President and CEO John Morison, III accepted the award for Hitchiner. Making the presentations were Rudy de Leon, under secretary of defense for Personnel and Readiness; Charles L. Cragin, principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, and Thomas C. Irwin, chair, National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. Hitchiner was cited for actively recruiting reservists for almost 50 years. Representing the company at the ceremony were John H. Morison III, president and CEO, Frederick R. Lofgren, Executive Vice President, Finance & Administration, and Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Wayne Gower, a Hitchiner employee.

"Employer support is vital for reservists," de Leon said. "We cannot continue to rely on them if we can't count on their employers. These recipients have set an example for others to follow and have taken great pains to ease the burden for their employees who serve in uniform. They demonstrate that employers are really part of the Total Force."

The Freedom award is sponsored by the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, or NCESGR, a Department of Defense organization that is headquarters to 54 all-volunteer committees nationwide. Cragin noted that these efforts are needed now more than ever before.

"The 1.4 million men and women in the Reserve and National Guard could never serve this nation in the outstanding manner in which they do without the support of their employers," said Cragin. "For this reason, it is tremendously important that we recognize the contributions of employers, especially those who go above and beyond the requirements of the law."

More than 9,400 employers were nominated for recognition this year by their employee-reservists. Local committees for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, or ESGR, nominated 22 of these employers for consideration for the Defense Department's highest employer support award.

A selection board of ESGR committee members reviewed the nominations and chose five finalists, representing each of the United States' five regional areas. A grassroots committee of drilling National Guard and Reserve members then reviewed the finalists and selected the national winner.

The regional area finalists were Hitchiner Manufacturing Co., Inc. for the Norteast; Kaiser Permanente Northwest, for the West; the State of Louisiana for the South Central Region; and General Fire and Safety Equipment Co., for the North Central Region. British Nuclear Fuels Limited Inc. , a Virginia-based nuclear waste processing and cleanup company, was the Southeast regional winner and was selected as overall national winner.

Hitchiner salutes all employers were nominated for recognition this year by their employee-reservists, and especially congratulates British Nuclear Fuels Limited Inc. for their national honors.