Pa. takes first place for Fort Indiantown Gap digital presences in National Guard Media Contest

Photo By Tom Cherry | Staff. Sgt. Matthew Jones, Maj. Ed Shank, Maj. Angela King-Sweigart and Tech. Sgt. Ted Nichols (left to right) make up the team that recently took first place in the National Guard Bureau's Army Media Contest for the digital presences representing Fort Indiantown Gap. The team works full-time in the Pennsylvania National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs Office. (Courtesy photo by Tom Cherry/Released)  

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, UNITED STATES

02.24.2016

Story by Tech. Sgt. Ted Nichols 

Joint Force Headquarters - Pennsylvania National Guard

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – The Pennsylvania National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs Public Affairs Office recently took first place in the 2015 National Guard Bureau Media Contest Army category for the digital presences representing Fort Indiantown Gap.

The award recognizes the overall excellence of the official digital presence of Army ‪National Guard organizations.‬

“Public affairs plays an important role in telling the Fort Indiantown Gap story and serving as a liaison to our many neighbors and the digital arena has really changed how we provide that information and interact with the public,“ said acting adjutant general Brig. Gen. Tony Carrelli. “I would like to congratulate our public affairs personnel for their win in the 2015 National Guard Bureau Media Contest.”

The installation's website, installation Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System news site, Facebook page and Flickr photo collection were all evaluated as part of the judging.

The team consists of state public affairs officer Maj. Ed Shank, deputy state public affairs officer Maj. Angela King-Sweigart and public Affairs specialists Staff. Sgt. Matt Jones and Tech. Sgt. Ted Nichols.

“Fort Indiantown Gap excels in community relations and ultimately our overall mission because of the excellent work done telling our story by our public affairs professionals,“ said garrison commander Col. Robert Hepner. “Whether it's updates on training that may impact local residents, or reading the story of warfighters training here before deployments, or seeing pictures of the world-class training that goes on here each day, I encourage everyone interested in what is going on at Fort Indiantown Gap to bookmark our website and follow us on Facebook.”

The National Guard Bureau will submit the first-place win for further competition in the Army Keith L. Ware Public Affairs Competition.

Fort Indiantown Gap and the Pennsylvania National Guard Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs Office now has back-to-back wins in the overall contest after taking home first place in 2014 in the community relations special event category for the 2014 Fort Indiantown Gap Open House.

Individuals interested in following the installation online can view the installation's digital offerings at www.ftig.pa.gov.

Fort Indiantown Gap is the only live-fire, maneuver military training facility in Pennsylvania. It serves as headquarters to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and Pennsylvania National Guard, offers more than 17,000 acres and 140 training areas and facilities for year-round training. It balances one of the region’s most ecologically diverse areas with a military mission that annually supports 20,000 Pennsylvania National Guard personnel and more than 120,000 additional personnel from other branches of service, interagency partners at the federal, state and local level and multinational partners.

MEDIA CONTACT: Maj. Angela King-Sweigart, [phone]

• Date Taken: 02.24.2016
• Date Posted: 02.24.2016 15:05
• Story ID: 189958
• Location: FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, US