The city is one of almost 2,200 employers throughout the country to be nominated for this year’s Employer Support Freedom Award given out by the Department of Defense.
Sgt. Paul Jacques, who works for the city as a firefighter and has been deployed three times since 2005 as a member of the 102nd Air National Guard, submitted the nomination, saying the city should be recognized for it patience and understanding with the many missions its citizen-soldiers have undertaken, leaving the city’s workforce shorthanded.
And it’s not just overseas deployments, Jacques said. Members of the National Guard also have their usual annual training assignments and extra training for foreign missions.
“The support, patience, and understanding shown by the city of Attleboro towards its National Guard employees is well deserved not only of a nomination, but the award itself,” Jacques said.
In addition, the city has accepted a state law in which it agrees to pay its employee soldiers the difference between their base pay in the military and their base pay as a city worker if the military pay is less.
Formal welcome back ceremonies by the mayor and city council and care packages sent by city hall workers also show support, Jacques said.
The award, presented annually for the past 12 years, is hard to win.
Only 15 recipients are chosen every year.
Winners will be announced in the coming weeks.
Presentation ceremonies are scheduled to take place in Washington in the fall.
Award winners met with President Bush last year in the Oval Office.
The number of nominations almost doubled this year, the Department of Defense reported on its Web site.
Jacques has been deployed to Iraq twice, in 2006 and again this year.
His unit was also sent to South America as part of a drug interdiction and anti-terrorism mission in 2005.
With the National Guard and Reserves making up almost half of the U.S. military, missions around the world have an impact on employers throughout the nation, the Defense Department said.
Past winners have included employers who have provided full salaries, benefits, care packages and even home lawn care for service personnel while they are away.
Jacques has been a member of the city’s fire department for about 12 years and a member of the military for 17 years.
He has just returned from his latest mission, where he was stationed at Baghdad Airport as a firefighter.
He was also a member of a team that trained Iraqi firefighters as part of the larger U.S. effort to rebuild Iraq.
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