ELMIRA – On Friday, the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office received the 2023 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. This is the highest recognition given by the U.S. Government to employers for their support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve and was created to publicly recognize these employers.
According to Chemung County Sheriff William Schrom, the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office currently has six active National Guard and Reserve
soldiers working for the agency. Those are: Lieutenant Richard Mathews, Deputy John Burczynski, Deputy Conor Everett, Deputy Hunter Dart, Officer Bryce Akins and Officer Brandon Paul.
Schrom says the agency has supported personnel in fulfilling their military obligations, or even joining the military after they are hired, and serving their country.
“Employing active military of the National Guard and Reserve involves many special accommodations, including scheduling personnel, overtime, and unexpected deployments, which do occur and add stress on the employee, the rest of the agency, and sometimes impacts the budget,” said Schrom. “We believe that the agency’s support of the individuals does bring security to them while they serve in their military capacity.”
In addition to the current military members employed by the Sheriff’s Office, there are many retired military employed here including Sergeant Charles Kennedy, Sergeant Patrick Parks,
Investigator James Ritter, Deputy Jason Balmer, Deputy Joseph Parisi, Deputy Nikolas Cosmore, Officer Brandon Paul, Officer David Akins, Officer Donald Brant, Officer Matthew Field, Officer Daniel Mandell, Officer Sean Stevens, Officer William Washburn, Officer Roger Washburn, SRO Jeremy Oakes, SRO Kevin Rohan, SRO Matthew Saunders, SRO John Perrigo, Communications Operation David Sullivan and Communications Operator Sheri Allington.
“All of us at the Sheriff’s Office are proud of the men and women who have or continue to serve our country through the military,” added Schrom. “We are equally proud to have them as members of the agency.”
Photos courtesy of the Chemung County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page.