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The U.S. Department of Defense recently bestowed an Above and Beyond Award to BNSF Railway Co. for supporting employees who are deployed for military service.

The department recognized the Class I with the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve (ESGR) honor in Missouri for its supportive policies involving workers who serve in the guard or reserves.

Presented by ESGR state committees, the Above and Beyond Award recognizes employers that go "above and beyond" the legal requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The award was created by ESGR to publicly recognize companies' "extraordinary support and cooperation to their employees," according to an item posted on the "BNSF News" web page.

Brian Twitchel, a BNSF signal maintainer and retired sergeant from the Missouri Army National Guard, nominated the Class I for the award, in part because the railroad bridges pay for employees with military duties and provides them a job after deployment.

"I have been deployed more than six times: Iraq two times, hurricanes Gustav and Katrina, the Joplin tornado and St. Louis flooding. The company has gone above and beyond to make sure our wages are matched to make up the difference so that my family and other families don't have to change how they live," said Twitchel in the news item.