UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant employee Anne Lindsay is the second staff member this year to receive the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Patriot Award. This U.S. Department of Defense award recognizes extraordinary efforts to provide a supportive work environment to National Guard or Reserve members through measures such as flexible scheduling, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families and granting leaves of absence.
Lindsay, associate director of marine education at the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island, was nominated by Clayton Holloway, who is a maintenance foreman at the facility. Holloway is also a master sergeant in the Georgia Air National Guard and is currently serving a six-month deployment overseas.
“Ms. Lindsay is very supportive of my Air National Guard commitment,” Holloway wrote in his letter nominating Lindsay for the award. “She realizes that the training I receive from the military in Civil Engineering trades will also benefit the University of Georgia.”
The award was presented to Lindsay by the Area Chair of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, retired Col. Ed Wexler. Also in attendance at the presentation were Holloway’s commanding officer and the Enlisted Head of his unit, both of whom stated how much they valued his work and Lindsay’s dedication to support those in the National Guard and Reserve.
“I was honored by the presentation and humbled by the assembled group of soldiers who protect us all,” Lindsay said after the ceremony. “Clay is part of our family here. It takes a special person to be able to balance work time and military time and excel at both.”
Lindsay and Stephanie Edgecombe, the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium events coordinator, were invited to attend an event on the base later in the year as special guests. They also received a statement of Support for the Guard and Reserve plaque, which was framed and presented after the ceremony. Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant are units of the Office of Public Service and Outreach at the University of Georgia.