{"id":343740,"date":"2025-01-02T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=343740"},"modified":"2025-01-03T22:18:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T22:18:46","slug":"illinois-army-guards-top-recruiter-pays-it-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=343740","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Army Guard\u2019s Top Recruiter Pays it Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Brig. Gen. Lenny Williams, the assistant adjutant general – Army of the Illinois National Guard and the commander of the Illinois Army National Guard, State Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Kelly, and State Command Chief Warrant Officer CW5 Thomas Black present Staff Sgt. Francisco Orozco with an award at the Illinois Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion’s annual awards banquet Nov.16, 2024, in Peoria. Orozco was the Illinois Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Noncommissioned Officer of the Year with 35 enlistments.
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SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – When Francisco Orozco first approached an Army National Guard recruiter in 2016, the recruiter \u201cwould not give me the time of day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orozco was overweight and had a neck tattoo. Both disqualified him from enlistment. The recruiter quickly dismissed him. He didn\u2019t see the potential behind Orozco. He just saw a big guy with a $60 tattoo of the world with music notes emblazoned on his neck. He didn\u2019t see the Soldier ready to emerge.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to today, and Staff Sgt. Francisco Orozco is the Illinois Army National Guard\u2019s top recruiter. In fiscal 2024, he recruited 35 Soldiers from the Schaumburg area into the Army National Guard. Two months into the new fiscal year, he made his yearly mission with 14 recruits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost did give up on the National Guard (in 2016),\u201d Orozco said. Then he got a text from Matthew Serowka, a different Illinois Army National Guard recruiter. They talked about the benefits of the National Guard and the requirements to enlist. \u201cHe (Serowka) said that as long as I stayed committed and was willing to put in the work, he\u2019d help.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, Orozco was a 24-year-old bass player in a metal band called Iris and was about to become a father. The 2011 Prospect High School graduate was ready for a change. \u201cI had to do a lot of work on myself,\u201d Orozco said. \u201cIt was time to get my life together.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had never thought much about the military. He just knew he had to change the path he was on. The Illinois Army National Guard offered the chance to go to college, learn job skills, start retirement savings, get into better physical condition, travel and be part of something larger than himself. Still, not many saw the Army in Orozco\u2019s future. \u201cIt was a big shock to all my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was one of the more motivated ones,\u201d said Serowka, who is now Orozco\u2019s first sergeant and leads the H Company \u201cHoney Badgers\u201d \u2014 the top-recruiting company in the state. \u201cHe came to drill with us as a guest for a year straight doing all the physical training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orozco shed 60 pounds and paid $1,600 for laser treatments to remove the tattoo (neck tattoos are now waiver-able). He studied for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test, raising his score more than 30 points so he could enlist as a combat medic.<\/p>\n

Orozco said he just needed direction and an opportunity. The Illinois Army National Guard provided both. He grew up one of five children in a single-parent household. His mother, Linda, did what she could to keep the family afloat, but Orozco said he grew up without role models \u2014 people who would show him a way to success. People like Serowka and Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Mcdannald, the command sergeant major of the Illinois Army National Guard\u2019s Recruiting and Retention Battalion, became Orozco\u2019s mentors.<\/p>\n

In 2017, he successfully enlisted. He has lost an additional 40 pounds since becoming a Soldier. His daughter, Mia, is now 8 years old.<\/p>\n

He is engaged to firefighter\/paramedic Fabi Amezcua. Both were combat medics in the Illinois Army National Guard\u2019s 708th Medical Company and met in 2021 when the unit was staffing the COVID-19 testing site in Peoria for nearly five months.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has been my greatest support system throughout my journey. Her unwavering encouragement and dedication inspire me daily,\u201d Orozco said.<\/p>\n

When he received the award as the Illinois Army National Guard\u2019s top recruiter in November, Fabi was right there with him. \u201cI\u2019m proud to celebrate this achievement with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orozco still strums his guitar now and then and plans to put a bit more time into it. However, now he is in the business of \u201ctransforming lives.\u201d He doesn\u2019t think of it as recruiting. He and his team look at it as making people\u2019s lives better.<\/p>\n

Mcdannald said the one thing Orozco does very well is take care of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe works hard helping people through the entire process \u2014 before they enlist and after they enlist. He cares about those who he enlists, and therefore, they refer other potential Soldiers to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orozco said many young men and women can relate to his lived experience. They can understand how the Army National Guard helped him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m paying it forward,\u201d Orozco said. \u201cThe Illinois Army National Guard definitely changed my life, for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nationalguard.mil\/News\/News-Features\/Article\/4020745\/illinois-army-guards-top-recruiter-pays-it-forward\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brig. Gen. Lenny Williams, the assistant adjutant general – Army of the Illinois National Guard and the commander of the Illinois Army National Guard, State Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Kelly, and State Command Chief Warrant Officer CW5 Thomas Black present Staff Sgt. Francisco Orozco with an award at the Illinois Army National Guard’s Recruiting and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343742,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=343740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":343743,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343740\/revisions\/343743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/343742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=343740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=343740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=343740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}