Bill Hebert stand next to the “Hero 2 Hired” banner at the Barnes ANG Employer Day Friday (Photo by Peter Francis)
WESTFIELD – On Friday, the 104th Barnes Air National Guard base hosted its annual employer day sponsored by the Employment Support for the Guard and Reserves (ESGR). Part of the Department of Defense, ESGR was established with the intention of assisting civilian employers in addressing and alleviating conflict that may arise due to employee military obligations.
Supported by a vast network of more than 4,900 volunteers in 54 committees located across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and various U.S. territories, ESGR relies on volunteers to assist in serving employers, service members and their families.
Bill Hebert, a program support technician for a data company, has been supporting this particular event at Barnes for five or six years, one of the group’s “September standards”, according to Hebert.
With a guest list of 21 regional employers, company representatives got a glimpse into the daily life of a guardsman and experienced the goings-on at the base.
“We try to get employers out to let them know that, when they go for a weekend, it isn’t the good old boy network, where you went, partied, and that was it,” said Hebert, himself an Air National Guard reservist in the ’70s. “We’re here to develop a culture in which employers want guardsmen and reservists.”
“We just did a ‘breakfast with the boss’ event at the Agawam Army Armory on Tuesday,” Hebert said. “And we’ve also done them in Greenfield, Springfield, and Worcester. We find some employers can only give a few hours in the morning, but can’t do an all-day event.”
The Springfield native explained that over the course of the afternoon, a small bus driven by Major David Mendoza would be showing the guest employers what a typical drill weekend consists of.
“We take (employers) to the range, most have never fired a weapon before, even blanks,” said Hebert. “They used to have the F-15’s and the A-10’s here. We used to be able to give them a helicopter ride,too. We try to give them an idea of what (reservists) go through and put up with.”
He also stressed the economic impact of the base on the community.
“They pay $53 million in salaries, and just completed $70 million worth construction, all coming into local economy,” Hebert said.
The Hero 2 Hired initiative, put forth by the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, seeks to help guardsmen and reservists with finding jobs after and during their service.
“Employers can go in and post their jobs for free,” Hebert said of the website. “And servicemen can also use it to get help with their resumes. We find unemployment among servicemen, especially the young ones, who came out of high school into the guard and have never really applied for a job.”
Several representatives for regional employers such as Interstate Towing arrived in the Barnes cafeteria and signed statements of support for the Guard and Reserve.
“Sixty percent of our folks are part-time, traditional guardsmen,” said Maj. Edward Gunning, mission support group commander for the 104th. “It’s clear to use that there’s no way we could be successful in our mission without the support of the employers. To make sure that there’s a good cooperative relationship between the employers as they support our traditional unit members. It’s an absolutely critical relationship.”
“The majority of our force drills one weekend a month, and it’s critical that employers, where our guardsmen work full-time, believe in what our members are doing,” said Maj. Dave Mendoza, force support squadron commander for the 104th.
Mendoza spoke of his personal experience when he was deployed for a six-month tour in 2003.
“To have that support of your employer, it was tremendous knowing I had a job to come back to,” he said. “It’s a great relationship that the ESGR maintains for us. They’re our conduit, because even though we’re talking about a part-time career (the Guard), it can be a full-time commitment with the world we live in today.”
“A lot of folks in the guard also work in the real world at private companies and businesses and, because our nation calls upon them to do a lot of work, they’re sometimes absent from their jobs,” said Rep. Don Humason, Jr. (R-Westfield). “This program helps employers understand what their employers do when they’re not at their ‘day jobs’ so to speak. It’s a chance for employers to see the big picture and to say thank you.”
“From the city’s perspective, we’re very proud to be home to the base,” said Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik. “From an economic perspective, the impact is enormous – 400 plus full time jobs, 1,100 weekend drill jobs, not to mention the construction activity that’s been done here (at Barnes). There are a lot of different fronts and futures intertwined here.”
