Photo By Claudia Neve | Participants in the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Boss Lift event...... read more read more
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Organizers with the Wisconsin Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) held their 2024 Boss Lift event on June 5 at Fort McCoy that included Wisconsin National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters flying in employer representatives, static displays, a Commemorative Area visit, and more.
According to their website at https://www.esgr.mil/About-ESGR/Contact/Local-State-Pages/Wisconsin, the ESGR, a Department of Defense office, “is comprised of dedicated and trained volunteers and staff. (They) develop and promote employer support for Guard and Reserve service by advocating relevant initiatives, recognizing outstanding support, increasing awareness of applicable laws, and resolving conflict between employers and service members.”
The website states ESGR also “informs and educates service members and their civilian employers regarding their rights and responsibilities governed by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). ESGR does not have statutory authority to enforce, but serves as a neutral, free resource to employers and service members. ESGR’s trained ombudsmen provide mediation of issues relating to compliance with USERRA.”
On a Facebook post by Wisconsin ESGR, they also reviewed their Boss Lift event that took several hours on the installation.
“Patriotic employers of Guard and Reserve service members from around the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota were treated to an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Boss Lift courtesy of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. Wisconsin National Guard aviators and crews flew employers from Appleton, Eau Claire, Madison, Milwaukee, and Wausau to Fort McCoy for a day of briefings and static displays of military equipment.”
Also on Facebook, Adam Ray, one of the attendees posted about his visit to Fort McCoy.
“Had an amazing flight in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter,” Ray wrote. “Thank you to the flight crew from the 147th Regiment out of Madison as well as the service men and women at Fort McCoy for the demonstrations on all of their equipment and gear used in keeping us safe here in the states. A huge thanks to the Wisconsin ESGR for making this one memorable experience.”
Soldiers with the Wisconsin National Guards 229th Engineer Vertical Construction Company had people from companies their Soldiers are employed with also visit. On the unit’s Facebook page they featured a group photo of the Soldiers with their civilian employers and highlighted their support.
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“Today, some of the 229th Soldiers invited their bosses to Fort McCoy via Black Hawk helicopter,” the post stated. “A huge thanks to our employers for coming and to ESGR for putting together this incredible event.”
In addition to the 229th Soldiers and flight crews with the Black Hawks, the Boss Lift participants also met with Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers from other units as well at the Wisconsin Military Academy, including academy staff and Soldiers with the 950th Engineer Company (Route Clearance).
“The 950th was set up behind the Wisconsin Military Academy with vehicle displays for the Boss Lift,” said 1st Lt. Frank Mueller, training officer for the 724th Engineer Battalion with the Wisconsin National Guard.
At the Fort McCoy Commemorative Area, the Boss Lift participants were able to review Fort McCoy and Army history during June — Army Heritage Month. The area is managed by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.
The Commemorative Area consists of the Fort McCoy History Center, Veterans Memorial Plaza, and the Equipment Park. The Commemorative Area also has five World War II-era buildings set aside to help tell Fort McCoy’s unique story, said current Fort McCoy Public Affairs Officer Tonya Townsell, who oversees the overall operations at the area. These facilities are representative of the types found in the cantonment area when it was constructed in 1942.
Three of the buildings — an administrative facility, a dining facility, and a barracks — are set up to depict Soldier life during the 1940s. Display items include a World War II chapel, bunk beds, footlockers, mannequins, and potbelly stoves. Another building highlights four different modern military training venues, and a separate facility shows various training aids.
The History Center is often the first stop for visitors in the Commemorative Area and was for Boss Lift visitors, Townsell said. The History Center features exhibits as well as displays of artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia that tell the story of Fort McCoy since its founding in 1909. The center first was opened in 1999 in building 902 when the Fort McCoy observed its 90th anniversary.
With Veterans Memorial Plaza, it was also a favorite stop for Boss Lift visitors for photos, and for reflection. Construction on Veterans Memorial Plaza began in 2006, as did the work to create the five Soldier statues on the memorial representative of each of the major conflicts that Fort McCoy had been involved with to that point in time: i.e., World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the war on terrorism, installation history shows.
Right across from Veterans Memorial Plaza is the Equipment Park as well, where Boss Lift visitors spent time looking over the exhibits there. The Equipment Park is an outdoor display of historic and present-day equipment representative of the types used on the installation, Townsell said. The design of the park allows for display of 70 pieces of equipment, ranging from helicopters and howitzers to trucks and trailers.
After seeing and visiting all the sites at McCoy, the Boss Lift participants loaded into five Black Hawks and returned to their respective communities.
Learn more about the ESGR mission by visiting https://www.esgr.mil.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2024 01:06 |
| Story ID: | 474741 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 163 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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