Thousands of feet in the air is a great place to learn what the Air National Guard – U.S. Air Force does.

But much of the 50-person crew of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III taking off from Stewart Air National Guard Base isn’t actually National Guard. Many of them work for town governments, consumer airlines, or even Best Buy.

Santos Lopes worked for Orange County Choppers, but now owns several businesses that employ veterans and guard members.

“When we hire reservists and guard members, I wanted to see what they do from the air side," he said. "I was invited. So I said, 'How do I say no?'”

The flight is known as “Bosslift," and it’s a chance to get employers involved so they know what it means when their full-time employee is a part-time National Guard member. 

“Wow, these people work for me and now these people have to go do this important military stuff," said New York State Director of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Emil Baker.

ESGR works with the National Guard to put events like Bosslift together.

"It's a very hard balance for the military folks. And now, all the employers who already support our military will understand a little better just how important and involved this work is," he said. 

As an employer, Lopez says he loves getting the unique experience while at the same time, learning what his employees do away from work.

“My perspective, we have several reservists and guard members that work for us, and I get to see what they do on their weekend and two weeks during the summer," he said. "It's important that they could support our country at the same time. And see what they could do from a guard side, or the reserve side. So it's very important for people to see that.”