KNOX COUNTY — Matthew Collins is the Employer Outreach Director for the Maine Committee of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, (ESGR). ESGR is a volunteer centered Dept. of Defense funded program whose purpose is to develop and promote supportive work environments for our service members in the National Guard and Reserve Components of our armed forces.

Today, nearly half of our Nation's military strength resides in the National Guard and Reserve, whose soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coastguardsmen serve in all capacities within the various branches of the military. These men and women perform critical roles such as homeland defense and in humanitarian missions as well, serving around the world to ensure our freedom safety and well-being. This would not be possible without the support of employers like the Knox County Sheriff's Office.

That is why ESGR recognizes employers and individual supervisors that are particularly supportive of their Guard and Reserve member employees. We ask Guardsmen and Reservists to submit their bosses for the Patriotic Employer award when their experience around their need for leave to perform military duties has been a positive one.

Today, Mr. Collins presented a Patriotic Employer award to Lieutenant Patrick Polky. Deputy Daniel Landers nominated Lt. Patrick Polky for the award.

Deputy Landers wrote the following in the award submission:

“Patrick Polky has an intimate understanding of the commitment that is required from employees that serve in the reserve components, having himself, retired as a First Sergeant. LT Polky always goes above and beyond to accommodate my work schedule so that I can attend military duty with almost zero conflict. Rather than require that I take unpaid military leave, LT Polky will shift my schedule so that I won't miss a day of work. He routinely asks what dates I might need off and accommodates me well in advance. During my unit's Annual Training, LT Polky, on his own unpaid time, took an entire day to come to my unit's culminating training event. He was the only employer to show up!”