Delaware National Guard - DNG News 2002

Maj. Gen. Francis Vavala leads a group of civilian employers off of their C-130 upon arrival at the Georgetown airport. Photo by Sgt. Joe Nye.

Living the Army and Air Force life may not be for everyone, but for some of the state’s biggest employers they had a chance to get a little taste of it when they attended the Employer Appreciation Day at the Bethany Beach Training Site (BBTS) Saturday, September 14.

Hosted by the Employee Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) committee, the day is an annual chance for employers to see, feel and even taste what their fellow citizen-soldiers do every month at drill. Additionally, it’s a chance for the military to say thank you to many of the employers who make the Guard and Reserve experience possible.

Evelyn Brantley, a Sr. Counselor at DuPont Corp., poses a question about one of the vehicles on open display during Employer Day 2002. Photo by Pfc. Eugena Roache .
"Due to the current environment of more and more soldiers being mobilized, it’s important for employers to see what their people do on the weekends, " said Col. Gary W. Dawson, Director, Plans, Operations and Training and this year’s OIC of the event, "It’s important that they see the relevance of the Guard and Reserve."

The Delaware National Guard hosts the event every other year, according to committee chairman Gene A. Hebert, alternating the duty with Dover Air Force Base. Some of the employers on hand included du Pont, Bank of America, Radio Shack, Merrill Lynch, Verizon and the City of Wilmington.

Sgt. Maj. Rosemarie Williams poses with her employer, Zear Stanford of Verizon. Photo by Sgt. Joe Nye .
"We are honored that you took time away from your busy schedules today," said Maj. Gen. Vavala, who pointed out that over 74,000 reserve component soldiers are deployed on active duty worldwide to include 354 from the Delaware Army and Air Guard, "Soldiers today can’t be on active duty without their employer’s support."

While important, it doesn’t mean the day can’t be fun. For the 50 employers who made the trip, they got a chance to fly from Wilmington to Georgetown in a C-130, fly in a UH-1 helicopter, show off their skills in the Weapons Simulator, climb the rock wall and even dine on a fine lunch of MRE’s.

Sgt. Sheats and Spc. Goslee of Company A, 280th Signal Battalion, assisted in the ESGR demonstrations at Bethany Beach Training Site. Photo by Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Arterbridge .
"Today was marvelous, as a veteran myself I know when the call goes out we need to answer", said Randy Rudy, a Navy veteran who is currently the Chief of Police in Aberdeen, MD, "We’ve got a soldier whose been deployed for almost a year, and while it hurts my manpower, to not support him would be unconscionable."

Many employers were guests of an individual soldier who invited them to the event. For Bank of America in Dover, it was a group effort that brought them to BBTS.

"We’ve got about 15 soldiers in the Guard and Reserve, who came in and gave us a briefing on what they did", said Kevin Loftus who attended the day with fellow banker Dave Lacey, "We really enjoyed the day, the helicopter ride was great, but I can tell you that lunch (MRE’s) kept me on my diet."

Employers eye their MRE meal...mmmmmm, chicken!! Photo by Pfc. Eugena Roache.
At the end of the day, it was clear that everyone had benefited from the experience.

"It was just a very cool day", said Jannete Johnson of Delmarva Broadcasting, parent company of radio station WSTW, who was invited by Sgt. Shawn Lowe of the 444^th MPAD, "I had an idea of what he did but it was good to see, and all the instructors were very helpful."