AUGUSTA – Recruiting a friend to join the Maine National Guard will mean $2,000 in the pocket of existing members under a new program.

Maine is one of 25 states eligible for the federally funded incentives, a program that should help recruit new soldiers while encouraging existing soldiers to stay in the fold, said Maj. Lance Gilman of the Maine Army National Guard.

The program is a throwback to the days when the Guard depended on word of mouth for recruitment, but this time there’s a cash incentive.

“This represents a transformation in the way the Army National Guard is going to recruit its soldiers in the future,” said the Maine National Guard’s leader, Maj. Gen. John Libby. “Our individual soldiers used to be our best recruiters. We hope to take advantage of that premise again through this new program.”

The $2,000 check will be delivered once a recruited soldier shows up for basic training.

National Guard Staff Sgt. Daniel Landers, a Bangor firefighter, has recruited one person and has three more in the pipeline who could make him eligible for another $6,000.

Eighteen months ago, Maine was in the bottom 10 in the nation in recruiting and retention, Libby said. Now, the state is in the top 10, he said.

The goal, nonetheless, is to add more than 200 troops to state units.

The Maine Army National Guard currently has 1,939 soldiers in uniform. However, by this fall, leaders want those numbers to swell to 2,175.

“We’re quite a bit shy of our goal,” said Maj. Michael Backus, spokesman for the Maine National Guard.

The Guard wants everyone to be involved, but it isn’t giving up on its core recruiters or its program to recruit high school students.

“It’s not about the money,” said Landers. “We are willing to go out in our own community, in our own circle of influence, our own friend groups, and try to show people we know that the Guard is an excellent organization.”