AUGUSTA (AP) – Michelle Chartier has earned two Army promotions before even donning a uniform.

Since signing up in November for the Army’s Delayed Entry Program, the 17-year-old from Vienna has sent 40 to 50 young people to her recruiter. Eleven of them enlisted.

“I’ve been recruiting in New England for about 10 years and there’s never been anyone in the state of Maine I’m aware of who has made 11 referrals, and that takes you back to 1993-94,” said 1st Sgt. Gerald Patten, who works out of the Army recruitment center in Augusta.

“She’s been out there every day and she’s been telling the Army story to everyone she came upon.”

Recruits in the Delayed Entry Program can receive promotions by enrolling other people for military service and by participating in monthly educational programs put on by the Army around the state.

Chartier said entering the Army provides her with more financial options when she is ready for college.

“I have a college fund. (The Army pays) 100 percent while I’m in and I have $40,000 when I get out. That totals up to something like $58,000,” she said.

Even so, she said, “I might make a career out of it.”

Chartier, who graduated from Maranacook Community High School in just three years, will hold the rank of private first class when she arrives for basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., in August.

She then plans to attend the Army’s 32-week helicopter avionics school at Fort Gordon, Ga.

AP-ES-06-18-03 0217EDT