Supporting The Reserve Forces
July 2005
Senior executives and company directors from 35 companies across the South of England were guests last week of SaBRE (Supporting Brittan's Reservists and Employers) South East, In the presents of the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Mrs. Mary Fagan and Rear Admiral Mike Kimmons, Chief of staff, Second Sea Lord and Commander in Chief Naval Home Command, for a SaBRE Presentation evening and reception on board HMS Victory, the oldest commissioned warship in the world.
The evening was organized to thank employers for their support of the reserve forces (the Royal Naval Reserve, Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force), in particular during mobilization, and to present 20 SaBRE Certificates to Companies who had confirmed their support to the Ministry of Defense.
Rear Admiral welcomed the guests and said "We do not take the support that the employers have given to our Reservists for granted, we are enormously grateful." Over the last three years almost 100 reservists from the South East have been mobilized and integrated into our regular forces for a number of operations, many of which are still going on. In particular, Iraq, which has been the largest call up for reservists since the Korean War.
During the reception, employers were able to talk to members of the reserve Forces, many of whom had served on mobilisation service in Iraq.
Over 100 guests attended the evening and were given a guided tour of HMS victory. As the evening came to an end, the Waterloo band of the Royal Rifle Volunteers performed 'Sounding the Retreat'.
The MOD's SaBRE Campaign is designed to engage and educate employers of Reservists as to the benefits and their obligation associated with employing reservists and to encourage them to incorporate support for the reservists in their HR policies. For more information visit www.sabre.mod.uk or contact 01252 357624
