If you just graduated high school and are looking for your next step, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Kirkendall has a couple of ideas.

The U.S. Army recruiter said that his downtown Ironton office has begun to see a steady flow of graduates looking to enlist.

Kirkendall said the beginning of June is usually slow because of graduations and senior trips, but by mid-June, he’s lucky if he gets a break.

“What it is, while they’re in high school they have it all planned out, but when they get out of school, that’s when they realize that they need to execute their plan,” Kirkendall said. “That’s when they start thinking really hard about what they want to do, and that’s when they start checking out their options, and they see military is an option for everyone that they should look at.”

Kirkendall’s success could be, in part, due to his familiarity with the area. The Scioto County native got the chance to work locally in October when the post was reopened. The post had been closed for about eight months because of a lack of traffic.

His new role casts him as a sort of part-salesman, part-evangelist. His typical day takes him to local schools and in to town, trying to find the next generation of America’s fighting force.

Kirkendall rarely stops talking up the service though, finding ways to reach people even when he’s off duty.

“I play ball at 7 o’clock everyday at Susan Court, so I talk to a lot of guys there, you see a lot of people walking around, so I talk to them there,” Kirkendall said. “I go to college at OUS, and that’s another good way I recruit, while I’m going to college.”

Still in a recruiter’s mindset, he’s quick to point out that the Army picks up the tab for his schooling.

While he’s quick on the draw with other Army perks, like medical insurance, business training, etc., the heart of Kirkendall’s message remains the same.

“Service to country,” Kirkendall said. “Service to country is always the big thing.”

Kirkendall is still looking for armies of one at the U.S. Army Recruiting Station, 115 N. Fourth St. He can be reached at (740) 533-ARMY.