Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brian Scott | Beth Dirks, County Manager, Davie County, N.C., tries on body armor with soldiers from...... read more read more
McGREGOR RANGE, N.M. - Reserve soldiers from the 1452nd Heavy Equipment Transportation Company received a special visit here Aug. 19 during training led by the 5th Armored Brigade, “Dagger.”
The visitors are part of the “Boss Lift” program sponsored by the North Carolina Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, who were welcomed and toured around McGregor Range training areas by members of the 5th Armored Brigade.
“We’ll recruit 25 to 30 bosses; we love to have police chiefs, county sheriffs, business executives, company owners, people who are bosses for our members of the Guard and Reserve,” said Dick Ellis, Public Affairs director for the North Carolina Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
The goal is to bring the bosses to an activated unit from their hometown and their employees are actually involved in.
“We paired up about eight different employers with their bosses who came to see them and let them know, let them learn and understand that when their employees come to guard and reserve training, they come home with a strong work ethic, with military discipline that can’t be matched in any work place and in many cases a higher knowledge of technology than their peers back home at the shop,” added Ellis.
The soldiers felt very good that members of their local communities came down to see them prepare for the upcoming deployment and that people back home are still thinking about them.
“It makes me feel great that I have an employer that supports what we do out here and is interested in what we are doing,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Conley, 1452nd Heavy Equipment Transportation Company. “We’re able to give them an opportunity to come out to see what we do and to have their support; that’s just awesome.”
As part of the tour, the bosses got a chance to view some of the weapons the soldiers will take with them during their deployment plus an overview of the vehicles they use on a daily basis. Some of them got the chance to try on the body armor the soldiers will wear while deployed overseas.
“It is incredibly heavy and incredibly hot; I was shocked at how heavy it was,” said Beth Dirks, county manager, Davie County, N.C., after trying on the body armor. “I can’t believe they wear that the whole time they are out there.”
For many of the bosses this was their first Boss Lift, and for some, the first time they were on a military base, giving them an even better perspective of what their soldiers will do while deployed.
“The jobs that our troops do protecting us while we’re at home so we can sleep at night is an invaluable job,” added Dirks. “It’s more important than any other job that anybody has, it’s more important than the county manager or anybody else, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to show our support and see what a day in the life is for them.”
While the unit is deployed, the ESGR will continue to work with the Family Readiness Group to continue to show their support for the Reserve soldiers through sending care packages and managing other events for the unit while they are gone.
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.29.2011 13:45 |
| Story ID: | 76135 |
| Location: | MCGREGOR RANGE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Web Views: | 85 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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