NORTH FORT HOOD, Texas -- A group of civilian employers from Utah traveled here to visit their citizen-Soldier employees of the 1/211th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion during the unit's pre-mobilization training Feb. 29.
"It's an opportunity for the National Guard to bring in employers of our traditional part-time Guardsmen to see what their civilian employees do while on military status while preparing to deploy to theater," said Lt. Col. Greg Hartvigsen, 1/211th commander.
The Utah unit is training with Division West's 166th Aviation Brigade at Fort Hood before deploying to Afghanistan.
"We will be an aviation task force," Hartvigsen said. "We will provide aviation resources to friendly ground forces to include aerial re-supply, medevac and aerial reconnaissance and security with the Apache."
The event was organized by the Utah Employer Support Guard and Reserve, a national organization that promotes the support by civilian employers of National Guard and Reserve servicemembers.
"The ESGR mission here is to acquaint all the employers that have Soldiers about what they do and what their requirements are in order to get ready to deploy," said Bart Davis, Utah ESGR chairman. "It gives them a much larger appreciation for what the Soldiers know and do."
This event is known as a "boss lift," a program that the ESGR uses throughout the country to familiarize, educate and promote military and civilian employer relations. It provides a way for the employers and business leaders to connect with their employees who are also members of the armed forces.
The first day of the boss lift consisted of transporting the employers and business executives from Utah to Fort Hood in a KC-135 air-to-air refueling tanker. During the flight, the passengers witnessed an actual refueling, providing another chance for employers to gain a better perspective of military operations.
"It was awesome," said Margarita Angelo, an executive with Zion's Bank in Utah. "I can't even express with words how precise the refueling was."
The second day of the boss lift, the employers met with their employees in the 1/211th and viewed the Soldiers' actual training. At the unit's hanger on Robert Gray Army Airfield, the employers first received briefings, then were taken on a tour of the hanger, where they met with their employees.
In the hanger, many of the 1/211th Soldiers showed their employers the Apache AH-64 helicopters the unit will fly during their deployment. While the business leaders showed great enthusiasm for what the Soldiers do, for some employers, their interest was more personal.
"This is the first time I get to personally see what one of my sons does for the military," said Joel Harmon, owner of Harmon's Hardware Company. Harmon has four sons in the U.S. Armed Forces; Sgt. Jesse Harmon of the 1/211th is one of them.
Coincidentally, the Harmons were not the only father-son duo in attendance. Davis was there to see his son, Chief Warrant Officer Four Bart Davis.
"I was deployed to Vietnam when he was born," Davis said. "I've said goodbye to many father's Soldiers, but when you say goodbye to your own, it's something you can't explain."
The Soldiers and employers traveled to the Crittenberger range on North Fort Hood to view the AH-64 Apache engaging in live-fire exercises. The 1/211th focus during this training was to be certified with the helicopters by the 166th AV Bde.
The employers were given a front-row seat to the aviation training.
"I almost feel like going on my knees and saying 'thank for you doing what you do,'" Angelo said. "We see a lot of movies about what military people do, but, when I comes down to it, by coming here and seeing what you do makes me appreciate it even more."
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