Jonny was four months into his new job within the internal audit department at CHS when he learned he would be deploying to Osan Air Base in South Korea.
A deployment is always stressful, but add into that mix a new job, and the timing was even tougher. As a member of the 148th Fighter Wing at the Air National Guard Base out of Duluth, Minn., Jonny had known deployments were always an option, and he had let his manager know that when he accepted the job. With only two months until his deployment, he sat down to talk to his manager.
“I was concerned,” Jonny says. “I’d only been at CHS for four months. But both Mike and Jack were extremely supportive. They said, ‘Your job will be here when you get back.’”
Through the CHS Military Leave Policy, Jonny was surprised to learn that he would even be able to deploy without a negative impact to his income. CHS made up the difference between Jonny’s National Guard salary and his CHS salary to make sure his family needs were covered while he was overseas.
While Jonny was deployed a senior position came open within the internal audit team. He had been keeping in touch with his manager while he was deployed and expressed interest in the position. Jonny interviewed once he came back and was hired for the new position.
Jonny was so grateful for how CHS handled his deployment that he recommended CHS to receive the Employer Support of the Guard and the Reserve Patriot Award in 2017.
“I think CHS is a fantastic company,” Jonny says. “My manager always did the right thing and took great care of his employees. It was much easier for me to deploy here than at any other time in my life.”
This was Jonny’s third deployment. He has been part of the Air National Guard since he graduated high school and is the third generation in his family to join. His dad was a pilot and his grandfather was a navigator. Jonny is an aircraft mechanic who works on F-16s.
