Subscribe
FORT CUSTER, Mich. –Before U.S. Army Soldiers of the 126th Theater Public Affairs Support Element, Michigan National Guard, take part in Immediate Response 25, a multinational training exercise taking place in the Balkans with NATO partners from across Europe, they are first preparing for their mission by receiving training direct from U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF). Immediate Response 25 is part of DEFENDER 25, a larger annual operation that demonstrates the United States and its partners and allies’ ability
to work together to deter potential enemies in the region and ensure their lethality and combat readiness.
Sgt. 1st Class Brett Miller and Staff Sgt. Michaela Granger of the 116th Public Affairs Detachment, North Dakota National Guard, flew into Kalamazoo, Mich., prior to the training from USAREUR-AF in a Beechcraft C-12 Huron flown by pilots of Detachment 42, Operational Support Airlift, North Dakota Army National Guard. The two Soldiers will join the 126 th TPASE in Europe for Immediate Response 25, directly supporting public affairs coverage of key training events throughout. During this training
period, Miller and Granger met the members of the 126th TPASE, and all Soldiers received pertinent information to prepare them for event coverage, communication processes, and understanding the important nuances of the region.
An additional team member of the 116th PAD, Pfc. Raul Boamah will also be joining Miller, Granger, and members of the 126th TPASE on their mission to North Macedonia. These three soldiers were selected to attend Immediate Response 25 to lend their collective skills in video production, photography and storytelling to the coverage of
DEFENDER 25. Miller brings 23 years of public affairs experience to the mission, along with Granger’s six years of experience and Boamah’s two years. Adding their experience to the team enabled the sharing of best practices, tips and tricks learned in their respective National Guard units, and strategy alignment for accomplishing the mission in Europe.
While participating in the overseas deployment training, the North Macedonia team will be covering two primary events of Immediate Response 25. The first of these events will provide outreach to cities with static displays of military equipment to educate and familiarize the public. This mission will also exhibit a united show of force amongst NATO partners. The team will additionally be documenting a live-fire exercise, designed to demonstrate weapons capabilities and force effectiveness within multinational, combined efforts.
To ensure these events are properly documented and represented by digital media, Miller and Granger attended a pre-mission briefing along with the 126th TPASE given by Natalie Weaver, a public affairs planner with U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
“I am here to deliver practical applications of content creator elements so that they can be proficient when they come to Europe for the exercise and deliver and meet our communication objectives,” Natalie Weaver, U.S. Army Europe and Africa Public Affairs Planner.
Mrs. Weaver’s brief outlined clear expectations and standards for content collection and processing across the entire operation of Defender 25 to guarantee a clear and unified message from all public affairs units providing coverage, regardless of the country being operated in or the specific missions being documented. The content standards laid out by Mrs. Weaver’s brief gave the proper guidance on how public affairs representatives can accurately portray the stories of the United States
and its Allied militaries. Immediate Response 25.
The stories told will demonstrate the United States and its Allies’ status as a combat ready and unified force in the region. Members of the 126th TPASE and 116th PAD working together enabled collaborative
preparation for content collection and combined efforts in readiness for their respective missions for Immediate Response 25.
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2025 10:43 |
| Story ID: | 496267 |
| Location: | MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Michigan and North Dakota Army National Guard Joint Overseas Deployment Training, by SGT Kaitlyn Jernigan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
