Aguigui: Another successful training session with ESGR

Attendees of the fiscal year 2023 Annual Planning Training and Integration Meeting, or APTIM, took a group photo at the Azucena Room of the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan last Friday, Jan. 27, after they presented and discussed with the Guam-CNMI Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves State Committee the challenges and issues unique to U.S. Guardsmen and Reservists. (LEIGH GASES)

The fiscal year 2023 Annual Planning Training and Integration Meeting, or APTIM, which was held with Reserve component leaders and the Guam-CNMI Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve State Committee was a success, according to Maj. Gen. Esther Aguigui, Adjutant General of the Guam Army National Guard.

“It was a great and very successful training session; and I know that CNMI is always a preferred site, just because we can get a lot of work done and we can work and we can play at the same time,” she said in an interview with the media after the Guard adopted Commissioner Joaquin S. Tudela Community Park in San Vicente last Sunday.

The APTIM training and meeting took place at the Azucena Room of the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan last Friday, Jan. 27 and presentations about each U.S. Reserve components were made.

Among those who spoke were U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Mark Siekman, commanding general for the 9th Mission Support Command; Col. David P. Santos, chief of staff of the Guam Army National Guard; LCDR Brian Matic, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy Reserve Center Guam; and U.S. Coast Guard Micronesia Forces Sector Guam Chief Warrant Officer 4, Wilfred Thomas.

In the training session, each Reserve component discussed and presented challenges to the ESGR committee, and each component “basically laid out their issues and concerns that we have—and how they would be able to help us with some of the unique issues that only happen to Guard service members and Reservists,” said Aguigui.

Schedules of planned training for Guardsmen and Reservists were also laid out for ESGR to be aware of when they are expected to leave and return.

Numbers and figures of each component were also presented, with several hundred soldiers and families within the U.S Army Reserves, about 14 or more in the Guam Army National Guard, three in the U.S. Coast Guard, and none so far in the U.S. Navy Reserves.

After the APTIM session, retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. and ESGR chair Rey Llaneta said that it was important for the face-to-face interaction with the commanders of each Reserve component so that the ESGR volunteers know who to contact in case of issues or questions arise. “It was very beneficial for us to have the commanders here.”

“We’re here to educate both the employers and the military members of what the law is because sometimes issues arise and ESGR gets in between them. We explain what they can and can’t do and hopefully, it doesn’t get to the point where it no longer is within ESGR and it becomes a court action. That’s what we’re trying to prevent,” said Llaneta.

Others in attendance were retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benny Paulino, who is the ESGR vice chairman; Norma Castillon, U.S. Army veteran and ESGR Guam volunteer; Dr. Rita Sablan, CNMI Committee area chair; Rose Igitol and Joshlyn Blas, employer outreach representatives for the CNMI; ESGR volunteer from Rota, Vince Calvo; Angel Vibar, ESGR volunteer support technician; 1Lt Justin Cabrera, ESGR military program coordinator; and training director Dina San Nicolas, as well as other ESGR volunteers and guests.

A day before this meeting, on Thursday, Jan. 26, a Lunch with the Boss event was held at the same location in which five employers were awarded the Patriot Award and an individual was awarded the Seven Seals Award.