ESGR national chair Paul Mock visits the CNMI

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve national chair Paul E. Mock, third from right, and his wife join in a group photo with ESGR Guam and CNMI subcommittee chair David Sablan, third from left, and his wife, along with an ESGR volunteer, far left, and Tan Holdings corporate consultant David M. Sablan yesterday. (Jayson Camacho)

Paul E. Mock, national chair of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, visited the Commonwealth yesterday to meet with military leaders, business owners, and community leaders.

Responding to an invitation from ESGR chair for Guam and CNMI David Sablan, Mock met with the volunteers they have in Guam and the CNMI, including key employers that support the ESGR. There are a total of 20 volunteers for Guam and the CNMI.

In an interview with Saipan Tribune at JP Center yesterday, Mock said he was also here because of a personal interest in Saipan.

“Saipan is of special interest to me, especially since my dad served here in World War II. I thought that it was pretty interesting on a personal note and the war history and the sacrifices made by so many people. This is my first time to visit Guam and Saipan and it is a great opportunity to meet with the volunteers, service members, employers and everyone else,” Mock said.

Sablan noted that ESGR will be hosting its 7th Annual Employer Gala Awards on Saturday, May 23, at the Sheraton Laguna Guam Resort and Spa in Guam to honor 50 employers that support ESGR’s mission.

“This is to thank these 50 employers, and it includes Guam and the CNMI. In fact, the Public School System is one of the known ESGR awardees,” Sablan said.

Mock said that there are a total of 4,700 ESGR volunteers nationwide.

“Our center of operation is our volunteers. Each state or territory may have two volunteers that are paid, but the volunteers are what make the ESGR program going,” he said.

He noted that volunteer hours totaled 250,000 across the nation last year.

“When you calculate that under the [Department of Labor] rate of the wage per hour, that is the return of investment of about $5.4 million worth of labor that we provide to the Department of Defense for free and no cost. Another return on investment is mediating complaints and preventing them from becoming DOL cases, or worse, where they go to the Department of Justice. Over 1,800 cases were resolved, and avoided costs of $6.1 million. So more than $11 million was saved for the federal government. Not many volunteer organizations can say that. We are the only organization in DOD that advocates for employers,” Mock said.

“Everything we do is for the benefit of our military and readiness,” he added.

There are a total of 4,300 employers in Guam and at least 400 employers on Saipan that support ESGR.