Rhinelander, Wis. - July 29, 2010 -- The Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest (CNNF) was recognized by the Department of Defense for supporting its National Guard and Reserve employees.  During the July 29 informal award presentation held in the CNNF’s Supervisor’s Office in Rhinelander.  Donald Hoppe, Administrate Officer, received the Patriot Award on behalf of the Forest. The Patriot Award is DOD’s salute to employers that demonstrate extraordinary support of their employees serving in the National Guard and Reserve.
John Sweeney, area representative for the Wisconsin Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, presented the award. This 4,500-member committee is a nationwide volunteer organization supporting service members and their employers. Its primary goal is education and relationship building among service members, their employers and the Department of Defense.

Retired Maj. Jason Maloney, Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center Director and former Wisconsin Army National Guardsman and Reservist, nominated the CNNF and Hoppe for the award. “They did not just follow the letter of a law; they followed the spirit of the law,” Maloney said in an email message. “They did it because they felt it was the right thing to do. Not only has this agency been responsive and flexible so that I could perform duty, it also has gone above and beyond in its support of me.”

The former armor branch officer said Forest Service employees kept in touch with him via email, letters and telephone calls during his two-year deployment to the Middle East, Europe and the United States. After completing his deployment in 2006, Maloney returned to the Forest Service and to a promotion as the Blackwell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center Director. He left the Forest Service in 2008 to earn his master’s degree. When he reapplied and was selected in 2009 for his current position at the Visitors’ Center, the hiring officials knew Maloney was still in the Reserve and was also a disabled veteran.

“My supervisor, Don Hoppe, told me from day one that he supported my service,” Maloney said. “I am certain that if we have an emergency and I am called to active duty as a retired reservist, my forest and my supervisor, Don Hoppe, would continue to support this reservist.”

“Jason is very appreciative of the work the Forest Service has done in supporting our troops who have been deployed,” Sweeney said. “Don Hoppe in Rhinelander and the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest are the epitome of the high level of support that our troops need and deserve.”

“The agency respects service members. They are great employees’” Hoppe said adding, service members fit in well with the Forest Service workforce and are “very mature” employees. “They just add to our whole organization,” he continued. “We are very proud to have service men and women in the U.S. Forest Service.”