JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
A San Antonio based recruiter was one of the U.S. Army’s top 13 recruiting station commanders recognized by Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel A. Dailey at the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes April 17.
Sgt. 1st Class Ebony R. Thomas-Yarborough is in charge of Park North Recruiting Station for the San Antonio Recruiting Battalion, leading a team of recruiters who helped 51 individuals find careers in the U.S. Army between January and March 2019, making her one of the top station commanders in the Texas.
Thomas-Yarborough has served for 14 years and said she joined the Army to be part of an organization that gives her the opportunity to establish her own path, challenge her and accentuate her strengths.
“The Army has allowed me to forge my own place in the world and I am proud to be part of this team,” she said. “It is humbling and truly and honor to be recognized by such prestigious individuals who have taken time out of their busy schedules to emphasize the importance of the job we do as recruiters.”
While she reclassified permanently to an Army recruiter in 2015, Thomas-Yarborough served her first seven years in the Army as a 25B, Information Technology Specialist, in Mannheim, Germany; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Williamsburg, Virginia. She has also deployed once to Camp Arrijana, Kuwait.
As a member of the San Antonio community, Thomas-Yarborough also volunteers with the American Red Cross.
Dailey, along with other Army senior leaders, has made accessions a main priority and is working to ensure recruiters have the resources they need to connect with qualified applicants.
"These ladies and gentlemen are responsible for building the Army every single year," said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey. "What they do is irreplaceable. It requires young men and women who have lived the life, who have served the cause, who have sacrificed on their own, to go out and look a group of people in the face, those people being mothers and fathers of America, look in their eye and say, I'm going to make a better woman or man out of your daughter or son."
As a station commander, Thomas-Yarborough leads a team of recruiters helping potential applicants understand the education and certification opportunities, leader development programs and 150 career options the Army offers.
She also recruits and screens applicants to ensure they meet the qualifications to serve. Currently, only about 29 percent of youth meet the Army’s cognitive, physical and moral requirements for service.
“We are facing the toughest labor market we have seen since the all-volunteer force was established in the 1970s,” said Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, who leads U.S. Army Recruiting Command, based at Fort Knox, Kentucky. “Our station commanders and recruiters are working hard to connect to today’s youth to ensure they understand how military experience can benefit them in the future.”
Thomas-Yarborough and nearly 10,000 other recruiters around the world helped the U.S. Army hire more than 80,000 individuals for full-time and part-time careers in the active Army and Army Reserve in 2018.