Department of Defense Announces 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Recipients
ARLINGTON, VA, The Department of Defense has announced the 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award recipients.
The Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers for their outstanding support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.
The 2008 recipients include:
- Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Durant, OK
- Chrysler Motors, LLC, Auburn Hills, MI, ANG nominated
- City of Austin, Austin, TX, ARNG nominated
- Coastal Windows, Inc., Waipahu, HI
- Dominion Resources, Inc., Richmond, VA
- Jersey City Fire Department, Jersey City, NJ
- Lochinvar Corporation, Lebanon, TN, ARNG nominated
- Oakland County Sheriff's Office, Pontiac, MI, ARNG nominated
- Oshkosh Corporation, Oshkosh, WI
- Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority, Reno, NV, ARNG nominated
- Robinson Transport, Inc., Salina, UT, ARNG nominated
- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Bloomington, IL, ARNG, ANG nominated
- Union Pacific Corporation, Omaha, NE, ARNG nominated
- Winner School District, Winner, SD, ARNG nominated
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC., Winston-Salem, NC
A record 2,199 National Guard and Reserve members or their family members from across the country nominated their employers for their outstanding support. A national selection board comprised of senior DoD officials and business leaders selected the recipients for this year's award.
The Freedom Award will be presented to these employers during a formal ceremony on Sept. 18, 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
"These employers have provided exceptional support to the men and women serving in our National Guard and Reserve and now, more than ever, we appreciate and thank them for doing much more for these employees than the law requires," said Dr. L. Gordon Sumner Jr., executive director of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (NCESGR).
The Freedom Award was instituted in 1996 under the auspices of the NCESGR to recognize exceptional support from the employer community. Previous honorees include American Express, General Motors, Sears, The Home Depot, the State of Tennessee and the family owned Augustine & Sons farm in Rose Hill, Iowa.