SILVER SPRING, Md. – Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense operational committee, has honored the Security Industry Association (SIA) with its Above and Beyond Award.
ESGR recognizes employers who show exceptional support for employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve units of the U.S. Armed Forces. This is the second time that SIA has received an award from ESGR. The organization previously received ESGR’s Patriot Award “for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve force.” The Above and Beyond Award is presented to a select number of Patriot Award recipients “for outstanding service and continuing support to the national defense.”
“SIA’s Board members and staff are deeply honored to have received this award,” SIA CEO Don Erickson said. “We are in the business of security, and there is no better way to promote a secure society than to support the men and women who put on the uniform and go wherever they’re needed when the nation calls.”
Members of the Guard and Reserve typically hold regular civilian jobs in addition to training with their military units for one weekend a month and two weeks a year. Since Sept. 11, 2001, though, about 700,000 Guardsmen and Reservists have deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq for from several months up to a year or more, and many more have been mobilized for other purposes, creating challenges not only for the service members and their families, but also for their civilian employers.
“Supportive employers are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of the nation’s Guard and Reserve units,” Virginia ESGR State Chair Stephen Villalpando said.
