Honoring those who serve: Clarissa Anne Walls
April 20, 2022 at 7:24 p.m.
Let us honor US Army Staff Sergeant E6 specialist Clarissa Anne Walls.
Walls, nicknamed Wall-e, is very well known in Rushville over the last year as the Army National Guard recruiter. She visits the high school during lunch period almost every week, only missing when others need her help elsewhere.
Wall-e grew up in South Bend, where she graduated from St. Joseph High School in 2007. She was the first female in her family to join the military. Both her grandfathers served in the armed forces as well as her uncle, cousin and nephew. Wall-e knew from a young age that she wanted to join the armed forces.
After high school, Wall-e attended college at Indiana University-South Bend and eventually transferred to IPFW in Fort Wayne where she graduated in December 2015. Before enlisting, she described her life as hectic. She worked four jobs to support herself through college, as well as taking care
of three guardianship/foster children in need of a caring and stable home. During that time in her life, she was unaware that the National Guard helped pay for college or she would have joined sooner. When she enlisted in the Army National Guard in March 2016, she described the experience as “almost a vacation” because of how busy she was before she shipped out. “I only had to do my laundry, make one bed, I actually got sleep, someone cooked for me, and I got paid to exercise and learn – it was opposite of my life before the military.”
Wall-e was first stationed for basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Even though she was enlisted as National Guard, she completed the exact same training as active army recruits because National Guard is a component of the Army. The basic training portion of her assignment lasted about 10 weeks.
“The hardest part of basic training to me was getting used to other soldiers not catching on as fast. We are all one unit so especially in the beginning if one person messed up, everyone messed up.” Wall-e describes herself as a very task-oriented person and adjusted very easily to her life at basic training and described it as “being handed a checklist or a to-do list.”
“I had a very good support system back home. The kids I cared for at the time even wrote me letters and sent me pictures often,” Wall-e stated. She kept journals and wrote letters often to help with the feeling of missing her family. “On passes, it was funny. You would see privates standing around attached to electrical outlets with their phone cords. We would get our snacks, get our phones, find an available outlet and Facetime our families,” Wall-e recalled. When asked her favorite part of the experience, she answered, “The camaraderie and making friends.”
After basic, she went straight into advanced individual training also known as AIT. AIT is different for everyone. There are over 120 jobs in the military and each soldier's AIT is customized to the job they have chosen based on their skill sets shown on their basic entry test. Wall-e had chosen the job of military police or MP.
Training for the military police included dual field training for combat support on the military side as well as the law-and-order side, such as DUIs, responding to dispatch calls, house searches, drug searches, even active shooter drills. “The Military Police AIT is something we like to call a gentleman's course,” Wall-e explained. “It has a lot of classroom activity during the day and allows you more freedom during the evening hours. Our weekend passes were usually longer than basic training. We were often allotted 2-6 hours based on our performance during the week,” she continued. We even went to a special 4th of July concert and watched fireworks.
She graduated from her AIT training in August 2016. She then returned home to Indiana. Her home unit was listed in Plymouth in the 381st company MP. She would report to base one weekend a month and for annual training during the summer, which would last a couple of weeks. During her time on base, they would focus on specific MP training exercises for their unit.
The unit was also tasked with two additional missions: the CERFP (more easily understood as “Search and Extraction”) which would focus on natural disasters, earthquakes, fallen buildings, or other mass casualty incidents; and quick reaction force (QRF) which focused on responding to things like riots or crowd control. A CERFP unit is a regional unit and part of the HERFP unit that responds nationwide.
The CERFP groups train in multiple things, including small space rescue, rope rescue, and are tasked with extracting civilians so that they could be helped by medics or escorted to a safe area. Up to date training is a very important requirement of these units.
During this time, the unit would also train with the Zaka (Jerusalem), Israeli and Slovakian armies. The armies would rotate hosting the training. “I made a lot of international friends during the training exercises that I still am in touch with through Facebook and other social media platforms,” Wall-e stated.
In 2018 Wall-e transitioned into a temporary full time admin position for supporting the CERFP group. She handled making sure the members of the unit were properly certified and tracked the training of her unit. At the end of her temporary assignment, she was approached by the recruiter in Plymouth.
“He was being promoted to a higher position and asked if I would be interested in taking over his job,” Wall-e said. She had many concerns about accepting the position. “Recruiters are often seen as pushy and have a bad reputation around the community,” she informed. When reluctantly accepting the position, she vowed to be open and honest with everyone interested in becoming part of the Army National Guard.
She officially was assigned to the role of “Recruiting and Retention NCO (Non-commissioned Officer)” in Plymouth in June 2020. “It took me a few months to get the hang of it. It's my favorite job I've ever had, but it was also the hardest to learn and adjust to. There's been a lot of trial and error and a lot of growing,” she stated. Wall-e really enjoys the opportunity to mentor the teenagers and young adults. In Plymouth she started after school youth workout programs and even helped host weekly pickup basketball games for the students in her community with other members of her recruiting team.
Wall-e moved to the Connersville branch in June 2021 with her tiny poodle named “Eve-a” which she takes almost everywhere with her and calls “Indiana's Tiniest Recruiter.” Wall-e now serves as the recruiting NCO for Rush, Fayette and Union counties. She visits all three high schools in her district weekly, if possible, as well as teaching resiliency courses, conducting classroom presentations, helping her schools, mentoring students, hosting sporting events and many other community events. She is also a member of the Fayette County Diplomats through the Chamber of Commerce.
“I tell all the members of my community and my schools, if there Is a blank square on my calendar, it's yours. I will volunteer for anything that will help this community,” Wall-e offered. Wall-e started this year at square zero but has already done so much for our communities, such as special jerseys for the football teams for military appreciation night, helping with local food banks, as well as volunteering for schools, festivals and countless other actions.
Wall-e states her two-year plan is to start her own youth program, bring the weekly workout groups and the basketball pickup games to our community. “I want to bring that positive energy back. I want the community to see someone from the military out there doing good and I just hope that that fosters and grows in the community,” Wall-e stated.
While Wall-e is a recruiter for the Army National Guard, she is also happy to talk to you about all the branches of the military and help young recruits find the position and branch that fits them the best. She also goes out of her way to help recruits study when they are struggling with their ASVAB entrance exam or to exercise to help them cut weight when needed.
In closing, the Whitewater Publications staff would like to say, "Thank you, Staff Sergeant Walls, for your service in the Army National Guard. Thank you for doing your part to keep our country and community safe. We wish the best of luck to the Walls family with all their future endeavors."
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Let us honor US Army Staff Sergeant E6 specialist Clarissa Anne Walls.
Walls, nicknamed Wall-e, is very well known in Rushville over the last year as the Army National Guard recruiter. She visits the high school during lunch period almost every week, only missing when others need her help elsewhere.
Wall-e grew up in South Bend, where she graduated from St. Joseph High School in 2007. She was the first female in her family to join the military. Both her grandfathers served in the armed forces as well as her uncle, cousin and nephew. Wall-e knew from a young age that she wanted to join the armed forces.
After high school, Wall-e attended college at Indiana University-South Bend and eventually transferred to IPFW in Fort Wayne where she graduated in December 2015. Before enlisting, she described her life as hectic. She worked four jobs to support herself through college, as well as taking care
of three guardianship/foster children in need of a caring and stable home. During that time in her life, she was unaware that the National Guard helped pay for college or she would have joined sooner. When she enlisted in the Army National Guard in March 2016, she described the experience as “almost a vacation” because of how busy she was before she shipped out. “I only had to do my laundry, make one bed, I actually got sleep, someone cooked for me, and I got paid to exercise and learn – it was opposite of my life before the military.”
Wall-e was first stationed for basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Even though she was enlisted as National Guard, she completed the exact same training as active army recruits because National Guard is a component of the Army. The basic training portion of her assignment lasted about 10 weeks.
“The hardest part of basic training to me was getting used to other soldiers not catching on as fast. We are all one unit so especially in the beginning if one person messed up, everyone messed up.” Wall-e describes herself as a very task-oriented person and adjusted very easily to her life at basic training and described it as “being handed a checklist or a to-do list.”
“I had a very good support system back home. The kids I cared for at the time even wrote me letters and sent me pictures often,” Wall-e stated. She kept journals and wrote letters often to help with the feeling of missing her family. “On passes, it was funny. You would see privates standing around attached to electrical outlets with their phone cords. We would get our snacks, get our phones, find an available outlet and Facetime our families,” Wall-e recalled. When asked her favorite part of the experience, she answered, “The camaraderie and making friends.”
After basic, she went straight into advanced individual training also known as AIT. AIT is different for everyone. There are over 120 jobs in the military and each soldier's AIT is customized to the job they have chosen based on their skill sets shown on their basic entry test. Wall-e had chosen the job of military police or MP.
Training for the military police included dual field training for combat support on the military side as well as the law-and-order side, such as DUIs, responding to dispatch calls, house searches, drug searches, even active shooter drills. “The Military Police AIT is something we like to call a gentleman's course,” Wall-e explained. “It has a lot of classroom activity during the day and allows you more freedom during the evening hours. Our weekend passes were usually longer than basic training. We were often allotted 2-6 hours based on our performance during the week,” she continued. We even went to a special 4th of July concert and watched fireworks.
She graduated from her AIT training in August 2016. She then returned home to Indiana. Her home unit was listed in Plymouth in the 381st company MP. She would report to base one weekend a month and for annual training during the summer, which would last a couple of weeks. During her time on base, they would focus on specific MP training exercises for their unit.
The unit was also tasked with two additional missions: the CERFP (more easily understood as “Search and Extraction”) which would focus on natural disasters, earthquakes, fallen buildings, or other mass casualty incidents; and quick reaction force (QRF) which focused on responding to things like riots or crowd control. A CERFP unit is a regional unit and part of the HERFP unit that responds nationwide.
The CERFP groups train in multiple things, including small space rescue, rope rescue, and are tasked with extracting civilians so that they could be helped by medics or escorted to a safe area. Up to date training is a very important requirement of these units.
During this time, the unit would also train with the Zaka (Jerusalem), Israeli and Slovakian armies. The armies would rotate hosting the training. “I made a lot of international friends during the training exercises that I still am in touch with through Facebook and other social media platforms,” Wall-e stated.
In 2018 Wall-e transitioned into a temporary full time admin position for supporting the CERFP group. She handled making sure the members of the unit were properly certified and tracked the training of her unit. At the end of her temporary assignment, she was approached by the recruiter in Plymouth.
“He was being promoted to a higher position and asked if I would be interested in taking over his job,” Wall-e said. She had many concerns about accepting the position. “Recruiters are often seen as pushy and have a bad reputation around the community,” she informed. When reluctantly accepting the position, she vowed to be open and honest with everyone interested in becoming part of the Army National Guard.
She officially was assigned to the role of “Recruiting and Retention NCO (Non-commissioned Officer)” in Plymouth in June 2020. “It took me a few months to get the hang of it. It's my favorite job I've ever had, but it was also the hardest to learn and adjust to. There's been a lot of trial and error and a lot of growing,” she stated. Wall-e really enjoys the opportunity to mentor the teenagers and young adults. In Plymouth she started after school youth workout programs and even helped host weekly pickup basketball games for the students in her community with other members of her recruiting team.
Wall-e moved to the Connersville branch in June 2021 with her tiny poodle named “Eve-a” which she takes almost everywhere with her and calls “Indiana's Tiniest Recruiter.” Wall-e now serves as the recruiting NCO for Rush, Fayette and Union counties. She visits all three high schools in her district weekly, if possible, as well as teaching resiliency courses, conducting classroom presentations, helping her schools, mentoring students, hosting sporting events and many other community events. She is also a member of the Fayette County Diplomats through the Chamber of Commerce.
“I tell all the members of my community and my schools, if there Is a blank square on my calendar, it's yours. I will volunteer for anything that will help this community,” Wall-e offered. Wall-e started this year at square zero but has already done so much for our communities, such as special jerseys for the football teams for military appreciation night, helping with local food banks, as well as volunteering for schools, festivals and countless other actions.
Wall-e states her two-year plan is to start her own youth program, bring the weekly workout groups and the basketball pickup games to our community. “I want to bring that positive energy back. I want the community to see someone from the military out there doing good and I just hope that that fosters and grows in the community,” Wall-e stated.
While Wall-e is a recruiter for the Army National Guard, she is also happy to talk to you about all the branches of the military and help young recruits find the position and branch that fits them the best. She also goes out of her way to help recruits study when they are struggling with their ASVAB entrance exam or to exercise to help them cut weight when needed.
In closing, the Whitewater Publications staff would like to say, "Thank you, Staff Sergeant Walls, for your service in the Army National Guard. Thank you for doing your part to keep our country and community safe. We wish the best of luck to the Walls family with all their future endeavors."