Battle Creek VA Police Officer Receives Patriot Award

“I was excited and also very appreciative as I wasn’t familiar with the award, even throughout my time in the National Guard,” said Trouten. “It was all unbeknownst to me that a fellow officer had taken the time and effort to submit me for this award which helped make it a surprise as well.”

Major Trouten, an Operations Officer for Battle Creek VA Police, was nominated by fellow VA Senior Police Officer Jacob Ladouce, who still serves with the Michigan Army National Guard Reserve force.

“I submitted Major Trouten for the award due to him being directly responsible for planning and creating the work schedule for my department,” said Ladouce. “He is always quick to adjust and ensure I’m able to attend scheduled training, as well as last minute taskings. For example, I was given three days’ notice to report to my unit to conduct training for a foreign partner force and then had to call Trouten after hours due to the urgency of the mission; he responded immediately and was able to adjust the schedule so I could support the mission without creating extra overtime or hardship for my coworkers.”

The Patriot Award is given out by the ESGR, which is a part of the Department of Defense. The ESGR was established to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve Component Service members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee's military commitment. The award recognizes supervisors for providing support to service a member and his or her family through a wide range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families and granting leaves of absence if needed. 

“This is also important to a lot of us who are VA staff as we serve the Veteran population, and yet at the same time, are also supporting folks who are still spending time and making sacrifices for our military today,” said Trouten.

According to the ESGR website, an employee serving in the National Guard or Reserve, or the spouse of a Guard or Reserve member, may nominate individual supervisors and bosses for support provided directly to the nominating service member and his or her family.

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center has 23 personnel in its police department. With a team that size, they must provide security through three shifts each day, including weekends. This can impact operations should any of them who serve in a military reserve component or National Guard status if they have drill weekends or are activated in a military operation. Additionally, it makes it challenging for others to take earned leave or account for team members who need sick leave.

“For me, this serves as some validation that we have a police agency here that can look out and cover down for each other when, and if, one of our team members has a drill weekend, or when they become activated with orders to deploy,” said Trouten. “It’s also a good reminder that this award represents not just a commitment from me to support those team members and their families, but that our entire team that exercises flexibility with their schedules and continue supporting our mission if our staffing levels have to change with very little notice.”

Anyone who is currently serving in a military reserve component or National Guard unit and would like to learn how to submit their supervisor for the ESGR Service Member Patriot Award can visit the following link here. Once on the site, you also have the option to navigate to a specific region or state by selecting from the ‘STATE PAGES’ button located on the right side of the site. 

While some Reservists and Guardsmen may have an opportunity to nominate their supervisor at an ESGR briefing, the best way to nominate is online. The average turnaround time for the Patriot Award to reach the address provided is 45 days from the date of submission.