{"id":417481,"date":"2025-04-18T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=417481"},"modified":"2025-04-18T14:58:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T14:58:30","slug":"va-doctor-receives-patriot-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=417481","title":{"rendered":"VA doctor receives Patriot Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Christine Going, senior advisor for the Veterans Health Administration\u2019s Food Security Office, received the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Patriot Award for her support of Jason M. Melton, executive officer for the VHA Food Security Office and senior master sergeant in the Air National Guard. Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Larry Gillespie, District of Columbia chair representative for ESGR, presented the award March 12 at the VA Central Office in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to support Jason and the National Guard and Reserve members,\u201d said Going. \u201cTheir sacrifices deserve our full backing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly half U.S. military is Guard and Reserve<\/h2>\n
\n
<\/a>
Dr. Christine Going and her husband, Ken Going, pose with other Employee Support for Guard and Reserve Patriot Award recipients.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Melton is a member of the District of Columbia Air National Guard and a Veteran serving in VHA\u2019s Food Security Office. Nearly half of the U.S. military is comprised of the Guard and Reserve. The Department of Defense shares these citizen-warriors with their civilian employers, many of whom provide significant support to their employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve.<\/p>\n

The ESGR Patriot Award recognizes employers who provide flexible schedules, time off for deployment and family care for service members.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot once did she or the Food Security Office team push back on my requests for military leave,\u201d Melton said. He thanked Going for her support, especially during his extended period of National Guard duty.<\/p>\n

In another show of support for his service, Going and her husband, Ken, traveled from their home in Rhode Island to attend Melton\u2019s military promotion to senior master sergeant, where they met his commanders and fellow Guardsmen. \u201cI couldn\u2019t ask for a supervisor who is more supportive of my military service\u201d Melton said.<\/p>\n

Praising commitment<\/h2>\n

Dr. Steven Lieberman, acting VA under secretary for health, attended the award ceremony and praised Going\u2019s commitment and its impact on both service members and civilian leaders. \u201cIn honoring her, we recognize a collective effort to uphold the values of service and sacrifice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In gratitude of Going\u2019s exceptional support for Melton, the District of Columbia ESGR invited her and Ken to participate in the Employer\u2019s Bosslift program Feb. 20, 2025. They flew aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 459th Air Refueling Wing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and observed in-flight refueling operations, including the refueling of F-16 Fighting Falcons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to this program, I was provided the opportunity to see first-hand the critical operations our military undertakes,\u201d Going said. \u201cThis experience has deepened my appreciation for the dedication and skill of our service members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nominations for the 2025 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award<\/a> have opened for service members looking to recognize supportive supervisors like Going, who exemplify dedication to those who serve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Christine Going, senior advisor for the Veterans Health Administration\u2019s Food Security Office, received the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Patriot Award for her support of Jason M. Melton, executive officer for the VHA Food Security Office and senior master sergeant in the Air National Guard. Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Larry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":417483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1521],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-417481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-patriot-award"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=417481"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417487,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417481\/revisions\/417487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/417483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=417481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=417481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=417481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}