The people who do the one-weekend-a-month, two-weeks-a-summer are looking uphill at recruiting.

National Guard recruiters on a national Zoom call Wednesday said retention is okay, but getting people signed in the first place is becoming more of a challenge, “especially when it comes to IT,” said Sgt. Stephen Graves of the Peoria-based 182d Airlift Wing. He notes information technology careers can begin with a six-figure salary.

“Even fast food chains, where individuals don’t have to go to basic training, they don’t have to come off of certain medications” are paying competitively, compared to the Illinois National Guard, continued Graves, “but the way that we can incentivize them, especially in the Air Guard, is by giving them something that’s local. A lot of these individuals still want to stay close to home. They want to go to school to get their education benefits, so that’s something that’s always been a drive.”

Another recruiter, Sgt. Yoon Kim of Woodstock, Ill., said it’s a matter of communicating clearly what it means to be a Guardsman and how someone can fit military service into their life.

Full disclosure: the author of this story is the parent of a member of the Illinois National Guard.