Photo By Senior Airman Junhao Yu | Master Sgt. Kerri Spero, the 102nd Public Affairs Office non-commissioned officer in...... read more read more
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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s true, then how many words are there in a photo story? Or a video interview?
This is the story of Public Affairs.
Public Affairs can be broken down into several areas that define the primary ways that they contribute to the Air Force mission. The first is providing trusted counsel to leadership. PA maintains an awareness of activities by the organization and applies a perspective of the general public in order to advise leaders in making and communicating decisions that affect mission accomplishment.
Airman morale and readiness, another core competency, is achieved by providing the tools and platforms for leadership and the force, to conduct efficient and effective two-way communication, through command messaging and staying aware of the pulse of the organization. Keeping our Airmen well-informed ensures these professionals always have the most accurate and relevant information – increasing their effectiveness as ambassadors of the wing and the Air Force.
Public trust and support of any organization is critical to success. One of Public Affairs’ most important tenets is to strengthen bonds with the public through open and honest dialogue – achieved by the stories that we tell, as well as the many public appearances by our wing’s Airmen. This allows our neighbors in the local community to learn about the quality and capabilities of our Airmen, the critical missions they conduct and the important contributions made to the commonwealth and the Nation.
So how does Public Affairs accomplish all of this?
The most easily recognizable method are the stories, photographs and videos that Public Affairs publishes on a regular basis. They not only tell the story of the wing and the Air National Guard as a whole, but they also tell the tale of the professional Airman, serving the Nation and accomplishing great things, without whom, there wouldn’t be a story to tell.
Capt. Bonnie Blakely, 102nd Chief of Public Affairs, spoke of an experience she had while deployed last year, “Probably the most satisfying moment of my career was when I had the opportunity to write an article on a father and son who were deployed together. They were both on a six-month deployment with the 104th Fighter Wing as part of a Theater Security Package to Europe, and I was able to meet up with the deployed group in the Netherlands.”
Blakely continued, “I interviewed both the father and son and was able to write a really touching article about their relationship and time serving together while still highlighting important aspects of the 104FW mission. I love writing human interest stories that find ways to personalize the various ANG missions.”
Master Sgt. Kerri Spero, Public Affairs Superintendent, looked back at her deployment in 2016 by saying, “The day I reported for my deployment to Joint Task Force-Bravo, Honduras in 2016 was the same day Hurricane Matthew destroyed part of the Caribbean and Haiti. JTF-B responded quickly with aid and I was there to capture relief efforts. My imagery was one of the first to hit the web, and was used in damage assessment, DoD and national news networks like CNN and Fox News. Highlighting the mission of JTF-Bravo at that level was exciting and gratifying.”
Speaking of one of his more recent stories, Broadcast Journalist Staff Sgt. Thomas Swanson said, “The most satisfying moment was when a story I wrote about the 102nd Civil Engineers, working to recover Joint Base Cape Cod after a series of winter storms, was picked up at the national level by NGB. I was happy to help shine a light on all the hard work they did.”
For each public affairs specialist, photojournalist or broadcast journalist, the path to PA is unique, but all share a passion for creativity and storytelling.
“I have been interested in photography since high school, which was around the time I bought my first camera.” said Airman 1st Class Junhao Yu, photojournalist. “My first real photojournalism job was during my sophomore year of college – I worked for the school newspaper. Now I work as a photojournalist for the 102nd IW going into my third year of enlistment.”
Yu went on to say, “I love photography because I think, if composed properly, every frame can tell a story; with it, every story teaches a small lesson about life.”
Those in Public Affairs like to think of the career-field as one of the Air Force’s best kept secrets. Many Airmen don’t realize there is a job like this in the Air Force.
As one who cross-trained into the field, Sgt. Swanson offered, “I would highly encourage anyone to look into it if they’re interested. You get to see everything that’s happening at your unit, and it’s a lot of fun.” He went on to say, “I first got into this career field because I love to write and I’ve always enjoyed photography.”
Perhaps Sgt. Swanson said it best by saying, “I think I have the best job in the military”. That seems to be the consensus in the 102nd Intelligence Wing Public Affairs Office.
Sgt. Spero expanded on Swanson’s thoughts, “It’s the best job in the Air Force. We get to be a part of each mission by telling the story of what every career field does. That gives us a good perspective of how we all fit into the bigger picture. Being in PA enables people with a passion for communication to make a career out of telling Airmen’s stories.”
As Capt. Blakely, the newest member of the team said, “We have a fantastic PA team at the 102nd! Everyone is excited to tell the 102IW story and is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to reach our audiences. We look forward to having new Airmen join our team!”
Perhaps a photograph is worth a thousand words – only the one viewing it can know for sure. One thing is for certain though – this article is precisely a thousand words so apparently a photograph can tell a story too.
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2018 06:54 |
| Story ID: | 280117 |
| Location: | MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Telling the 102nd Intelligence Wing’s Story, by Timothy Sandland, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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