North Charleston receives Above and Beyond Award from ESGR

The City of North Charleston was recently awarded the Above and Beyond Award by the South Carolina Committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

The Above and Beyond Award is given  to a select few out of thousands of employers throughout the state and presented annually by each ESGR Committee.  This award recognizes those employers at the state and local level who have gone above and beyond the legal requirements for granting leave and providing support for military duty by their Guard and Reserve employees.

North Charleston was nominated by Petty Officer First Class Scott Perry, US Navy Reserve of the Navy Security Force who is stationed at Joint Base Charleston.  Petty Officer Perry is also an employee of the City of North Charleston Police Department.

The award was accepted at the ESGR's Annual Banquet in Columbia, SC on February 10, 2012.

ESGR is a Department of Defense organization. It is a staff group within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, which is in itself a part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

ESGR was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee's military commitment. It is the lead DoD organization for this mission under DoD Directive 1250.1.

Today, ESGR operates through a network of thousands of volunteers throughout the nation and Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Patriot Award presentation by the ESGR

From the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) presented Belinda Swindler, a long time Recreation Department employee for the City of North Charleston, the Patriot Award on Thursday, October 13, 2011 at North Charleston’s City Council meeting.

The Patriot Award honors individual supervisors for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve force.  Only members of the National Guard and Reserve forces are eligible to nominate their employers for the Patriot Award.

A city employee for 11 years, Ms. Swindler serves as the recreation department’s senior coordinator, planning, organizing, and facilitating all senior programming in North Charleston.  In addition, she supervises operations and staff at the Felix C. Davis Community Center at Park Circle.

Ms. Swindler was nominated by Dominique Johnson who is currently serving with the United States Army Reserves’ 914th Transportation Company of North Charleston, SC in Iraq.  The 914th Transportation Company was ordered into active military service in January 2011.  Prior to deployment, Ms. Johnson was employed by the City of North Charleston in the Recreation Department with Ms. Swindler serving as her supervisor.

ESGR is a Department of Defense organization. It is a staff group within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, which is in itself a part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

ESGR was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee's military commitment. It is the lead DoD organization for this mission under DoD Directive 1250.1.

Today, ESGR operates through a network of thousands of volunteers throughout the nation and Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.