(Cedar City, UT) - Forty-three (43) employer representatives with municipal and county leaders experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Guard in action Monday during a routine mid-air refueling mission.

Southern Utah Employers Support for the Guard and Reserve Chair Dallin Nielsen introduced the contingent to Boss Lift expressing appreciation for the many employers who support the guardmen and reservists in deployment. The event got underway from the Cedar City airport after all had cleared sercurity and boarded a KC-135 Strassofoces tanker as it refueled an an Air Force C-17 Globemaster.

Citizens soldiers of the nation's Reserve components (referring to the total of all National Guard members and Reserve forces from all branches of the military) comprise approximately 48 percent of the nation's total available military manpower. Since 9/11, Utah citizen solders along with their families and employers have been called upon numerous times to make sacrifices in serving our nation. Many units are now experiencing their third deployment.

ESGR was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee's military commitment. ESGR operates through the service thousands of volunteers throughout the nation and Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.