Col. Mike Peck, USA (Ret), has been a member of the Illinois Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve for 48 years while helping push through legislation to create the state's version of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

The military draft ended in 1973, and since then, everything has fallen on the Guard and Reserve, said Peck, a past president of MOAA's North Shore and Chicago Chapter.

One of the biggest shifts was Desert Storm, the first major recall of the Guard and Reserve.

"In that time period, people were not knowledgeable about USERRA," he said. "Our mission then was to talk to employers and explain to them their responsibility, but then we also had to do the briefing for the soldiers."
USERRA protects the civilian employment for Guard and Reserve members when they're called to active duty, but servicemembers also need to keep employers aware of their military obligations.

Peck's passion for helping Guard and Reserve members started from his own experience when he was commander of an Illinois National Guard artillery battery while also being a member of a police department.

With only 15 police officers, the department didn't want Peck being in the Guard and Reserve, but he got the city council to sign a statement of support. However, the council added a line that it didn't apply to police officers or firefighters.

"That's why I enjoy going out to the employers and signing statements of support," he said.

One of his favorite parts of the job is "being able to go to the Reserve centers and talk on family day and let them know there are agencies in your community that are there to help you."

In Illinois, when a guardmember or reservist is put on active duty, the family can go to the county's Veterans Assistance Commission and get financial assistance, which not everyone knows about.