Consolidating Greatness: Public Affairs in 2020. – [CAPSTONE]

Photo By Master Sgt. David Scott-Gaughan | Airman 1st Class Reilly Mcguire, 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs broadcast journalist, cuts a passport photo for a mission essential personnel at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, July 28, 2020. Mcguire is undergoing consolidation training to learn procedures and techniques to become a public affairs specialist. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. David Scott-Gaughan)  

UNITED STATES

09.30.2020

Courtesy Story

7th Bomb Wing

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas— Airmen from the 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs office handle a wide range of telling the Air Force’s story, whether it’s conducting base tours, escorting local media, or producing photographs, videos or written stories. While helping increase the public’s knowledge of Dyess, the enlisted side of the PA team is currently in the midst of a career transition.

The 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs office has conducted consolidation training for approximately two years as their enlisted career field is in the process of merging two Air Force Specialty Codes or jobs into one.
“We began our training by conducting consolidation modules that have helped us learn our counterpart’s jobs on a productive level,” said Tech. Sgt. David Owsianka, command information NCO. “This has eased our transition into become better story tellers and allowed us to tell stories from three different avenues instead of one or two.”

In 2018, the Air Force came down with guidance that the two career fields in public affairs would be consolidating. In addition to the six volumes of Career Development Courses, the Airmen will also have to complete an additional three volumes of the adjacent career for this upcoming consolidation.

"All of the Airmen in our shop have begun learning their PA counterpart’s job to become more well-rounded Airmen in our career field," said Airman 1st Class Reilly Mcguire, 7th BW Broadcast Journalist Journeyman. "Having all of our Airmen train as a photojournalist and a broadcast journalist as they arrive in our unit will improve their skillsets for any future tasks they may come across.”

The Airmen have had to overcome initial struggles as they learned how to complete a different job where they received little to no training prior to starting.

“I often wonder how my photography skills will translate into broadcasting. If I’ll be able to produce video products at the same caliber of photographs,” said Senior Airman Mercedes Porter, 7th BW public affairs photojournalist. “It’s no easy task to take quality photographs and write stories, the same could be said about the ability speak well and to shoot video products. With each passing day, I’m learning that more and more as I inch closer to being a multi-faceted Public Affairs specialist.”

As the Airmen throughout the Public Affairs career field continue to conduct on-the-job training for the merger, brand new Airmen coming from the Public Affairs technical school, the Defense Information School or DINFOS, graduate as Public Affairs Specialists. This will help the newest PA Airmen come into the operational Air Force with foundational knowledge of Public Affairs, to include photography, videography and journalism.

"We see our new role as a step in a new direction toward a military multimedia hybrid,” Owsianka said. “The creativity within our career field will continue to grow as we become public affairs specialist.”

The Public Affairs consolidation will come to a close by October 1st, 2020. For more information please visit the official Public affairs website: Https://www.publicaffairs.af.mil/

• Date Taken: 09.30.2020
• Date Posted: 09.30.2020 17:51
• Story ID: 379922
• Location: US