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Boss Lift Raises Employer Awareness of Today's Army Reserve
ESGR Program Builds Strong Bonds Between Employers and Their Citizen-Soldier Employees
FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CA, June 29, 2010 /Bloggin and Social Media PR News/ -- With thousands of Reserve and Guard personnel supporting overseas contingency operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, maintaining good relations between service members and their employers during a time of conflict is paramount.
The troops, who are called to defend the nation for up to a year at a time, must rest easy knowing their civilian jobs will be waiting for them upon return from overseas.
Recently, seven local employers toured Fort Hunter Liggett through an innovative initiative called Boss Lift to get a first-hand look at how their employees train while they serve in the military. The program was sponsored by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) in conjunction with the 91st Training Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve, headquartered here.
"ESGR has a tough job," said Brig. Gen. James T. Cook, Commanding General, 91st Training Brigade. "They are a group of volunteers looking out both for the Soldier and the needs of the employer to maintain that relationship. We cannot exist as a Reserve force without that relationship."
Founded in 1973, ESGR is mainly a volunteer-based organization that interacts with employers and Reserve component service members. ESGR promotes better understanding between the parties, assists in conflict resolution, and provides information about job security and other topics covered under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
"We all serve. Our mission is to get involved," said John J. Woolley, vice chair, California, ESGR, and contributor to the Boss Lift event. "We want the Soldier to have peace of mind. If any cases are brought to us, we resolve them, and we are very successful at it."
The visitors flew to Fort Hunter Liggett via an MC-130P aircraft, piloted by Air National Guard members of the 129th Rescue Wing, based at Moffett Federal Airfield, Calif. Upon landing at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Schoonover, a training base similar to operational bases in Afghanistan, the employers attended a briefing by Cook at the 91st Training Brigade headquarters where they were shown that their employee/Soldiers really are in good hands.
"We own them and take care of them," said Cook. "We don't pay them overtime, but they're happy as long as they get trained. We don't waste their time."
Employers sometimes think their employees just disappear to do "Army things," not realizing how important and involved their military career can be - and it can be useful to the employers also, he added.
Nick Glero, manager of credit operations for Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) in Stockton, Calif., saw the benefits of seeing his employee in his trademark Army uniform - Sgt. Maj. Rupert Espinosa, operations and training sergeant major, 91st Training Brigade, who works in the records department with PG&E when not serving in the Army Reserve.
"What we don't know, we don't know," said Glero. "It's amazing the amount of parallels between work and the Army when it comes to planning and executing. As an employer, I can run my organization a lot more efficiently and make best use of Rupert's talents in the office knowing how he works here."
"It's been a pleasure to show Nick what goes on here and to see what I'm doing in the Army," said Espinosa. "Without operations and training, there is no training."
The Boss Lift allowed employers to see the intense pre-deployment training the Army Reserve is currently using during the Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX), a month-long training exercise involving more than 2,000 Army Reserve troops from across the country. They experienced being in a convoy that encountered a roadside bomb and came under attack by role-playing enemy forces. They were then able to sit in an After Action Review (AAR) of the convoy attack courtesy of SRI International's advanced GPS-based tracking technology, which allows every Soldier movement to be tracked, recorded, and realistically recreated in a three-dimensional representation of the battlefield.
The terrain of Fort Hunter Liggett, the 8th largest installation in the Army's inventory, matches that of Afghanistan and northern Iraq, making it ideal for pre-deployment training exercises that accurately reflect what troops can expect to encounter when deployed. The employers received a tour of a makeshift forward operating base, and got a taste of the life of a Soldier deployed overseas.
"This is great, I feel like a kid in a candy store," said Glero, who for the first time was able to don a combat helmet, eat a Meal Ready-to-Eat, and tour the tent city out at the FOB. "It's a real honor to be here and to experience what our troops do for us."
Steven Willms, a sergeant in the California Department of Corrections, working out of Salinas Valley State Prison, was also proud to be a part of the event. After serving 26 years in the Army, he personally knows the sacrifice being made by his employee, Staff Sgt. Mary Curiel, a human resources specialist with the 91st Training Brigade and a corrections officer in the civilian world.
"This is a great program for employers who have never served," said Willms. "It gives them a bite of realism to see what it means to serve your country and to see what those who are serving go through."
"Steve has been great," said Curiel. "He understands what it is like to be in the Army, which makes life a lot easier for me."
Building good relationships between citizen-Soldier employees and their employers is the mission of ESGR. The Boss Lift event is a perfect example of strengthening that bond.
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Press Release Contact Information:
Jason Hudson
U.S. Army
Public Affairs
228 Infantry Road
Fort Hunter Liggett, California
United States 93928
Voice: 831-386-3677
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