Air support for Guard and Reserve

The hangar doors were pulled wide, spilling in sunshine and hardly a breeze at all - until they arrived to make one.

Thirty-some people gathered at the open doorway of the main hangar at Havre City-County Airport April 19, as a Montana Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter approached low on the southern horizon, with the snow-tipped Bear Paw Mountains as a backdrop.

The wind from the aircraft's rotor blades had just died down and passengers and crew members were starting to emerge, when the Guard's larger Chinook helicopter, a workhorse of U.S. military aircraft, arrived and settled on the other end of the tarmac.

Observers grabbed for their hats and papers, some people found shelter, as the twin engine craft's rotors beat the air, before slowly coming to rest, and the craft's rear hatch was lowered so passengers could depart down the ramp.

Representatives from the Department of Defense and Montana Guard helicopter crews came to Havre that Tuesday to advocate for support of Guard and Reserve employees.

The Defense program, called Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, or ESGR, is operated with both paid staff and volunteers, and four times a year they fly out of Helena to outlying areas of the state to offer employers a chance to learn about the Guard and Reserve and take helicopter flights.

"This is our way of thanking those people for doing it, those that employ our Guard members, and it gives us an opportunity to show those employers what their Guard members are doing while they're at Guard drill, their annual training and even when they're deployed," said Chris Hindoien, who serves as chair of Montana's ESGR as a volunteer.

That day, 33 people from Havre and the surrounding area were taken up in the two Guard helicopters for a 30-minute flight over town and Fresno Reservoir. The passengers who unloaded after the helicopters arrived included 10 employers and a Guard retiree, who were taking the day to fly out of Helena and learn more in-depth details about Guard service, said ESGR staff member Dawn Lambert who is based out of Fort Harrison in Helena.

"It's basically an educational trip for these guys and it gives us an opportunity to advocate for other employers to hire guard members," Hindoien said. "We've got quality people out there looking for work, and they're trainable, they're dependable and they can pass a drug test - the good things these days."

Havre Police Chief Gabe Matosich, who was there for the 30-minute flight in the Black Hawk, said he has one officer who is also a Guard member.

"It just gets a little challenging if you're not at full staff," he said about having an officer who needs to take regular time off.

National Guard members train one weekend each month and during a two-week stint each year they go for more intensive annual training.

The police department benefits from the service as well, Matosich added.

"It's pretty exciting for law enforcement guys because of the additional training they get through it," he said. "He's going to be a well-rounded individual with a lot of extra training on board that he can bring to the department, too."

That Guard member recently finished basic training and will head out for his two-week annual training soon, he said.

Part of ESGR's objective is to provide information on the benefits and obligations of hiring a Guard or Reserve member, Lambert said.

Some businesses have policies that go above those obligations.

Jason Castillon, right of way supervisor for Triangle Communications and Hill County Electric, said the Guard member he hired a year ago in his department has nine years of service.

He said that when employees of the telephone and electric cooperative have to take time off for Guard training they don't have to use their paid leave days, and the company works around the service members schedule.

"It works. We know in advance when they're going, so you just plan accordingly," he said. "They come back and get right back to it."

The company's policy also covers the employees' lost wages, if any, he added. If the employee makes less money from the Guard on the days of training than he or she would have earned at work, the company makes up the difference.

Serving in the Guard in Montana is made more difficult by distances that some service members have to travel, Hindoien said. The units specialize so even a Guardsman in Havre, which has its own unit, might have to travel across the state to train with another unit. The travel adds to time away and expense, making employer support even more important, he added.

"We ask that when you're looking for employees," Hindoien said, "you look to our service members or their spouses or their families and to the veterans that are here in Montana."