The men and women of the National Guard and Reserves: when the state or federal government calls these folks to duty, business must somehow carry on.

• Author: Campbell, Melissa

Bill Hartley has a handful of employees who have two jobs: They work for Hartley, who is the director of emergency services at Alaska Regional Hospital, and they are enlisted in the National Guard.

Hartley knows that he could get a call from one of these employees at any time to say, "I got orders. I don't know when I'll be back to work."

"My first reaction is selfish," Hartley said. "You have to hustle to figure out how to fill that void; find temporary help. That may mean having to pay to have someone come up here. I hate to lose these guys. But if you've got to lose them, what better thing is there to lose them to?"

More than 5,000 Alaskans are enlisted in the various branches of the National Guard and Reserve services. As of late January, 46 Alaska National Guardsmen had been called to active duty. More may follow.

Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage has about 75 employees in the Guard.

Keeping jobs open can sometimes be hard on the employer, but they must. Federal law states that employers must retain the jobs of guardsmen while they are serving on active duty. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act says that employers must hold that position for up to five years from the date of activation. Guardsmen, while away, will continue to build seniority, vacation time and most other benefits. If they would have gotten a raise or promotion if they had been there, they should get it when they return.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, some 700 Alaska Guard and Reservists were called to active duty in the following months, said Alaska National Guard Spokesman Maj. Mike Haller. They guarded the state's airports. They served in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Turkey, among other nations.

The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve offices were developed to help serve as sort of a ombudsman to help elevate the understanding and the roles of responsibilities between employers and employees/guardsmen, said C.W. Floyd, the Anchorage Regional Chairman for the ESGR.

Being on the employee's side isn't always easy either. Maj. Lexia Frasher is a trained nurse, and was a member of the Army Reserves during the first Gulf War. On Christmas Eve, 1990, she was called from her civilian job in a medical facility in Alabama to go to Saudi Arabia.

"Everybody at work knew I was in the Reserves," she said. "The Army was trying to teach us to keep everything ready, to make sure someone knows your job."

In the weeks before she left...