MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Almost 40 years after the military draft ended, the recruiters of the 336th Recruiting Squadron at Moody Air Force Base are tasked with filling the ranks of the U.S. Air Force with the most qualified youth the U.S. has to offer.

"Our job is to build the most powerful Air Force in the world through superior recruiting in Georgia, parts of South Carolina, Florida and Alabama," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. John Deresky, 336th Recruiting Squadron commander. "The Air Force has become the employment of choice for many young Americans. Just like a division one basketball team, the higher caliber recruit we bring into the Air Force, the more likely we are to succeed in our future endeavors.

"The Air Force is currently boasting the highest caliber applicant in the history of the Air Force," he added. "Ninety-nine percent of our applicants score at least 50 on the ASVAB test and nearly 20 percent have at least one year of college education. The future of the Air Force is very bright with respect to the extremely high caliber of Americans entering the Air Force."

Unlike civilian corporations, the Air Force has strict fitness requirements for recruits. One recruiter says this can be a challenge when competing with major corporations for talented members.

"We are competing against major corporations," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Johnson, 336th RCS line officer recruiter. "Only our standards are higher because of height, weight, fitness and moral requirements, so that aspect makes our job harder than a typical civilian recruiter."

Despite the challenges, the 336th RCS put 1,692 Airman in boots last year, which made them number one of 24 squadrons for adding potential Airmen into the Air Force. Out of that number, 85 of those applicants were Battlefield Airman. The 336th RCS also won Brig. Gen. Ayyar's only Commander's award of Excellence trophy.

"Seventy-three percent of America's youth is not qualified for military service," said Deresky. "We go through an average of 77 leads for every applicant that enters the Air Force. The Air Force recruits with a smaller fraction of the recruiters compared to what the other services employ for the same number of service entrants.

"Of the 106 service members in the 336th RCS, 16 of those are headquarters personnel stationed here at Moody who handle marketing, training, operations, support and administration for 88 other recruiters across the four states," he added."

Johnson, one of the recruiters in the 336th RCS, recruits for the technical degree sponsorship program.

"The best part of working in recruiting is when someone calls you from basic military training or officer training school to thank you for bringing them into the Air Force," said Johnson. "It's great to play a part in changing someone's life."

With the draft over and military service voluntary, citizens must be convinced and not conscripted. Since 1973 many changes have made the military more appealing, but in the end it is the job of the recruiter to fill the military with quality people.