Photo By Sgt. Javier Amador | Drill Sgt. (Sgt. 1st Class) Eugene Serrano, a drill sergeant leader at the U.S. Army...... read more read more
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FORT JACKSON, S.C.- Civilian employers of National Guard and Reserve service members as well as representatives of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR and the North Carolina Military Support Corporation (NCMSC) got a glimpse of what life is like for their Soldier employees during their two-day visit to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Aug. 12-13, 2015.
“The last two days here are what is called a Boss Lift and its something that the Department of Defense and the Employers of the Guard and Reserve does to introduce civilian employers to a little slice of the military world,” said Col. Daniel Arkins, the chief of staff for the 108th Training Command (IET), “And in this case, since the 108th has the drill sergeant production mission and the drill sergeant support mission for the basic training mission, we wanted them to come and see a little slice of life at a basic training unit.”
Arkins also went on to say that the visit to Fort Jackson was a joint effort between the 108th Training Command (IET) and the North Carolina chapter of the ESGR and that in addition to civilian employers, the South Carolina chapter of the ESGR was also in attendance.
The visit began with a stop at the 120th Reception Battalion (AG) which is where citizens spend their first few days as they begin their transformations from civilians into Soldiers. It is the place where they get their first military haircut, receive their first initial issue of uniforms and are administratively processed.
After their lunch at an Army dining facility, they proceeded to a firing range for a question and answer session with the personnel of Task Force Marshall. Task Force Marshall is tasked with training U.S. Navy personnel in marksmanship as part of their pre-deployment preparations.
Next in line was a visit to the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 (EST 2000) weapons simulator where after a brief block of instruction, everyone got the opportunity to test their newly acquired marksmanship skills.
The final stop of the first day was the Victory Tower obstacle course. Here, the visitors watched Soldiers demonstrate how to rappel down a 50-foot wall. An instructor explained the techniques to successfully negotiate the obstacle and with the conclusion of the instructions, the visitors got the chance to test their courage and physical strength by rappelling down the wall themselves.
The visit came to its conclusion on the second day with visits to a Basic Combat Training (BCT) graduation, the United States Army Drill Sergeant Academy and the Fort Jackson museum.
The Boss Lift visits such as the one described here are a critical part of increasing the cooperation as well as the understanding between civilian employers, government agencies and the National Guard and Reserve Soldiers they employ.
“We always talk about that statistic that less than one present of the U.S. Population serves or has served in the military so this is a great opportunity to teach the other 99% and particularly employers about what life for a Reserve Soldier is like and it gives them a better appreciation for why their employees who happen to be citizen/Soldiers are asking for time off or additional time off beyond their two weeks of statutory annual training,” said Arkins.
The need to better the employer/employee relationship between the business sector and the National Guard and Reserve service members is receiving an unprecedented amount of support and the latest initiative implemented to provide that support is known as the Army Reserve Public Private Partnership initiative, or P3i.
The P3i is a United States Army Reserve initiative (Public Private Partnership initiative) is administered by Erin Thede who works directly in the Chief of the Army Reserves (OCAR) office. There, she conducts outreach, educates employers, develop programs and assists transitioning veterans and Army Reserve Soldiers seeking civilian employment, explains Arkins.
Working hand in hand with the P3i program is the ESGR, and the NCMSC, an organization that supports the the ESGR by providing fund raising as well as other types of support. Retired Col. Tony L. Clark, who retired while attached to the 108th Training Command (IET) after a 39 yearlong Army career and now an administrative support technician with the North Carolina ESGR describes his organization's mission and the intent of the visit.
“We're a Department of Defense agency, all volunteers except for the support staff, which I'm included although I started out in this [ESGR] organization as a volunteer, and our mission is to create an atmosphere within employers that hire Reserve Soldiers that will garner their support for those employees,” said Clark, “What we're doing here yesterday and today is giving these employers a first hand look at what their service members that they employ are doing and the contributions that they're making, that they know know that they are not playing but working and that they see how professional all of the people at Fort Jackson or wherever we go are.
Clark added that the ESGR works for all branches of the military so the Boss Lift visits occur at military installations all around the country. He describes the main issue the ESGR is helping employers have to deal with regarding their service member employees and what is offered to them in appreciation for their contributions.
“It's tough having an employee that has to leave for two weeks or for maybe three or four or five weeks for schooling or in the case of a deployment, for a year, said Clark, “But in North Carolina we have very military friendly employers and I can tell you the majority of them just deal with it and a lot of them provide exceptional benefits. We try to recognize this support through an awards program.”
While employers may have to make sacrifices when their citizen/Soldier goes away for training or a deployment, most will also readily admit the value these employees represent to any organization and why they are worth keeping. Ruth Anderson, who represents Legal Shield Group Benefits and employs a Reservist, explains what they bring to the table.
“They are leaders, they are people who can plug into your business and contribute in a significant way, and I think a lot of employers don't realize the value of having a veteran who it trained this way and what they bring to your organization.”
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2015 18:51 |
| Story ID: | 173439 |
| Location: | FORT JACKSON, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 303 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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