Crossword Genius

Recruit in growth area giving up employment for navy (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

greenhorn

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'recruit' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'growth area giving up employment for navy' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'area' could be 'green' (green is a kind of area) and 'green' is present in the answer.
'navy' could be 'rn' (Royal Navy) and 'rn' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ho' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for greenhorn that I've seen before include "One learning" , "One's not experienced" , "Rookie (American)" , "Gullible type" , "Person with no experience" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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