Photo By Senior Airman Kevin Dunkleberger | American Forces Network Incirlik celebrated its 67th anniversary of broadcasting...... read more read more
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey – As I depart my first duty station and look back on an assignment I initially dreaded, I am grateful for my experience at American Forces Network Incirlik.
Getting stationed at Incirlik Air Base (AB) Turkey felt more like a yearlong prison sentence than an assignment. Not only would I be away from my fiancé for a year but adding to the time spent in Basic Military Training (BMT) and Technical School, the first two years of my military career would be lived out of a suitcase. To say I was not particularly excited about the assignment, after listing assignment preferences of only stateside bases, is an understatement.
To add to the feelings of resentment, I had just spent eight months learning my trade as a Public Affairs specialist and nowhere in the course did it cover radio broadcasting for American Forces Network (AFN). I felt like I was going-in blind to a subset of my job that many seasoned PA personnel never experience.
However, now, mere hours from departing Incirlik AB, I realize how thankful I am to have experienced the best job in the Air Force as a DJ for AFN. And while I would have gladly skipped this tour to stay with my fiancé and loved ones back home, AFN was a silver lining amid a dreaded assignment.
Every day I played music I love, built connections with the guests I interviewed and was able to share the unique work experience found only at AFN.
During my remote tour, I had the privilege of interviewing more than 50 guests and broadcasting more than 500 hours of live radio as an AFN DJ. Through my job, I made lifelong connections by inviting everyone I met on the show to share their experiences.
I realized although we all have various backgrounds and career fields, we were going through similar hardships. We were navigating home sickness, missed holidays and special occasions, and not being able to hug our loved ones every day. I found we connected not only as service members, but ultimately as humans.
One day, I decided to turn my angst from being separated from loved ones, into something positive.
Inspired, I created the Squadron Spotlight Series, live radio interviews aimed to highlight the contributions of all members assigned to Incirlik AB and our shared struggles serving separated from loved ones.
Within one quarter, I secured interviews with every squadron on base, including our geographically separated units at Izmir and Ankara, and our tenant unit, the 728th Air Mobility Squadron.
The more I spoke with other service members, the more I realized why AFN has been around for 80 years.
I began to reflect on my father’s stories about growing up in the 60s at Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, where he was captivated by AFN’s radio and television programming. My father also served in the USAF and told me about AFN’s reliability throughout his own career as he flew in and out of foreign countries in the 80s, including Incirlik AB.
As a DJ for AFN, stationed here four decades later, it was apparent – AFN is the common thread connecting all of us—those here now and who came before, like my father.
As motivational speaker, Sean Stephenson said, “Communication is merely an exchange of information,
but connection is an exchange of our humanity.”
AFN is in the connection business.
At AFN we get to create a connection with our listeners, and that demands authenticity. Hearing fellow service member voices on the radio as we share our experience of being 5,829 miles from home creates a connection built on trust and respect. It requires a level of realness that AFN provides by being ran by service members, for service members.
Genuine connection is not stopped by rank or radio waves, it emits from us as humans. We want to be heard, listened to, and understood. There is something to be said for the moment when people realize their story matters, and I was honored to help create those memories at AFN.
Although my assignment is ending, one thing remains true, AFN will continue to be there to inform, educate and entertain Airmen, for the next 80 years, as it has for the last 80 years.
I am honored to have played my small part in AFN’s legacy. But even more so, I am thankful that AFN was there for me when I didn’t even know I needed it.
I meticulously counted down each day, hour, and minute until my time at Incirlik AB ended, waiting for the chance to tell my now wife, “We made it, I am coming home.” Thanks to my experience at AFN, that time passed a little faster. After all those painstaking hours, I find it funny that it’s been right in front of me the entire time, after all, AFN’s slogan is, ‘We bring you home.’
That you did AFN.
| Date Taken: | 08.15.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 11.01.2023 13:01 |
| Story ID: | 456306 |
| Location: | INCIRLIK AIR BASE, ADANA, TR |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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