Bosses treated to tour of base

Guardsmen and reservists need cooperation from their employers.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
VIENNA -- Employers with guardsmen and reservists on their payrolls are part of the nation's defense structure as surely as the military.
The national defense would be incapacitated without the 1.2 million Guard and Reserve personnel, who represent nearly 50 percent of America's military force and are being activated and mobilized in unprecedented numbers, said Woody Stroud, volunteer interim chairman of the Ohio Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
Without the support and understanding of their employers, Guard and Reserve members would find it more difficult to train and carry out their duties, Stroud said Thursday at the 910th Airlift Wing's annual Employer Awareness Day at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
About 100 employers from Ohio and Pennsylvania participated in the activities, which included tours of the base, a short flight aboard a 910th C-130 cargo plane, and a mock terrorist attack as they were being bused to the fire training area to see a demonstration of the base firefighting personnel and equipment.
The employers, nominated by their employees, also received framed "My Boss is a Patriot" awards.
Commander's word
"We depend on our reservists the same as you," Brig. Gen. Michael F. Gjede, commander of the 910th, told the employers as he asked for their cooperation.
"What we do out here is very serious, and we work hard to let you know how important what the reservists do is. We don't want a big fight" with employers, Gjede said.
"In return, we think we give back a more-disciplined, better-trained and almost certainly drug-free employee," the general said after the meeting.
Stroud said he does not know how many area employers have been affected by temporarily losing employees to Guard or Reserve duty.
Stroud said, however, hundreds of area Guard and Reserve personnel have been activated and mobilized, including about 300 from the 910th alone at its peak. There have to be hundreds of employers involved, he said.
One of those employers is Charles Adgate Florists on state Route 46 in Howland. Charles Adgate Sr. said his son, Charles Jr., a technical sergeant with the 910th security forces and general manager of the business, was activated just after the Sept. 11 attacks and was just separated from active duty this week.
"When he's gone, I have to do more. But, I think it [his service] is necessary and very important. I think if employers have people who are willing to serve, they should be only too glad to allow that time," Adgate said.
Differential pay
Robert Gearhart, vice president of National City Insurance Group out of Cleveland, said his firm, which has several hundred employees in the Guard or Reserve nationally, pays differential, or the difference between an employee's regular pay and military pay, and also continues benefits for a period of time as a way of supporting military employees.
Debbie Haybarger of the Lawrence County, Pa., Probation and Parole Department said three county courthouse employees have been called to active duty, and while they are gone, other employees pick up the slack.
Despite the added workload, Haybarger said she "totally supports the reservists and the military. They are doing a great job for our country," she said.
Haybarger said Lawrence County also pays differential and has continued benefits for the reservists.
alcorn@vindy.com