June 26, 2012 —Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon has been recognized as a patriotic employer.

David Woginrich, a Lassen County sheriff deputy and a tech sergeant in the Air National Guard, nominated his boss for the award.

Woginrich has served in the Air Force for 13 years and enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2007.

He is part of the 152nd Security Forces Squadron in Reno, Nev.

Prior to enlisting in the national guard, Woginrich said he talked to Growdon, who was the commander at the time.

“And he believed it would be an honorable thing to do and I enlisted. And when I did, I got great support,” Woginrich said.

Being in the national guard means time away from his job at the sheriff’s office, but Woginrich said Growdon works around his schedule.

He spends one weekend each month and two weeks out of the year in Reno for training. In March, he went to New Jersey for two weeks and was out of the office for eight months when he was activated and sent to Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Mark Hall, commander of the 152nd squadron, presented Growdon with an award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve during a Tuesday, June 19 meeting of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors.

Woginrich also read part of the award, which says, “From day one of my enlistment into the Air National Guard, Sheriff Growdon has been very supportive.

He has sought after my training and experience in the Air National Guard to be applied to the law enforcement field. Neither he or anyone in his administration staff have exhibited any negative feelings about my deployments or drill weekends.

Sheriff Growdon has been very flexible in allowing me to switch around my work schedule so I can attend drill weekends and the two-week annual trainings.

This has been very difficult due to short staff and budget constraints.

I really appreciate everything he has done to support me throughout my enlistment.

I know it’s very difficult as a sheriff to allow someone to change up their schedule because it puts that much more strain on the other employees to cover my shifts. I believe he deserves more than just the award that he is getting today.”

Woginrich said he takes great pride in both uniforms he wears.

“And I think it’s necessary that I have to come to you guys and tell you how appreciative I am of sheriff Growdon and his staff for giving me support,” he said.

Before presenting Growdon with the award, Hall said he knows it is extremely difficult for employers to get a phone call that says, “hey, I need your guy for two weeks. Or for Woginrich to walk up to his boss and say, ‘hey sheriff, can I go for two weeks, can I go for a month? I’ve been mobilized, can I go for half a year, can I go for a year?’

“I know we put employers through a lot. However, there has never been a time where an employer hasn’t come through for our military members,” Hall said.

Board chairman Brian Dahle also took the opportunity to recognize the county employees who also serve in the military.

He said, “It’s what makes America great. You defend us, you take care of us and it’s our obligation to make sure that you get to where you need to go to take care of us and I appreciatethat.”

And to Growdon, Dahle said, “Thank you for carrying on that message.”

Of Woginrich, Growdon said,“He’s a great solider, a great deputy sheriff and I’m honored to have been nominated by him.”