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Employers and Reservists - A partnership for our nation

  • Published
  • By Col. Steven Chapman
  • 315th Airlift Wing commander
JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. --  The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) program and personnel are integral to our success as members of the Reserve and Guard. They are the liaison between the Reservist/Guardsman and their employer to help resolve/solve issues stemming from military duty.

To facilitate a better understanding of what it really means to be a Reservist, we, on occasion, invite employers along on various training missions to improve their understanding of the Reserve and Guard. Our goal is to provide employers with the understanding that the skills utilized in the military are transportable to their civilian career and vice versa.

Each employer, along with outstanding community support, are an indispensible part of making the 315th Airlift Wing a success, and for that matter, any Reserve or Guard unit owes a large part of their success to this relationship.

To build on this successful relationship, on June 16, 17, I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in an ESGR Bosslift to Homestead Air Reserve Base, south of Miami. There were 28 employers from the Charleston and Columbia area along with several ESGR escorts. Some of the participants from the Charleston contingent were Ms. Deb Campeau from Trident Health Systems, Mr. John Duane from Motley Rise, LLC, Melissa Forinsash from MUSC, Mr Robert Mason from Mason and Associates and Mr. Tad Walls from Booz-Allen-Hamilton, just to name a few.

Homestead ARB is owned by Air Force Reserve Command and is operated by the 482th Fighter Wing, operating the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Homestead is also home to Special Operations Command South, Coast Guard, U.S. Custom and Boarder Protection, a detachment from the Florida Air National Guard, Florida Army National Guard-50th Area Support Group and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

The tours at each of the military/government facilities were made up of briefings as well as hands on events giving the employers a good idea of what their employees do when participating with the Reserve or Guard with, hopefully, a greater appreciation of their military in general. All-in-all, I believe it was a successful event bringing better understanding between two partners.