Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Tamika Dillard | Jakki Forester (left) and Cheyanna Colborn (middle), both public relations students at...... read more read more
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FORT RILEY, Kan. - For the first time, Kansas State University’s A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications students partnered with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division’s Public Affairs Office to gain a better understanding of military public affairs.
“I feel that a wall is placed between the college and the Army when it comes to public relations,” said Debra Skidmore, a public relations instructor for K-State who teaches a class that focuses on working with the military. “So with this Military Relations course, I wanted to help knock down that wall and show the kids the many opportunities Fort Riley has to offer.”
On Oct. 17, more than 30 public relations students traveled with the “Dagger” public affairs team to get a glimpse of how Soldiers with the 299th Brigade Support Battalion conducted logistical operations in a field environment as part of a public affairs situational training exercise.
“Going into this training, we understood that this would be the first time most of the students would see Soldiers training … especially at this capacity,” Capt. Andrew Cochran, 2nd ABCT public affairs officer, said.
The students were split into three groups and Cochran, his noncommissioned officer in charge and Colleen McGee, chief of internal information for Fort Riley public affairs, worked to help them with any questions.
As “Lifeline” Soldiers showcased their brigade support area, Cochran and his team assisted students in asking Soldiers the necessary questions to best help them write their articles.
“One of the most important things we as military journalists know to do first is to get the Soldiers’ basic information,” Cochran said. “That means their rank, full name and duty position. This, in turns, helps us know what level of questioning we should then ask the Soldiers.”
For public relations student Cheyanna Colborn, a KSU senior, this process made it much easier for her to gather information at the event. Colborn was one of the students selected to write an article about the training.
“We haven’t learned much about conducting interviews,” Colborn said. “We are mainly given the story and told to do the interview and produce a product. I found that throughout this training, asking the basic information up front helped me to better formulate my questions. I will definitely take this information back with me and share it with students in my other classes.”
After successfully completing the training exercise, students had the opportunity to test out some the battalion’s equipment.
“Since we were finished with the exercise, I thought it would be cool to have an X-ray done on my hand,” Janelle Feldmann, a freshman majoring in public relations, said. “I wanted to see if it actually worked … with the unit being so far out.”
An X-ray technician, Sgt. Javier Rivera, a radiology specialist with Company C, 299th BSB, 2nd ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., accepted the challenge and within three minutes was able to show Feldmann, along with other classmates, an X-ray photo of her left hand.
“I am so glad I was able to get into the military relations class this semester,” Feldmann said. “I had no idea that there was so much going on, on this base. I learned so much today. There are so many stories to be told.”
Fort Riley, the 1st Inf. Div. and K-State have partnered for years with the various athletics teams linking with units, Skidmore said. However, last year was the first time an asserted effort was made to partner with the post’s public affairs offices and students and staff at the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
This was the first of many partnerships the Dagger brigade is planning with the school. The brigade’s public affairs staff invited the public relations students back to Fort Riley for another opportunity to cover the combined arms live fire exercise later next month.
“We’re looking forward to coming back next month,” Skidmore said. “Today was a success and these kids really enjoyed themselves.”
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.28.2014 17:50 |
| Story ID: | 146373 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KS, US |
| Hometown: | DENVER, CO, US |
| Hometown: | MANHATTAN, KS, US |
| Web Views: | 131 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, K-State journalism students gain better understanding of Army public affairs, by SFC Tamika Dillard, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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