TIMES UNION REPORTS – For his support of one of his team member’s service in the Indiana Army National Guard, Zimmer Biomet engineer manager Matt Harmeyer was surprised Wednesday with the Patriot Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).
Harmeyer was nominated for the award by Chaplain Richard A. Wolfe Jr., who has served in the National Guard for 10.5 years. Prior to serving in the National Guard, Wolfe served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
“I’m shocked. I’m very happy, very humbled,” said Harmeyer after the brief award presentation Wednesday at Zimmer Biomet building A. “Richard is a great team member. Despite the fact that he’s been deployed, he still continues to jump in and help out whenever he has time. An exemplary employee. Honestly, this is more about him than me. He’s a great person for being in the National Guard, being a chaplain. He’s also a great employee here at ZB. So I want to thank Richard mostly, he’s a great person.”
Harmeyer said he was “completely surprised” by the award. “When I heard him say my name, I about fell over backwards.”
Jim Waldrop, chair of the Veterans Resource Group for Zimmer Biomet, began the award ceremony by introducing Jerry Hogan, the vice chair of Area 2 for ESGR. ESGR is a Department of Defense program established in 1972, Waldrop said. It’s in cooperation and understanding between the Reserve component services and employers to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee’s military component.
“What’s neat about Zimmer Biomet is we enjoy bringing the skill sets that come with our veterans we hire here and across the country,” Waldrop said.
ESGR is supported by a network of about 3,300 volunteers and is located in 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories and islands. Volunteers work to promote and enhance employer support for military service in the Guard and Reserve, Waldrop said.
“We can’t do our job in America and across the globe without our National Guard and Reserve forces,” he said.
There are a number of awards ESGR gives out annually, Waldrop said. The one presented Wednesday to Harmeyer is the Patriot Award. “So an employee, serving in the National Guard or Reserve, or the spouse of a Guard or Reserve member, may nominate an individual – supervisor, boss – for support provided directly to that nominating service member and his or her family,” he said. “So the Patriot Award reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide range of measures, including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for their families while they’re deployed and granting leaves of absence if needed.”
Patriot Awards are awarded to individual supervisors, not to the entire staff or organization as a whole, Waldrop said.
Hogan, a former Zimmer employee and the father of a Zimmer Biomet employee, first talked about Wolfe, who nominated Harmeyer for the award.
“The reason I’m going to read a little bit of his biography is, very often, when we have fellow employees who are in a Reserve unit, we don’t really get much of a glimpse of what they’re going through. And the Reserve units today in the United States serve something like 30% of the entire Department of Defense mission. So they’re extremely important, and without them, the Department of Defense would not be able to do its job,” Hogan said.
From 2003-09, Wolfe served as a radio operator for the Detachment 1 Communications Company at Grissom Air Force Base, Peru, Ind. In 2005, the Company was called to active duty and deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom III. Wolfe was attached to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion while serving his tour from August 2005 to March 2006 in country.
After an honorable discharge in 2010 from the Marines, Wolfe began seminary classes at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary toward the Army chaplaincy. In 2011, Wolfe was commissioned as a chaplain candidate and began his service in the Indiana Army National Guard, serving under Joint Force Headquarters, Indianapolis.
In January 2017, Wolfe was endorsed by the Bible Churches Chaplaincy and commissioned as an Army chaplain. He now serves as the Battalion chaplain for the 38th DHHB headquartered in Indianapolis.
Wolfe was deployed in 2019-20 with the 38th to Camp Arijan Kuwait in service to Operation Spartan Shield. He also was called up in January 2021 for the FEMA COVID Response for the state of Indiana to provide continued chaplain support.
“Now what a lot of people don’t realize is that when people like Chaplain Wolfe leave their job, the entire company from which they come is affected because his job still has to be done. So when he is deployed, we are all deployed, in a way,” Hogan said. “And so I want to thank you for the support you’re giving to him to serve our country and our defense. It’s very much appreciated.”
Hogan then read part of a letter from the state chair of the ESGR. The letter thanked Harmeyer for helping members of the Guard and Reserve maintain their commitment to the state and nation, although Hogan didn’t announce who the letter was addressed to until he finished reading it.
“We recognize that you’ve invested in America’s defense by supporting Richard Wolfe, who serves in the Army National Guard,” Hogan said, reading the letter. “As an employer, your active support and encouragement are vital to enabling your employees who are members of the National Guard and Reserve to serve our country. We are confident that you benefit from the leadership skills that Richard brings to your organization.”
As the certificate demonstrates, he said, the Department of Defense “recognizes Zimmer Biomet Inc. as a patriotic employer.”
Hogan then announced the letter was addressed to Harmeyer, “who is receiving this Patriot Award today.”
In recognition of the award, what Wolfe said of Harmeyer was, “Matt has shown nothing but support with regards to my military committents. He has shown both appreciation and dedication to my mission by providing encouragement and flexibility with last-minute notifications. His support continues to be a proven leadership attribute which demonstrates a deep sense of patriotism and devotion to this country and all of those who serve in uniform.”
Wolfe thanked everyone at Zimmer Biomet for the opportunities and abilities he’s been able to exercise and be promoted to do at ZB. He then specifically thanked Harmeyer and read the certificate he presented to him.
The award says, “The Office of the Secretary of Defense, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, recognizes Matthew Harmeyer, Zimmer Biomet Inc., as a patriotic employer for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.”
The ceremony concluded with Ken Tripp, Zimmer Biomet senior vice president of operations, signing the statement of support for the Guard and the Reserve.
