Rotarians and guests include (left to right) Bob Keely, Rev. Bill Ellis, Mary Keely (Assistant District Governor), Larry J. McNeely (Chairman of the West Virginia Committee of the ESGR), and John W. Ash (ESGR Support Specialist).

"Every one of our military services has a reserve component," Larry J. McNeely told Putnam Rotarians today. "We need these citizen soldiers to ensure adequate defense.

"With guard deployments of up to a year and longer, employer support for reservists is difficult," he said.

The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve operates through some 4,200 volunteers with a committee for each state and territory.

McNeely, a Navy veteran of Vietnam, is the new Chairman of the West Virginia Committee.

"1.2 million Americans serve as reservists." he said, "and they make up 48 percent -- nearly half -- of our national defense force.

"We can't have a strong national defense without the national guard and reserve, and we can't have a strong national guard and reserve without the support of employers."

We are losing touch with our military experience, McNeely noted. In World War II, one American in fisteen had been in the military service. Today, that number has declined to one in 120. "Less than ten percent of business executives have been in military service."

Businesses are well served by employees with military experience, McNeely told the group. Training in the armed forces has become highly technical. "It's training in strategy, thinking and tactics. Training today includes teamwork, self-discipline, leadership, at no cost to the company. Employees are drug-free. They improve the profit margin because they are more productive."