a commitment that senior leaders, including the battalion commander and Command Sgt. Maj. Jessica Dickenson, have recognized.
“This accomplishment doesn’t belong to any one person, area, or shop,” Dickenson said. She stressed how hard the Soldiers in the battalion worked throughout the year, putting in early mornings, long days and late nights to accomplish the mission. “We have such a great combination of recruiters and leaders who are not only technically strong, but who are passionate about the purpose and importance of the mission and the people whom we serve.”
Throughout the battalion, up and down the chain of command, Soldiers and leaders praised their peers, subordinates and leaders, with many citing the finely tuned team as the source of the year’s success. Knopov cited the battalion commander and said “that people were the difference,” adding that the battalion was comprised of the best people he’s worked with over 15 years in recruiting. Majaoudou said the success was because of “good, supportive leadership and a great team,” while Liller said the “battalion fosters a collaborative environment” that boasts “some of the hardest working recruiters and section chiefs in the field.”