Staff Sgt. Graham Waid (right) of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 134th Field Artillery Regiment, shows several employers how to fire on a target on Aug. 25 in Camp Grayling, Mich. as a part of the Employer Boss Lift. The event took 20 Ohio National Guard and Army Reserve friendly employers, nominated by Soldiers and Airmen, to Camp Grayling to observe and participate in training with howitzer cannons, plastic explosives and CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopters.
Spc. Matthew Evans (right) of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 134th Field Artillery Regiment, teaches Lt. Michael Borowske of the City of Toledo Police Department how to fire a howitzer cannon Aug. 24 in Camp Grayling, Mich., as a part of the Employer Boss Lift. The event took 20 Ohio National Guard and Army Reserve friendly employers, nominated by Soldiers and Airmen, to Camp Grayling to observe and participate in training with howitzer cannons, plastic explosives and CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopters.
Several employers board a C-130 cargo plane at Mansfield Air National Guard Base headed to Camp Grayling, Mich., Aug. 24 as a part of the Employer Boss Lift. The event took 20 Ohio National Guard and Army Reserve friendly employers, nominated by Soldiers and Airmen, to Camp Grayling to observe and participate in training with howitzer cannons, plastic explosives and CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopters. |
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Story and photos by Spc. Sam Beavers, 196th MPAD
CAMP GRAYLING, Mich.—Flying just above the treetops in a CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter Aug. 24 was just one way several employers had the opportunity to see what being a Citizen-Soldier is about during the Employer Boss Lift at Camp Grayling, Mich.
The Employer Boss Lift takes Ohio National Guard and Army Reserve employers who are nominated by their servicemember-employees, to training sites where they can observe and participate in hands-on military training.
Many employers had the opportunity to fire howitzer cannons with Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 134th Field Artillery Regiment.
“It (the howitzer) was awesome,” said Ray Schaublin of the Toledo Correctional Institute. “You really feel it in your chest.”
The goal of the event is to foster long-term supportive relationships with employers, said Lt. Col. Kathy Lowrey, director of community outreach.
Lowrey said the Employer Boss Lift helps this goal by “educating employers about our people and our mission, and by creating an opportunity to see first hand the great job our Soldiers do.”
For some employers, that is exactly what happened.
“Today brought it home to me that these are everyday people; they could be my neighbor, they could be my son,” said Roger Clark, a Centerburg School Board member who is also with America’s Body Company, a distributor and producer of truck bodies and equipment.
The day kicked off with an introduction to the Ohio National Guard and Army Reserve by Maj. Gen. Matthew L. Kambic, Ohio’s assistant adjutant general for Army. Kambic explained the National Guard’s federal, state and community missions. He also said the Army National Guard and Army Reserve account for nearly half of the total number of U.S. Soldiers.
“I didn’t realize how much of the total forces the National Guard and the Reserve make up,” said Chad Pettit of Brilligent Solutions.
Kambic demonstrated the importance the Ohio National Guard places on employers by describing a three-legged stool, with Soldiers and Airmen, family members, and employers each representing one leg.
“Each one of the employers here is a part of the team,” Kambic said.
After Kambic’s introduction, employers had the chance to observe and participate in several training opportunities. They flew in a C-130 cargo plane and a Chinook, fired howitzers and watched them impact, and exploded a makeshift bridge with plastic explosives.
“I send my fellow workers here (to Camp Grayling for annual training), and it is nice to see how we support you,” Schaublin said.
Schaublin said he is happy to support military training because he has seen the benefits first hand. After some of his Citizen-Soldier co-workers returned from deployment, they helped reorganize SWAT team training for the correctional facility.
AMVETS also offered a presentation what they do to help servicemembers find jobs in the civilian world. AMVETS has launched a site similar to other job-hunting websites with the exception that it is only available for current and former members of the military and only military-friendly employers may access the site’s applicant pool.
“I think what AMVETS is doing is great,” Clark said. “I’m going there when I need to hire someone because military experience speaks for itself. It’s a work ethic you can’t teach.”
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