Albuquerque employee recognized for supporting National Guard 

Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department Director Carolyn Ortega recently received a surprise at the Eastside Shelter.

On Jan. 6, Ortega was presented with the Service Member Patriot Award, which is given to a supervisor who has gone above and beyond in supporting an employee serving in the National Guard or Reserve. 

Ernest Solis, Animal Welfare Department maintenance coordinator and U.S. Army National Guard sergeant, nominated Ortega for the honor.

"(The National Guard) is near and dear to my heart, especially Ernest," she said. "... We appreciate him. We respect him. ... (And the fact) he appreciates that I support him really makes my heart feel (good)."

The Patriot Award "reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors 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," according to the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) website.

"When you have a reservist or a National Guard(sman) in your family, you worry, and every time they're deployed, you worry," Ortega said. "... That's the thing that happens when you have one that works for you. You want to make sure that they're safe and that they don't worry about their job while they're gone. That should be the least of their worries."

Ortega said Solis, who has about a year left on his deployment at an undisclosed location, has gone on three separate deployments during his time with the city.

"Our HR team always make sure that, because they are called out pretty abruptly, all of his paperwork (is) on time so that we wouldn't have any issues," she said. "(The deployment) doesn't just impact the employee ... it impacts his team and his team just absolutely has stepped up.

"They keep us posted. They stay in communication as much as they can with him. They want to make sure that there's no stress and no pressure, that they've gotten everything done so that he can come back and just step right in and (be) business as usual."

Along with receiving a certificate and lapel pin, Ortega was told that as an award winner, she will be able to fly inside a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at the end of February.

"I (never) thought to put (that) on a bucket list," she said.

"You can put it on now because you're going to be invited," Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve volunteer Denis Porter said.

"Oh my God," Ortega said. "Thank you."

Gregory R.C. Hasman is a general assignment reporter and the Road Warrior. He can be reached at ghasman@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3820.