Courtesy Photo | Master Sgt. Ken Baer prepares his video equipment before conducting an interview...... read more read more
By the North Dakota National Guard Public Affairs Office
BISMARCK, N.D. - A North Dakota Army National Guard Soldier participated in the inauguration of the nation's 44th president in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20.
Master Sgt. Ken Baer, of Garrison, N.D., worked for the Public Affairs Office – Visual Information branch of the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee by documenting the military support provided to the inaugural parade with photographic images and video.
AFIC is a joint service committee comprised of all branches of the military including National Guard and Reserve. Their mission is to coordinate military ceremonial participation and support of inaugural events including color guards and marching bands. Nearly 700 service members were assigned to AFIC during the presidential inauguration this year.
Baer, who works as a public affairs specialist as a traditional Guardsmen, was chosen to support AFIC from Jan. 3 to Jan. 24 after applying for the duty through the guard knowledge online web site. He has long worked in the Army public affairs arena including a 2006-2007 mobilization to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility with the North Dakota National Guard's 129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
In Washington, D.C., Baer was in charge of coordinating and scheduling engagements for a photographer and videographer who worked under him.
"My job was to ensure everything was taken care of prior to the inauguration so the other two members of my team could complete their assignments," he said. "We spent hours preparing in an effort to eliminate any possible glitches."
On inauguration day, the team documented all military participation in the equestrian portion of the inaugural parade. Baer and his team began work at 2:00 a.m. to take photos of the staging area where military personnel loaded trailers and saddled horses. Although the parade wasn't scheduled to start until 3:00 p.m., early divisions of the parade were at their staging areas by 9:30 a.m.
"On a normal day, the early staging wouldn't have been an issue, but the outside temps on inauguration day were in the upper 20s with gusty winds," Baer said. "It was extremely hard on many of the marching bands performing in the parade. Their uniforms are not designed for cold weather."
In addition to documenting the equestrian activities involved in the inaugural parade, Baer was also assigned to videotape the entire parade route during an inauguration rehearsal. The video of the parade route was used by AFIC and the Presidential Inaugural Committee to identify any areas that might cause problems during the event and to complete planning on the parade. In order to cover the route, Baer found a ride in the side car of a Metropolitan Police Department motorcycle.
"Like my kids would say, the entire event was 'way cool,'" he said. "Though we had heard constantly before inauguration day that the crowds were going to be large, it was still a shock to see the streets completely full of people trying to get onto the National Mall."
| Date Taken: | 01.20.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2009 15:11 |
| Story ID: | 29472 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 143 |
| Downloads: | 103 |
This work, North Dakota Army Guard Soldier Participates in Presidential Inauguration, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
