Focused on his education at Tulane University, Lt. Lincoln Schneider tucked away his interest in joining the Navy, believing it was a missed opportunity.
Now, more than 10 years later, Schneider, a 2010 UF Levin College of Law graduate, is being recognized as one of the Navy’s 2012 Recruiters of the Year.
This month, the Navy Recruiting Command honored 13 of their top active and reserve recruiters from around the world. Among them is 32-year-old Schneider, the Active Officer Recruiter of the Year, who has helped about 48 students get jobs during his career.
“It’s an amazing honor,” Schneider said. “It’s great to be a — hopefully — good representative of the Navy and all the wonderful leaders and motivators we have throughout the fleet.”
Through a recruitment email he received while at Tulane, Schneider was presented with an opportunity he didn’t know was available. He joined the Navy in 2001.
Knowing the impact that email had on him, he takes pride in helping fellow Gators get jobs in the field as a UF recruiting officer, focusing on recruiting for areas such as the Navy Medical Corps, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Dubbing himself a “double Gator,” Schneider is working on earning his Master of Public Health degree, hoping to work in the Navy’s hospitals when he graduates in May 2014.
“[The Navy] is a culture of leadership,” Schneider said.
Schneider has an office downtown and in the College of Engineering, where he meets with recruitment candidates four days a week for physical training.
Currently, he is working with nine selected collegiates to ensure they graduate on time and earn their full tuition.
“He’s very hands-on — you can tell he cares very much,” said Jason Roberts, a past collegiate who graduated in 2012.
Roberts, a 23-year-old UF mechanical and aerospace engineer graduate, said that Schneider has not had a single candidate who has not made it through to officer.
“He does a really good job with the program and managing us all, making sure none of us fall behind,” Roberts said. “He always wants to keep in touch and know how we’re doing.”
Most of his past recruits have brought him their command, or challenge, coin from candidate school, a tradition in the Navy as a way of honoring someone.
“It’s something that I’ll carry with me forever,” he said.
