Fire department lauded for supporting military families

Thursday, February 25, 2010

By PATRICIA JILLSON

Correspondent

MERRIMACK – Risking one’s life to safeguard another’s is all but written in the firefighter job description. But for the past three years local emergency response crews have gone above and beyond that calling, even making sure someone takes out the trash for absent co-workers.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a volunteer agency of the Department of Defense, recently took notice and awarded its Pro Patria Award to the Merrimack Fire Department. The Pro Patria recognizes exemplary leadership and personnel practices that support reservists.

“What jumped out at us with the Merrimack Fire Department was their commitment to military families and the network of support they have in place to alleviate soldiers’ worries about family while they’re deployed,” said Ted Kehr, state chair of the ESGR.

This year, national and state armed service support agencies are focusing their energies on fostering support of the families that active reservists leave behind, he said.

The NH ESGR Committee “promotes a culture in which all American employers support and value the military service of their employees,” said Kehr.

To that end, volunteers throughout the state work to ensure that employers understand and adhere to the dictates of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, which guarantees that servicemen have jobs to come back to after their tours of duty end. The committee also mediates employer-employee conflicts and recognizes “outstanding support” of the reserves.

“The Merrimack Fire Department has demonstrated a total commitment to the families of those soldiers who are being deployed. They are providing an outstanding support network for the families to include snow plowing and trash removal in addition to any on-call assistance needed,” said Kehr.

Also, firefighters cover shifts during military training and administrators hire only temporary firefighters during deployments. Publicly, Merrimack FD personnel show their support by flying military service flags outside each station and wearing deployment ribbons honoring fellow firefighters on active military duty.

Currently three Merrimack firefighters are serving as active reservists of the Army National Guard C Company 172nd Infantry, at an Indiana training site awaiting deployment overseas. Capt. Daniel Newman, on his third deployment, leads the unit. This is the second deployment for Staff Sgt. Michael Kiernan, and the first for Sgt. Jason Marsella.

Each year, state ESGRs award hundreds of Partiot Awards, employer thank-yous initiated by reservists. They also award a handful of Above and Beyond Awards, which in New Hampshire most recently recognized payment, training and leave policies at the Merrimack County Department of Corrections, Laconia Savings Bank, EFI-VUTEK, Tyco’s telecommunications division and Plymouth State University. The Merrimack FD also earned an Above and Beyond Award.

But each state annually awards only one Pro Patria. The last time the NH ESGR awarded a Pro Patria to an emergency response department was in 2006, when the state police earned the honor and then went on to secure truly top employer honors – the National ESGR Freedom Award – for the department’s benefits plan and prolonged support of the military.

“In New Hampshire, we are very fortunate to have an employer culture that appreciates and values the military service of their employees who are members of the National Guard and the Reserves,” said Kehr. “We’re hoping (the Merrimack Fire Department) will be in consideration” of the Freedom Award, he said.

Freedom Award decisions will be announced in April or May.