By Mike Urban
Reading Eagle
READING, Pa. — Robert Williams admitted to being a little embarrassed Wednesday after receiving a U.S. Department of Defense award.
Williams, the Berks County chief juvenile probation officer, received the Patriot Award for his support of Guardsmen and Reservists he supervises.
While he appreciated that his office was being honored for doing the right thing, he couldn’t believe that any employer wouldn’t bend over backward to protect the jobs of the troops who are protecting us.
But Berks probation Officer Anton Allsop knows there are some workplaces that don’t treat Guard and Reserve members with that same respect, he said.
Allsop, an Army National Guardsman who nominated Williams for the award, said other members of the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Fort Dix, N.J., have been treated poorly by employers who didn’t like the disruptions caused by their training and deployment schedules.
That’s why Allsop is thankful for the support he receives, not just from his supervisors, including Assistant Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Eric Burkholder, but his co-workers.
When Guard duty calls, Allsop of West Reading can count on them handling his cases well until he returns.
And when Allsop soon is activated for about a year, he knows he can rely on them again.
Presenting the Patriot Award to Williams was Rodger Diehl, a representative of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a DOD office.
Federal law requires that Guard and Reserve members come back to their same job after drills or deployments, or if that job no longer exists, a job very similar to it. But some employers, like the Berks probation office, go above and beyond that requirement, he said.
“If these volunteers are going to continue to serve their country, they need that support from their employers,” he said.
With most of Allsop’s co-workers in attendance during the ceremony in the Berks County Services Center, Williams wished him the best during his activation.
“We’ll leave the light on for you,” Williams said.