The Recruiter Who Knows Naval Aviation

FORT WORTH, Texas — Long before Lt. Cmdr. Jaclyn Kuhrt began helping experienced aviators find their way into the Navy Reserve, she was charting her own path into naval aviation.

When Kuhrt entered her senior year at the U.S. Naval Academy, she knew she wanted a career in naval aviation. She attended the Naval Academy from 2005 to 2009 before commissioning and entering the naval flight officer pipeline. She went on to serve in the P-3 Orion and P-8 Poseidon communities in Jacksonville, Florida, gaining firsthand experience with the operational demands and opportunities of naval aviation.

Years later, that experience would become one of her greatest assets in an unexpected second career: recruiting. Recruiting plays a critical role in maintaining Navy readiness by connecting qualified applicants with opportunities to serve and ensuring the force has the talent needed to meet current and future mission requirements.

From 2014 to 2017, Kuhrt transitioned into recruiting during an active-duty shore tour with Navy Recruiting District Minneapolis. What began as another assignment quickly became work she discovered she genuinely enjoyed. For Kuhrt, that enthusiasm comes from believing in the opportunities she presents to applicants.

“I like recruiting more than actually flying,” Kuhrt said. “It works because I believe in what I’m selling. I enjoy career fairs, talking to people and giving them options and opportunities.”

As her career progressed, Kuhrt’s priorities also changed. After spending approximately three years geographically separated from her fiancé, also a pilot, she decided to leave active duty and transition to the Selected Reserve. The move allowed her to remain connected to the Navy while building a life with her family, which now includes three young sons.

Her own transition would later give her valuable perspective when helping other service members make similar decisions.

“The Reserves gave me a break from the Navy I needed to start my family but still allowed me to be a part of the Navy and eventually led me to a career as a Navy Reserve Recruiter."

Today, as a Permanent Professional Recruiter, Kuhrt serves as the officer programs officer for Reserve Talent Acquisition Group Central while also supporting Navy Veteran, or NAVET, recruiting and the broader NAVET program. From Fort Worth, she works with recruiting leadership, manpower professionals and Reserve aviation commands to help prior navalaviators navigate the process of returning to Navy service. That mission is particularly important as Navy Recruiting Reserve Command works to meet Reserve aviation recruiting requirements.

Recruiting an experienced aviator into the Navy Reserve can require coordination among recruiters, manpower professionals, aviation commands and individual squadrons. Interservice transfers can also provide another source of experienced aviation talent by allowing qualified aviators from other military services to pursue opportunities in the Navy Reserve.

For aviators, however, flight experience alone does not guarantee accession into a flying billet. Applicants must meet Navy eligibility requirements and be selected by a Reserve aviation squadron before continuing to fly in the Navy Reserve.

All flying billets in the Reserves are coordinated by the squadrons and wings who hold selection boards throughout the year to fill their open billets. All aviators must apply to the board and get selected in order to fill a flying billet.

“The boards are competitive so pilots ‘rush’ squadrons like you would a fraternity in order to help their chance for selection,” Kuhrt said.

Aviation applicants also face medical requirements beyond the standard accession process. Their medical packages require specialized review through Naval Aviation Medicine and can include additional requirements such as electrocardiograms, laboratory testing and more specific vision and hearing standards. Conditional releases for applicants transferring from another service and medical waivers are among the issues that can extend processing timelines.

Building those packages can be complicated, but it is a process Kuhrt has learned through years of recruiting experience.

“I’ve helped friends join the Reserve,” Kuhrt said. “I know it very well. It’s been very beneficial.”

Kuhrt also works directly with Reserve aviation leadership, briefing commanding officers on recruiting processes and building relationships with wings and squadrons to better understand their manpower requirements. Those relationships help recruiters identify where opportunities exist and better match qualified applicants with the needs of the force.

For pilots considering the Navy Reserve, Kuhrt said the accession timeline depends largely on an applicant’s current status.

“For Navy pilots transitioning directly from active duty, the process can move relatively quickly, with members potentially being gained into the Reserve within a month,” Kuhrt said. “Applicants with a break in service or aviators transferring from another military service should expect a longer process, typically four to six months.” These differences highlightone of the challenges of Reserve aviation recruiting: There is no single path that applies to every aviator. A pilot transitioning directly from active duty, a Navy veteran returning after several years away, and an aviator transferring from another service may all require different administrative, medical and manpower actions.

For Kuhrt, the challenge has grown beyond helping individual applicants navigate those requirements. Her role now requires looking at the aviation recruiting mission on a broader level. She identifies where qualified talent exists and works to understand the barriers preventing aviators from affiliating with the Reserves. She also ensures recruiters and commands understand the options available to prospective applicants.

“Pilots who want to continue flying must be selected within the Reserve aviation community,” Kuhrt said. “The absence of an immediately available flying billet, however, does not necessarily mean an aviator’s opportunity to serve has ended.”

Depending on Navy Reserve requirements and the individual’s qualifications, pilots may have opportunities to serve in nonflying billets. Aviators selected for flying opportunities may also have pathways to regain currency in the aircraft or platform assigned to their Reserve unit.

Kuhrt’s combination of operational aviation experience, her own transition from active duty to the Selected Reserve, and years of recruiting experience give her a perspective particularly useful to aviators weighing what comes next.

She once sat on the other side of the process as a midshipman hoping to build a career in naval aviation. Today, she helps experienced aviators understand that leaving active duty — or even beginning their career in another military service — does not necessarily mean their opportunity to serve in naval aviation is over. Sometimes, it simply means finding the right way back.

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