Oklahoma Guard Recognizes Active Duty Military Service by OKDHS Staff

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- The Oklahoma Army National Guard will present the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) with an American flag at 9:30 a.m., Jan. 27 at the Oklahoma Commission on Human Services meeting, room C-48, Sequoyah State Office Building.
The flag being presented flew over Camp Bucca, Iraq, on July 4, 2008, to memorialize the agency’s contribution to the National Guard. Staff Sgt. Sean Gilpin, a senior agent with OKDHS Office of Inspector General, said this presentation is an opportunity to thank OKDHS for being supportive of him during his transition from active duty. Gilpin, who recently returned from Iraq, is representative of more than 100 men and women working for OKDHS who have been called to active duty since Iraqi Freedom began nearly 6 years ago.

Gilpin has been with OKDHS for more than 15 years and has served the agency in a variety of capacities. Gilpin was on active duty from May 2007 through Nov. 2008.

Director Howard Hendrick said, “I believe that we have a moral duty to support the men and women who put themselves in harms way to protect the freedoms that we have come to enjoy in this country.”

In addition to this presentation, OKDHS has been recognized in the past 5 years with the Seven Seals Award by the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

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