Quad Cities Station security officer and Iowa Army National Guard Sergeant Christopher Thomsen serves in A Company, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry. Chris recently nominated his supervisors Jim Carr and Jim Peterson for the Department of Defense Patriotic Employer Award. Both Mr. Carr and Mr. Peterson have been highly supportive of Sgt. Thomsen's service, as has the entire team at Quad Cities Generating Station.
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Pictured (from left): Supervisor Jim Carr, Security Officer Chris Thomsen, Supervisor Jim Peterson, and a Department of Defense representative Jeff Borland.
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is a Department of Defense sponsored program whose mission is to inform employers and their military reserve component employees of their rights and responsibilities under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). ESGR is a volunteer-based organization that accomplishes its mission through Employer Outreach, Military Outreach and Ombudsman programs. The outreach programs provide educational briefings to employers and to military units in the Guard and Reserves. The Ombudsman Program provides information and mediation for issues relating to compliance with USERRA. Employers who go to extra lengths to support their reserve component employees and/or their families can be nominated for awards such as the Patriotic Employer Award.
Employer support for their Guardsmen and Reservists is essential to our national security and defense, as 50 percent of U.S. combat power is in the reserve component of our military. Supportive employers make it much easier for service members and their families to serve. A supportive employer makes it more likely that a service member will reenlist, thus keeping trained, experienced members in the ranks to make ours the best military in the world.
