June 10, 2024
Reflexive Concepts was honored to attend the 2024 Navy Employer Recognition Event (NERE) in San Diego this past June. NERE is an annual recognition event for outstanding civilian employers who have demonstrated exceptional support to their citizen-Sailor employees, above and beyond the requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. NERE provides selected civilian employers of Navy Reserve Sailors with a first-hand look at the capabilities, roles, and missions of the U.S. Navy Reserve. One of Reflexive's engineers, Derek Freeman, nominated the RC team for the support provided to him during his current mobilization with the Navy Reserve; we couldn't be more grateful for Derek and his continued service.
Read below for a breakdown of NERE from Mike Wade (Portfolio Lead on the RC team) who attended the incredible event on Reflexive's behalf!
"After some introductory words delivered by Admiral John Mustin (who recently had a warship named after him, the USS Mustin), each company was called one by one to accept their award. This was a very rewarding experience. The award was presented by Admiral Mustin himself, along with the commander of the USS Tripoli, Captain Gary Harrington. After receiving the award, we broke off into tour groups to take an up-close and personal trip around the warship.
After touring Tripoli, we made our way to the north side of Coronado beach, where the Marine Mammal program was stationed. Here, we received live demonstrations of how gifted dolphins and seals were trained to plant and remove demolition devices from boats and submarines. One of the coolest things about this part of the trip was how they trained their seals to salute the soldiers.
We were allowed a tour of the air strip, in which we got to view and board many of the active aircraft that the Navy uses on real missions. This included boardings of chopper gunners, an AC-130, fighter jets, bombers, and other very cool types of air vehicles. We also got to shake hands and converse with the crews that manned these craft.
All in all, this event was a very rewarding experience; filled with fun excursions, once in a lifetime interactions, and many memories made. Each speaker and military representative at the event did a great job expressing their sincere gratitude toward employers who provide exemplary service to their Reservists. This event made me reflect on just how important our Reservists, such as Derek, are to the sovereignty of the United States. I'm proud that Reflexive employs and supports service members such as Derek to crush it both on contract as a software engineer, and also out on the global theatre when duty calls."
