Above all else, Indiana Army National Guard Sgt. Brandon Fraser wants people to get to know him.
“I just encourage people to reach out to me. If I see them, don’t be afraid to have a short conversation. I want people to get to know me before they get to know the Guard and the benefits,” the new recruiter to the area said in an interview Tuesday. “The Guard’s benefits and all aspects are bar none the best out of any branch that you can find, locally or nationally, but I want them to know me as a person and get comfortable talking to me, even if they have zero interest in joining. I am here to help the community and to help family members really just in any way I can; to make a good impression on young men and women in this area and their families and community.”
Fraser enlisted in the National Guard in 2019. For training, he went down to Fort Benning - since renamed Fort Moore - on the west side of Georgia to Fort Eisenhower - then known as Fort Gordon - on the east side.
He did his job training at Fort Gordon, which was for 25-Uniform, which is a signal support system specialist.
“To make it easy, basically anything that communicates like radios, computers, even printers, things like that - satellites - kind of the whole communications aspect of the military is kind of my bread and butter,” Fraser explained.
After that training, he got back to his unit in South Bend for 4-1/2 years. During last year’s annual training, Fraser was “thrown into a higher position of responsibility and leadership. So they recognized that and they wanted to promote me, and they did. They sent me over to Alpha Company over there (Gary), and since, and then I was the communications non-commissioned officer over there,” he said.
Fraser enjoyed being a traditional soldier so much that he wanted to do more with it. The opportunity came about for him to be a recruiter, or a “career counselor” as he prefers to call it.
His first day as the local recruiter was June 15. Now, he’s trying to meet with business owners and community people. He was at the fair Monday and Tuesday. When the school year begins, he will be at Warsaw, Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee high schools, as well as Lakeland Christian Academy and local colleges like Grace College.
He’s somewhat familiar with Warsaw and the surrounding areas as he’s been living in Goshen for a few years.
“I know the community and how it’s very tight-knit and everything because I grew up in South Bend. So it’s a lot more face-to-face, a lot more tight-knit than somewhere out there, for sure,” Fraser said. “... Hopefully, I’m going to stay in this area for quite a good while.”
His grandfather was a teacher in the South Bend school system for over 30 years. His grandfather encouraged him to attend Penn-Harris-Madison. Fraser ended up going to Penn where he graduated from in 2014.
After high school, Fraser went to IUSB for a semester before transferring to Purdue for electrical engineering technology. He attended three years at Purdue.
“Back then, I wasn’t enlisted. I wasn’t in the military, I wasn’t aware of the awesome benefits that we have here. So I was paying for (college) out of pocket, working full time, so I got a little burnt out, especially when classes started getting harder in the junior year. I was like, ‘Man, this is a big workload on top of working full time and everything.’ It’s definitely something I’m going back to at some point,” he stated.
Joining the National Guard, Fraser quickly became aware of all of the benefits that it offers. He said it can definitely benefit him more than he’s used it so far.
“If you are looking to serve your country and your community - live here, work here, serve here is the big motto. You can go to school and get that 100% paid for. If you want to go into trades, we pay for that as well 100%. The schooling you would need for the trades, we pay for that. So it’s a really good avenue to bridge that gap if you’re from a background like I am where we didn’t have a whole lot of money growing up, so it’s definitely a huge benefit for that,” Fraser explained.
Health insurance is another huge benefit to joining the Guard, he said.
“In the state of Indiana, you’re covered up until 26. So when I got off my parents’ insurance, I was available for the military’s insurance as well, which is - as long as you find a provider who that will accept it, which most places do now - it’s very inexpensive and very beneficial for really anybody, especially if you have children,” he said. “So the benefits don’t just stop at yourself. It goes further beyond that.”
Fraser said if he doesn’t use his school benefits through the Montgomery G.I. Bill, that’s transferable down to his children as well.
“So just for educational benefits, it’s very, very good. The difference between us, and let’s say the active duty Army, is that we get state funding as well. So we not only get the federal benefits, but we also get the state benefits as well,” he said.
Fraser, whose birthday is Dec. 14, has two children of his own, a 1-1/2-year-old and the other is 2-1/2. They were born 362 days apart - one on March 25 and the other on March 22.
“My kids are a huge bundle of energy and they are right up there with the most important things in my life,” he stated.
His grandfather served in the Army in World War II. His uncle served in the 1990s, and his stepdad served in the 1980s.
“It’s been in my family for a generation or two, and I always knew that I wanted to, and I was going to straight out of high school, but I made the decision not to and go to college first. So I had a willing and want to do something bigger than myself. And I know I was at a point where I was like, ‘I don’t feel like I’m fulfilling that potential.’ So it was just the drive and want to do something greater for myself and my community and my country,” Fraser explained as to why he decided to join the Guard.
To contact Fraser about enlisting or more information, call or text him at 574-904-8639. The Indiana National Guard Armory, 315 CR 350N, Warsaw, is always open when Fraser is there.