The Department of Defense is recognizing 15 employers for their support of employees who are serving in the National Guard and Reserve.

The Department of Defense honored the following companies with the 2007 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award:

• Augustine and Sons, Inc. (Rose Hill, Iowa)
• Con-way, Inc. (San Mateo, California)
• Creative Healthcare Solutions (Scottsdale, Arizona)
• Custom Hardware Engineering, Inc. (Fenton, Missouri)
• Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
• Gantt Excavating & Construction (Martinsburg, West Virginia)
• General Motors Corporation (Detroit)
• New Hampshire State Police
• Nucor Corporation (Charlotte, North Carolina)
• Sierra Pacific Resources (Las Vegas)
• Sodexho USA (Gaithersburg, Maryland)
• State of Tennessee
• Turbocam (Dover, New Hampshire)
• Ultra Machining Company (Monticello, Minnesota)
• Wilmington VA Medical Center (Wilmington, Delaware)

The Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award is the highest in a series of the department's employer awards, which also include the Patriot Award, the ESGR Above and Beyond Award, and the Pro Patria Award.

The award recognizes employers representing three categories, big business, small business, and the public sector. The companies were nominated by their National Guard and Reserve service-member employees. .The award will be presented to the organizations during a formal ceremony on Thursday, September 12, 2007.

Previous recipients of the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award include Starbucks Corporation, American Express, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, The Home Depot, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts , the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas , the state of Vermont, Strategic Solutions Incorporated, Sprint Corporation, and the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.