Guard, other services honored at 'Blueland'

By Staff Sgt. Roy Henry
Georgia National Guard
Public Affairs Office

Phillips Arena, Atlanta – Members of the Guard and Reserve, and the employers who support them were honored in Feb. 1, 2008, during Military Appreciation Night, co-sponsored by the Georgia Chapter of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve and the Atlanta Thrashers.

Air Guard Tech. Sgt. Garfield Downer, a communications specialist with Warner Robins' 116th Air Control Wing, is one of several Guard, Reserve and active-duty service members greeted by the Atlanta Thrasher's mascot during the team's Feb. 1 game with the Buffalo Sabres. The evening was sponsored by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. (Georgia National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Roy Henry)

More than 100 Georgia Army and Air Guardsmen, Reservists and their family members watched as the Thrashers took and beat the Buffalo Sabers 3 to 2. During a break in the evening’s action the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines were asked to stand and be recognized for their commitment to the state and to the nation.

“As much as I enjoyed watching the Thrashers trounce on Buffalo, it really made me feel good to be applauded for who we are and what we do as military men and women,” said Pfc. William Outlaw, a communications specialist with the Guard’s 221st Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Gillem.

This wasn’t, however, just a night for recognizing those who wear the uniform. Those for whom thousands of traditional Citizen-Soldiers work also were honored. Up in the arena’s VIP section, businesses that employ Guard and Reserve members were being honored for their service by ESGR officials.

Among the firms honored for signing five-star Statements of Support were:

• Atlanta Thrashers
• Verizon Wireless· 
  
• Eagle Group International, Inc.
  
• R-D-ARC Inc.
  
• Southside Medical Center
  
• Heritage Health Care of Macon
  
• Northeast Georgia Health System
  
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation
  
• Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office
  
• Troup County Correctional Institution
  
• Buckhead Community Bank
  
• Southwest Georgia Bank
  
• Georgia Mountain Graphics
  
• Atlantic Southeast Airlines
  
• The Flight School
  
• Phoenix Aviation Managers, Inc.
  
• World Marketing Atlanta
  
• HRworks
  
• Pinnacle Data Systems
  
• Computer Science Corp
  
• Mid-South Systems, Inc.
  
• American Golf Corp.

By signing a statement of support a business dedicates its self to continued support of the Guardsmen and Reservists they already employ or may employ at some point. Through the five-star program, ESGR “seeks to inform and educate employers about their rights and responsibilities toward such employees. And it recognizes and rewards employers who go ‘above and beyond’ the requirements of the law in that support.

It’s not easy having someone gone for a week, let-alone a month, a year or longer, said L. Gordon Sumner, guest speaker and executive director of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve in Washington.

“As a one-time Army Reservist, I can tell that our men and women who serve their communities, their states and the nation, in peace and in war, are grateful for your understanding of their desire to do what’s needed in keeping us all safe,” Sumner said. “Without you, their ability to do that would be greatly hampered, if not impossible.”

Specialist Wesley Ruland, a combat medic with Forsyth’s Company C, 148th Brigade Support Battalion, attended the ceremony honoring the 23 firms before going on to the game. Ruland, who is a full-time human resource specialist for the Georgia Department of Defense, said he, too, wanted to thank the employers for what they do.

“I just wanted to shake some of their hands and tell as many of them as possible, ‘thanks. Thanks for all you do for my fellow Soldiers and all those who serve,’” he said.

Ruland didn’t leave the VIP booth until he’d shaken the hand of each and everyone one of them. 

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