ARMED forces reservists in the workplace can make businesses stronger in the long term, an outgoing official in charge of a special reservists support body has said.

Gerry Blythe, who heads up SaBRE, the Ministry of Defence’s representative to employers, is stepping down in April, bringing an end to an association with the armed forces that began more than 40 years ago.

Mr Blythe, originally from Yorkshire but who has spent four decades in Wales, is retiring – and he claims that employees return to the workforce more committed and better equipped after service.

SaBRE was formed in 2002 when it became apparent that reservists were going to be involved in overseas conflicts, starting with the Bosnian campaign.

Mr Blythe explained: “It then became increasingly more important that employers were made aware of the fact that they were employing reservists and what benefits reservists could bring to the workplace in terms of transferable skills.

“This meant persuading employers to be as flexible as possible in allowing their reservists time off for routine training and, should the need arise, for mobilisation.

“Seven years on, SaBRE has mobilised 20,000 reservists for service overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand we support the reservists, making sure they understand their rights and obligations, particularly their obligations to their employers, and also to let them know that at no stage will they be disadvantaged should they be mobilised for service overseas.”

The SaBRE campaign has seen 81% of employers in Wales sign declarations of support. That is 20% more than any other UK nation or region.

He said: “I put it down to the fact that in Wales we have always supported each other and the majority of employers are supporting those employees who are members of the reserve services.

“The fact that they are not 100% is misleading because we are always in a state of flux with a 33% average turnover in the reserve forces every year. Consequently we always have new employers to contact.”

Against the backdrop of the Afghan war, his role is to contact employers and gain support for the reservists they employ.

He also has the task of taking Ministry of Defence (MoD) messages out to the employer community both in the private and public sector.

He said: “I have to say we get an extremely good support from the Welsh Assembly Government, which has been supportive throughout and encouraged public bodies to follow its lead.

“The SaBRE campaign tries to keep the employer community informed by releasing three to four briefings each year just to keep them up to date with the benefits reservists are bringing back to the workplace.”

He went on: “In terms of hard skills, all reservists become much more aware of health and safety since all are trained to become lifesavers and many are trained in driving techniques.

“In terms of soft skills, leadership comes at the top followed by commitment, because servicemen are totally dependent on each other. Many employers have said to me about mobilisation: ‘I gave you a boy and you gave me back a man’.

“They notice the commitment in the workplace and the confidence and commitment reservists bring back.”

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