Guard, Reserve troops salute employers for ardent support

WASHINGTON - Feb. 1, 2017 - PRLog -- A Reservist's Kansas employer gave him more than three months of paid leave to help him prepare for deployment and handle a family medical emergency before his departure.

In Tennessee, a Reservist's civilian team leader bought and delivered hundreds of dollars in frozen steaks to his employee's family to help them out during his deployment.

A company in North Carolina shared a National Guardsman's daily updates directly with all of its employees, giving the organization a better understanding of the challenges Service members face while deployed.

These highlights illustrate efforts by just a few of the employers that Guardsmen and Reservists nominated for the Department of Defense's highest employer award, the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. This year's nominees represent large and small employers from almost every industry, including health, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, banking, service and security, as well as from state and local governments. ESGR received nominations for employers in all 50 states, Guam-CNMI, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

Check out this year's complete list of nominees at:  http://www.freedomaward.mil/media/press-releases/itemid/763/2017-secretary-of-defense-employer-support-freedom

History of the Freedom Award

·     The Freedom Award began in 1996 by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to draw attention to support from the employer community.

·     To date, only 235 employers have received the award.

·     More than 17,000 nominations received since 2011.

For more information about the Freedom Award and this year's recipients, visit www.FreedomAward.mil. To learn more about ESGR, visit www.ESGR.mil.