The Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. Government to employers for their support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. To be eligible for the award, an employer must be nominated by one of its Guard or Reserve employees, or a family member of that employee. The Freedom Award was instituted in 1996 by then-Secretary of Defense William Perry under the auspices of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). ESGR is a

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

agency established in 1972 whose mission, according to its website, is to "gain and maintain employer support for Guard and Reserve service by recognizing outstanding support, increasing awareness of the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, and resolving conflicts through mediation." The award was created to recognize the ways the nation's employers support their Guard and Reserve employees, and is the highest in a series of ESGR awards that include the Patriot Award, the Above and Beyond Award, and the Pro Patria Award. A senior Defense Department official presents the awards at a dinner ceremony in Washington, DC; past presenters have included the Secretary of Defense, the

Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness The under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, or USD (P&R) is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) within the United States Department of Defense responsible for advising the United State ...

, the Army Vice Chief of Staff, and the

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VJCS) is, by U.S. law, the second highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, - Vice Chairman ranking just below the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vice chairman ...

. Since 1996, over 300 employers have received the Freedom Award.

Freedom Award website

In 2008, ESGR launched a website for the Freedom Award. Using videos, news articles, profiles of recipients, and tips about employer best practices, the site provides information about the support that employers across the nation provide to their Guard and Reserve employees and their families. The site also houses the nomination form for the award.

Recipients

2024

* Bartlett Roofing * Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota * Cordia * Core States Group * Council Bluffs Fire Department * Fulton Bank * Kiewit Infrastructure Co. * League of Minnesota Cities * Navy Federal Credit Union * Orange County Sheriff's Office * PSA Management, Inc. * SAS Institute Inc. * Shelby County Fire Department * Sherpa 6 * Tucson Electric Power

2016

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...

* Albuquerque Police Department * Benjamin Franklin Plumbing * Burford Corporation *

Carolinas Healthcare System Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority (doing business as Atrium Health, formerly Carolinas HealthCare System) was a hospital network with more than 70,000 employees and, since its merger with Advocate Aurora Health in 2022. It operates 40 h ...

* Clackamas County Sheriff Office * Delmarva Veteran Builders * Fastsigns International Inc. * Hope Valley Industries * Idaho State Police * Lowe’s * Maryland State Police * Prairie Grove Consolidated School District 46 *

Seattle Fire Department The Seattle Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. The department is responsible for an area of , including of waterfront, with a population of 713,700. There ...

* The Goodyear Tire and Rubber

2015

* Black Hills Corporation *

Boise Fire Department The Boise Fire Department is the agency that provides fire suppression services within the city of Boise, Idaho and contract services to two fire districts in suburban Ada County including Garden City and Hidden Springs. It is the largest fi ...

* BP America, Inc. *

Cardinal Health Cardinal Health, Inc. is an American multinational health care services company, and the 14th highest revenue generating company in the United States. Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, the company specializes in the distribution of pharmaceuticals ...

Cigna The Cigna Group is an American multinational for-profit managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, dental, disability, life and accident insurance and r ...

* City of Glendale * City of Shawnee *

College of the Ozarks College of the Ozarks is a Private college, private Christian college in Point Lookout, Missouri, United States. The college has an enrollment of 1,426 and over 30 academic majors in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs. The colleg ...

CVS Health CVS Health Corporation is an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance provider, among many other brands. The company is the worl ...

Devon Energy Devon Energy Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States. It is organized in Delaware with operational headquarters in the 50-story Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its primary operations are ...

* Dr. Joe A. Jackson, MD, PLLC * Neil, Dymott, Frank, McFall, Trexler, McCabe & Hudson APLC * Snell and Wilmer, LLP * Town of Hingham, MA * Walt Disney Co.

2014

* Arizona Public Service *

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994, and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with operations primarily in the ...

* CH2M-WG Idaho *

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

* JG Management Systems, Inc *

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides firefighting services and technical rescue services, hazardous materials services, and emergency medical services to the residents of the city of Los Angeles, California, United ...

* New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services *

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the District of Columbia, ...

* Shofner Vision Center * Smart Mouth * St. Jude Children's Research Hospital * UNC Health Care * Washoe County School District * Zions Bank

2013

* Albuquerque Fire Department *

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

* C.W. Driver * City of Columbus * Colorado Springs Utilities * Davita, Inc *

Eastman Chemical Eastman Chemical Company is an American company primarily involved in the chemical industry. Once a subsidiary of Kodak, today it is an independent global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of advanced materials, chemicals an ...

* Family Allergy & Asthma *

Humana Humana Inc. is an American for-profit health insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2024, the company ranked 92 on the Fortune 500 list, which made it the highest ranked (by revenues) company based in Kentucky. It is the fourth l ...

* Pape-Dawson Engineers * Richland County Sheriff's Department *

Safeway Inc Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

* Steel Plate Fabricators *

U.S. Bank U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American multinational financial services firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota and incorporated in Delaware. It is the List of largest banks in the United States, 5th-largest ban ...

* U.S. Marshals Service

2012

* Basin Electric Power Cooperative *

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 on the ' ...

Citi Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, the bank holding company for Citibank, and ...

*Crystal Springs United Methodist Church *

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

*Gary Jet Center *iostudio * Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety *

L-3 Communications L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, was an American company that supplied command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ( C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training ...

*Nyemaster Goode *

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a public agency that is in King County, Washington. It oversees the seaport of Seattle as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to ...

*Siemens Corporation *

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

*Uniform Color Company *

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

2011

* 3M Company * Ameren Corporation *Burt County Sheriff's Office *CSX Transportation *Electrical Contractors Inc. *

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

*Hanson Professional Services Inc. *Integrity Applications Incorporated *Orange County Sheriff's Department *The Principal Financial Group *Qwest Communications, now CenturyLink, Inc. *St. John's Lutheran Church *State Employees' Credit Union *Town of Gilbert *Wells Fargo & Company

2010

*Bill Bragg Plumbing *City of Irvine Police Department * Dollar General Corporation *

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

Food Lion Food Lion is an American regional supermarket Chain store, chain headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina, that operates over 1,000 supermarkets in 10 states: Delaware, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsyl ...

*Franklin's Printing *Intuit Inc. *Legacy Sports International *Logistics Health Inc *MERCK *

Michigan State Police The Michigan State Police (MSP) is the State police (United States), state police agency for the U.S. state of Michigan. The MSP is a full-service law enforcement agency, with its sworn members having full police powers statewide. The department ...

Newmont Mining Corporation Newmont Corporation is an American gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it holds ownership of gold mines in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Do ...

Southern Company Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the Southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices located in Birmingham, Alabama. As of 2021 it is the second largest ut ...

State of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

*Yerecic Label

2009

*Aerodyn Wind Tunnel LLC * AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals *Cambridge Fire Department *Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Inc. * First Data Corporation * FMC Technologies *Jackson Parish Sheriff's Department *Marks, O'Neill, O'Brien & Courtney *

Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

*Mid America Kidney Stone Association *

NetJets NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells Fractional ownership of aircraft, fractional ownership shares in private business jets. Founded as Executive Jet Airways in 1964, it was later renamed Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets became the ...

Ohio Department of Public Safety The Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) is the administrative department of the government of Ohio, Ohio state government responsible for the protection and safety of residents and visitors. The Department of Public Safety's headquarters is l ...

*Perpetual Technologies, Inc. *Santa Ana Police Department * TriWest Healthcare Alliance

2008

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw language, Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Indian reservation, Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation ...

Chrysler LLC FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

* City of Austin, Texas *Coastal Windows, Inc. * Dominion Resources Inc. *Jersey City Fire Department *Lochinvar Corporation *Oakland County Sheriff’s Office *

Oshkosh Corporation Oshkosh Corporation, formerly Oshkosh Truck, is an American industrial company that designs and builds specialty trucks, military vehicles, truck bodies, airport fire apparatus, and access equipment. The corporation also owns Pierce Manufact ...

*Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority *Robinson Transport, Inc. *State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company *

Union Pacific Corporation Union Pacific Corporation is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It is incorporated in Utah and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Its only operating subsidiary is Union Pacific Railroad. Along with BNSF Railway, owned by Berkshire Hatha ...

*Winner School District * Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC

2007

*Augustine and Sons, Inc. *CHE Consulting, Inc. * Con-way, Inc. *Creative Healthcare Solutions, Inc. * Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. *Ganntt's Excavating and Contracting, Inc. *

General Motors Corporation General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, ...

* The New Hampshire State Police * Nucor Corporation * Sierra Pacific Resources *Sodexho USA * The State of Tennessee *Turbocam International *Ultra Machining Company, Inc. *Wilmington, VA Medical Center

2006

*AgCountry Farm Credit Services *Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America * Baptist Health * BNSF Railway Company *Cardi's Furniture Superstores *

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Computer Sciences Corporation Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was an American multinational corporation that provided information technology (IT) services and professional services. On April 3, 2017, it merged with the Enterprise Services line of business of HP Ente ...

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

*Fred Fletemeyer Company *

MGM Mirage MGM Resorts International is an American multinational hospitality, sports and entertainment company. It operates resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Macau, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou and San ...

*Skyline Membership Corporation *South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks *

Starbucks Corporation Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

* State of Vermont *Sun Valley General Improvement District

2005

*Alticor, Inc. *

Citizens Financial Group Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company owns the bank Citizens Bank, N.A., which operates in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massach ...

Eaton Corporation Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish-domiciled multinational power management company, with a primary administrative center in Beachwood, Ohio. Eaton has more than 85,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countr ...

Enterprise Rent-a-Car Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an American car rental agency headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. Enterprise is the flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings, which also owns other agencies including Alamo Rent a Car and National ...

IDACORP IDACORP, Inc is an electricity holding company, incorporated in Idaho with headquarters in Boise, Idaho, Boise. It comprises Idaho Power, Idaho Power Company, IDACORP Financial and Ida-West Energy. It was formed on October 1, 1998.IDACORPAbout I ...

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

* Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections *Pioneer Financial Services, Inc. * Ryland Homes *

Sears, Roebuck and Company Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University (SDSU or SD State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest university and is the sec ...

State of Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state' ...

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. (TMS, also known as Toyota USA) is the North American Toyota Motor North America, Toyota sales, marketing, and distribution subsidiary devoted to the United States market. Founded in 1957 in California, TMS currentl ...

USAA The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is an American financial services company providing insurance and banking products exclusively to members of the military, veterans and their families. It was founded in 1922 in San Antonio, Texas ...

* Wachovia Corporation

2004

Adolph Coors Company The Adolph Coors Company was formerly a holding company in Golden, Colorado controlled by the heirs of founder Adolph Coors. Its principal subsidiary was the Coors Brewing Company. The brewery was founded in 1873. In 2005, Adolph Coors Co. me ...

* American Express Company *

Bank One Corporation Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, ...

*Colt Fire Safety and Rescue *

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

* Harley-Davidson, Inc. *

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

* Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department * State of Minnesota *

Northrop Grumman Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military technology provi ...

*One Source Building Technologies *Saints Memorial Medical Center *

Sprint Corporation Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. Th ...

*Strategic Solutions, Inc. * Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

2003

*Central Atlantic Toyota Distribution Center * D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. *

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...

* PG&E Corporation * Tyson Foods, Inc.

2002

*Autoliv, Inc. * General Dynamics Corporation *Public Service Company of New Hampshire * State of Wyoming * United Parcel Service Airlines

2001

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

The Boeing Company The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

* The City of Bedford, Virginia *

Electronic Data Systems Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Corporation was an American multinational corporation, multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Plano, Texas, which was founded in 1962 by Ross Perot. The company was a s ...

* Southwest Airlines, Inc.

2000

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

*Framatome Connectors USA *

Intel Corporation Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing ...

* Midwest Express Airlines * Technology Concepts and Design

1999

* British Nuclear Fuels Limited, Inc. *General Fire and Safety Equipment Company, Inc. *Hitchiner Manufacturing Co., Inc. *Kaiser Permanente, Northwest * The State of Louisiana

1998

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

*American Family Mutual Insurance Company * CSX Transportation, Inc. *

Portland Police Bureau The Portland Police Bureau (PPB), officially the Portland Bureau of Police, is the law enforcement agency of the city of Portland, Oregon, Portland, the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of September 2024, the Bureau has around 800 ...

*Wiremold Company

1997

*Charles Machine Works, Inc. *East Penn Manufacturing Co. *Entec Services, Inc. * Fred Meyer, Inc. *The Home Depot, Southeastern Division

1996

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...

* National Life of Vermont * Schneider National * Tektronix, Inc. *United Parcel Service, Central Florida District

Sources

This article contains information from
U.S. Government website
in the public domain.

References

{{reflist
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve > Home

External links

2012 recipients listFreedom Award websiteFreedom Award nomination form
* ttp://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28669 Human Events Online article on 2008 dinner ceremony Awards and decorations of the United States Department of Defense