Debye Baird Honored as a Patriotic Employer

Clayton State Director of Client Support Services Debye Baird (McDonough) has been honored by the Department of Defense as a “Patriotic Employer.”

Baird was nominated for the award by Clayton State alumnus John A. Westbrook. Currently a sergeant in the 55th Combat Communications Squadron at Robins Air Force Base in Warner-Robins, Ga., following his December 2007 graduation from Clayton State, Westbrook worked for the University’s student help desk, “The HUB,” under Baird while he was a student at Clayton State. His narrative for Baird’s award reads in part…

“During the entire four years of working for Ms. Baird she would always give me time off of work to complete my military requirements as far as my two weeks a year and one weekend a month. Sometimes that small reserve commitment would require more than that two weeks, and every time that would happen she would always be very supportive of my military obligations. I had to deploy at the last minute in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to Aviano AB in Italy. While I was gone foe three months Ms. Baird held my position and pay grade… when I came back she also made sure I received my annual pay raise.”

The Patriotic Employer award is presented by the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense organization. It is a staff group within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. ESGR was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee’s military commitment.

Baird, along with approximately 100 other ESGR honorees, will be honored at a luncheon with Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue on Wednesday, June 25.