Photo By Sgt. David Choi | Capt. Curtis R. Reese (center), a Sacramento native, conducts a mock interview with a...... read more read more
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MATHER, Calif. — Appearing before cameras and reporters can be an unnerving experience for some, and Soldiers are no exception. In an effort to better prepare Soldiers to tell the National Guard story in a time where information can be immediately distributed worldwide, several California National Guard units, having designated individual Soldiers to ensure their units are accepted and supported in the community, participated in the Unit Public Affairs Representative training conference at the Mather Field Armory in Mather, Calif., May 3.
"The purpose of the conference is to educate and inform the designated UPAR's of their basic rules and responsibilities," said Maj. Robert A. Stern, a public affairs officer at the Joint Force Headquarters in Sacramento.
Due to conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan along with natural disasters in California and other states, Soldiers from the California National Guard have not only appeared on the front lines, but also in the front page of newspapers and other media outlets.
After a unit indentifies a Soldier to become their UPAR, the Soldier, whether a veteran writer or someone who shows interest, learns and experiences the fundamentals of the public affairs arena.
"For many years, the UPAR's have received professional training from different public affairs specialists during the conference," Stern continued. "To train individual Soldiers as UPAR's, the units throughout the state helps support the California's National Guard public affairs mission and as a result, generates additional interests towards the National Guard such as promoting recruitment."
UPAR trainers with cameras and microphones conducted various mock interviews with the trainees to simulate real-world scenarios to give them experience with media interaction.
"Speaking in front of people and cameras was very beneficial to training for the representation of the California National Guard," said Spc. Miriam S. Garcia, an assistant administrator in logistics with the 223rd Infantry Regiment out of Camp San Luis Obispo. "The training very much helped with the process of trying to get unit exposure out there."
The training hones skills to not only speak on-camera, but to help them to publicize their individual units and the National Guard entity by explaining the process of creating stories and taking photos for any sort of publication without compromising professionalism.
Capt. Curtis R. Reese, commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 49th Military Police Brigade Rear Detachment, who participated in the conference explains, "In today's mass media environment, every Soldier becomes a unit public affairs representative and should partake in the class."
| Date Taken: | 05.03.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 05.03.2009 23:23 |
| Story ID: | 33140 |
| Location: | MATHER, US |
| Web Views: | 410 |
| Downloads: | 237 |
This work, California National Guard Unit Public Affairs Representatives tell the Soldier's Story, by SGT David Choi, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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