The Department of Defense announces the 15 recipients of the 2025 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award--the highest U.S. government honor to employers for support of National Guard and Reserve employees.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has appointed retired Command Sergeant Major (CSM), John F. Sampa, as the National Chair for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. ESGR’s National Chair is an official Department of Defense volunteer position.
The Department of Defense is pleased to announce the 15 recipients of the 2021 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the highest U.S. government honor to employers for support of National Guard and Reserve employees.
U.S. Navy reservist Cmdr. Kenneth Kirkland is currently deployed to Naval Central Command in Bahrain in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the official name given to military operations from Afghanistan to the Horn of Africa in support of the Global War on Terror.
National Guard 1st Lt. Kris Neset, a civil engineer with Wold Engineering, P.C., in Minot, N.D., is currently deployed to Balad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the official name given to military operations assisting in rebuilding Iraq's economic and governmental infrastructure, training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and preserving Iraq's sovereignty and...
Alaska Air National Guard Capt. Michael Lyons, a charge nurse on 5-West of the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska is currently deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the official name given to military operations assisting in rebuilding Iraq's economic and governmental infrastructure, training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and...
