Photo By Spc. Nancy Mizzell | Army 1st Lt. Christopher Middleton, Media Relations officer in charge, briefs the...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - The mission of Joint Task Force Guantanamo has always been controversial in the civilian press and around the world. Guantanamo is a newsworthy location given our history and role of providing detainee care and custody in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Media visit JTF GTMO nearly every week, touring the camps, covering the military commissions and telling the story of Guantanamo.
To facilitate visiting journalists on GTMO, the public affairs media relations team provides an all-encompassing support process during their stay. The current media relations team is mostly made up of Guardsman from the Florida Army National Guard’s 107th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
“The media relations team is made up of silent professionals that take their role very seriously,” said Army Maj. Reinaldo Montero, 107th MPAD commander.
According to Montero, the public affairs team had 83 reporters from 52 different media outlets visit us so far this fiscal year. Since the detention facility opened in 2002, the JTF supported nearly 2,400 media organizations.
“Our team works around the clock to facilitate the media, and I’m proud of the job they’ve done and continue to do,” said Montero. “The public has a right to know the professional manner in which its military carries out their responsibilities.”
One important role of the MEDREL team is the protection of sensitive and classified information. Escorting media in the camps and providing security at the source is a crucial aspect of their mission.
“We must take all appropriate operational security measures while still ensuring the media gets the information they need,” said Army 1st Lt. Christopher Middleton, media relations officer in charge. “That can be challenging sometimes. But it’s important to tell the story of the Soldiers that are doing a great job under stressful circumstances in the camps. We do our best to ensure the civilian media see that side of JTF Guantanamo.”
The lieutenant and his media relations team are the logistical backbone of the operation as they do everything from escorting, setting up rooms, transporting reporters, to facilitating interviews.
The MEDREL job is not always easy but the team is passionate about our mission according to their NCOIC.
“I feel our guard force and the medical personnel are doing an outstanding job providing safe, humane, legal care and custody to the detainees,” said Army Staff Sgt. Karen Kozub, NCOIC of media relations. “These men and woman work very hard every day, and they should be proud of what they have done and what they will do while serving here at Guantanamo Bay.”
To help tell the story, the MEDREL office offers media engagement training to all JTF personnel so that more of our troopers can tell their personalized story about their role.
“I want all JTF troopers to know that telling the full story about our mission here is vital to our success,” said Middleton. “The media wants to talk to you: the Army specialist working in the camps. They want to talk to the NCO leading a team of guards. They want to hear what it’s like working in the detention facility. We offer media training for anyone that is interested in telling this story. It’s not always easy to talk about, but it’s important we tell the story to the media and the world.”
Call 5345 or 75019 if you’re interested in the media engagement training.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2014 14:38 |
| Story ID: | 127459 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY , CU |
| Web Views: | 257 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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