Wells honored with Missouri Army National Guard recruiting award

Maj. Larry Crowder and Col. Wendul Hagler present Staff Sgt. Dustin Wells (right) with the Adjutant General's Top Producer Award. (Photo by Rachel Knight)

By Jennifer Archdekin
Ngmo.pao@US.ARMY.MIL

ST. JOSEPH - The Missouri Army National Guard's 27th Recruiting and Retention Battalion recently honored Soldiers for their past year's efforts in building the National Guard state-wide.

Among those honored was Staff Sgt. Dustin Wells with Area 1, 27th Recruiting and Retention Battalion in St. Joseph. Wells received the Adjutant General's Top Producer Award.

The top producer award recognizes the top 10 recruiters in Missouri and Wells placed fourth. Wells was in the elite group of non-commissioned officers from the 88 recruiters currently in the state.

"I have learned a lot during my National Guard career and I am still learning," said Wells. "I love the Guard and in turn that makes my job as a recruiter easy to sell the Guard. People can see it if you are just saying what they want to hear or if you truly believe in the product you are presenting to them. That is why I am so successful as a recruiter."

In the past, Wells has been recognized with other recruiting accolades, such as Recruiter of the Year for Area 1 and Rookie of the Year both in 2009.

"The awards are nice and they are appreciated, but truthfully I just love the people I work with in our area," said Wells. "For the most part we are a tight group. We are always sticking together and helping each other. I credit some of my fellow recruiters in my area for my success."

Wells said that at the end of the day the awards are a great motivator, but working with other great recruiters is what he feels most blessed about.

"It makes it easy to get up and go to work each day when you are excited for the next thing to come," said Wells.

Wells has been with the National Guard for 12 years and has been a recruiter for over three years in northwest Missouri. Currently he is based out of the Richmond recruiting office.

Wells served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom III. He is a 1998 graduate of South Nodaway R-IV School in Barnard.

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-800-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.

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