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ESGR Week pushes for employment of ‘citizen warriors’
Of the 2,700 National Guard and military reserves between Guam and the CNMI, almost 500 are unemployed, according to David J. Sablan, state chair of the Guam-CNMI Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
“In Guam and Saipan, [the unemployment rate for the National Guard and Reserve is] closing to about 20 percent out of the 2,700 service members that we service in the region,” Sablan said, noting that many of these service members go straight to the military after high school.
He said the U.S. Department of Defense has asked the ESGR to come up with an employment initiative program that will help unemployed service members find jobs and get them connected to potential employers.
“The [DOD] spends about over a billion dollars a year in unemployment compensation. If we can save several hundred million dollars worth of that funding, it makes a lot of sense,” he said.
He also noted that unemployment rate amongst local service members is much higher than the national average.
The unemployed come from the U.S. Army, Navy Reserve as well as Coast Guard and Army Guard in the region.
Other than helping service members become gainfully employed, ESGR does outreach to the community and helps settles disputes between employers and employees.
“We try to make them understand that [service members] are special employees. They’re willing to put their lives on the line, they’re willing to die,” he said.
ESGR in the Guam-CNMI region has a total of 20 volunteers, five of them in the CNMI and the rest in Guam, with an additional three staff members contracted through DOD and the National Guard, according to Sablan.
On Tuesday morning, Gov. Eloy Inos signed a proclamation declaring Sep. 15-19 ESGR Week.
The proclamation urges to families and employers to support the “citizen warriors” of Reserve and National Guard.
