colorado esgr april 2013 newsletter

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April 2013

Welcome to Colorado ESGR. Our purpose is to have an informative newsletter that will educate, Welcome to Colorado ESGR. Our purpose is to have an informative newsletter that will educate, Welcome to Colorado ESGR. Our purpose is to have an informative newsletter that will educate,

inform, and promote service by and to ESGR while fulfilling our mission of supporting Employers, inform, and promote service by and to ESGR while fulfilling our mission of supporting Employers, inform, and promote service by and to ESGR while fulfilling our mission of supporting Employers,

Guard/Reserve members, Military and Veteran Employment Initiatives and our COESGR Volunteers.Guard/Reserve members, Military and Veteran Employment Initiatives and our COESGR Volunteers.Guard/Reserve members, Military and Veteran Employment Initiatives and our COESGR Volunteers.

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OUR VIEW: Addressing Unemployment Challenges for Our Military RICHARD E. YOUNG 2013-03-15 21:00:16

The persistently high unemployment rate of our National Guard and Reserve members is a serious problem facing our country. In Colorado, Guardsmen and Reservists are among the 10.2 percent of unemployed post-9/11 veterans. Colorado Springs is particularly affected because of its heavy military concentration. The current economic recession is certainly a factor, but we can all do more to better ensure employment for the men and women who remain ready to serve when our nation calls.

Veteran unemployment has begun to receive due attention. However, we need to be more aware of how joblessness and underemployment specifically affect the National Guard and Reserve. These Citizen Warriors have deployed at unprecedented rates for more than a decade. They continue to sustain our fight in the Global War on Terror and respond to historic natural disasters. And though we are beginning to draw down forces in the Middle East, Guardsmen and Reservists are going to remain strategically critical to national security. We cannot overestimate their contribution to our military, and we cannot underestimate how struggling with unemployment affects their readiness to serve.

Our nation also should consider what we are losing by not having these service members as part of our workforce. Guardsmen and Reservists are trained in a variety of specialties, including logistics, law, nursing, commercial transportation, agriculture, engineering and security. And they have performed these jobs as committed leaders and team members in some of the most stressful and trying situations.

Three years ago, seeing this problem on the horizon, a coalition was formed in Colorado by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). ESGR is a Department of Defense agency with a nationwide network of volunteers who support Guardsmen, Reservists and their employers.

With the help of such partners as the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the U.S. Department of Labor (VETS), the Colorado National Guard, and recently the Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, ESGR has developed opportunities for unemployed service members and employers interested in hiring them. (Continued on top of next page.)

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Our team has begun organizing three day Military and Veterans Employment EXPOs. The first two days are aimed exclusively at preparing service members for the job hunt.

Classes are presented by experienced instructors; individual mentoring sessions are provided by HR professionals; computer labs are available with individual instructors to help the service member utilize all the tools available, such as H2H, a comprehensive web based system that is aimed at Guard and Reserve members, as well as, veterans and active duty members. On the third day, we bring in employers interested and ready to hire service members.

This formula has been effective in finding Guardsmen and Reservists jobs, and it has provided employers with qualified employees; but like the larger issue of military unemployment, it only works if we have volunteers to coach our service members on application and interview skills, and employers seeking out these service members for job placement.

ESGR can provide opportunities for individual and employers willing to support Guard and Reserve employment. Our next MVEE is scheduled on May 15, 16 and 17, for Colorado Springs, at the Pikes Peak Community College (Centennial campus). Our MVEEs are entirely free to the service member, military spouses, and employers.

I encourage everyone to find a way they can help address this national and local issue. Together, we all serve. Richard E. Young, RADM, USN (Ret) is Chair, CO ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve) and guest columnist. Copyright 2013 Freedom Communications. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by permission.

Colorado ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve) reflects the mission of the

Department of Defense Agency, ESGR which is to facilitate and promote a cooperative culture of

employer support for National Guard and Reserve service by developing and advocating mutually

beneficial initiatives; recognizing outstanding employer support; increasing awareness of applicable

laws and policies; resolving potential conflicts between employers and their service members; and

acting as the employers principal advocate within the Department of Defense.

ESGR volunteers, come from all walks of life and experiences in the public and private sectors,

ranging from business executives, senior government representatives, educators, military

personnel and veterans to name just a few. They enable ESGR to bring the message to all

employers, large and small, in cities, towns and rural areas. By explaining the mission of the

National Guard and Reserve and by increasing public awareness of the role of the employer,

Colorado ESGR develops a dialogue among employers, all Uniformed Service members and families

of affected Service members.

This is done through established directorates and their appointed Directors. The following pages

highlight the distinct missions of the directorates of Military Outreach, Employer Outreach, and

Ombudsman along with background and visions of their respective leadership.

Colorado ESGR 2012 Year in ReviewColorado ESGR 2012 Year in ReviewColorado ESGR 2012 Year in Review

180 Volunteers180 Volunteers180 Volunteers

1,151 Employers Influenced1,151 Employers Influenced1,151 Employers Influenced

755 Statements of Support755 Statements of Support755 Statements of Support

9,902 Service Members Influenced9,902 Service Members Influenced9,902 Service Members Influenced

153 Patriot Awards153 Patriot Awards153 Patriot Awards

The back page of this newsletter

lists all of our leadership

positions

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Military Outreach Directorate

The Military Outreach Directorate focuses on informing service members of their rights and responsibilities under USERRA. Reserve Component service members learn about ESGR during Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP) events, joint service member and employer events, and briefings to service members at their units during pre-mobilization and demobilization, all of which provide an effective means of educating service members about the law.

Military Outreach Objectives

Inform service members about USERRA and ESGR.

Encourage recognition of supportive employers through Patriot Award nominations.

Build relationships with local Reserve Component (RC) leaders.

Military Outreach Primary Functions :

Identify Reserve Component Units

Understand the RC units mission purpose/organization

Retrieve unit data (subordinate units, strength, leaders, etc.)

Build a unit file

Serve as ESGR Liaison for unit members

Make Contact

Meet with the leadership

Provide Assistance

Promote Unit Employer Outreach

Follow-Up

I Retired after 28 years in the US Army Military Police Corps. Graduate of Texas A&M University in 1966.

I have been an ESGR volunteer for 5 years and want to serve those who serve our country.

I feel that ESGR is important because we owe it to our soldier's, sailors, airmen and marines to take steps to minimize the problems encountered with their civilian employers as a result of their military

service.

I see Military Outreach continuing to identify those service members who are in need of assistance in resolving problems with their employers as a result of their service. I see us someday working ourselves out of a job when employers and service members will work in harmony and no one will

any longer need our services.

Joe Ely Co-Director

Military Outreach Colorado ESGR

Pentagon Moves Forward in Restoring Tuition Assistance.*

The Pentagon announced that it is reinstating Tuition Assistance Programs which had been cut for the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force as part of the sequestration cuts.

An amendment blocking the tuition cuts was passed as part of the continuing resolution funding bill pushed through Congress. President Obama signed the measure into law.

The bi-partisan amendment was sponsored by Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and James Infofe (R-OK). The continuing resolution bill did not reduce the $46 Billion in overall c