Photo By Sgt. Hannah Hawkins | U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Zachary Holden, assigned to the 115th Mobile...... read more read more
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STUTTGART, Germany -- “It was difficult with the language barrier at first but sharing information showed me the significance of the strong bonds that both militaries strive to keep,” Oregon Army National Guard Soldier Sgt. Hannah Hawkins said.
Hawkins along with Sgt. 1st Class Zachary Holden, both Oregon Army National Guardsmen assigned to the 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (MPAD) in Salem, Oregon, currently attached to Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR), shared their knowledge of public affairs with Balkan ally and partner forces, Montenegro Armed Forces and Armed Forces Bosnia and Herzegovina (AF BiH).
The SOCEUR soldiers were invited to exchange knowledge on public affairs practices in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nov. 15-18, and in Podgorica, Montenegro, Nov. 22-23, 2021. These practices, which consisted of photography, videography, and writing photo captions, aimed to teach different techniques and hone skills in acquiring photos and videos during military training events.
"I've often said that working as a public affairs soldier is one of the best jobs in the Army due to the variety of people and experiences we encounter," Holden said. "Having the opportunity to share my passion for creating visual content with our allies and partners forces is about as good as it gets for me."
The soldiers used a variety of equipment to enhance the visual storytelling capabilities of the two armed forces, from cell phones to professional grade cameras, demonstrating the ability to obtain compelling content no matter what equipment was at hand.
Holden explained how capturing specific events through photography can strongly impact the viewer’s perception and help accurately and truthfully inform the population of current events.
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Although a language barrier presented itself, the Armed Forces Bosnia and Herzegovina soldiers practiced conversing in English with U.S. soldiers during the public affairs exchanges. This practice showed the effort Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to put forth in aspiring to become a NATO ally as the official NATO languages are English and French.
In return, the U.S. soldiers felt much gratitude toward their NATO partner force as they were invited to dine with several AF BiH service members at a local restaurant for lunch and experience a cultural connection.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Armed Forces also requested the U.S. soldiers be part of their media interactions practice to give them more experience speaking English. The U.S. soldiers posed as foreign journalists reporting on various simulated crisis communications in order to evaluate the students’ ability to conduct themselves on camera. Hawkins interviewed the top three AF BiH soldiers while Holden acted as the press capturing photos.
“No matter the difficulty of questions the Armed Forces Bosnia and Herzegovina soldiers always answered with poise and professionalism” Hawkins said. “It was a great experience getting to be a direct part of the SOCEUR efforts in strengthening bonds with partner forces and seeing interactions between different militaries. I am excited to share these experiences with others back home.”
This deployment of the 115th MPAD shows the reach of the National Guard, not only in the state of Oregon but on foreign soil as well.
“The Oregon Guard continues to be an operational force.Whether supporting our allies and partners in Europe, or domestic operations such as COVID response, firefighting efforts and the resettlement of vulnerable Afghans here at home,” said the Adjutant General, Oregon, Maj. Gen. Mike Stencel, “I’m proud to command this dynamic team.”
Montenegro:
An array of Montenegro Armed Forces members exchanged experiences and learned about gathering military imagery during a two-day course alongside U.S. SOCEUR public affairs soldiers. The course, which covered topics such as photography fundamentals and media interactions, helped further strengthen their bond as the two NATO allies connected with each other through their wide military experience.
The Montenegro Armed Forces members present at the course serve in a vast spectrum—from infantry to electronic warfare to logistics among others, and from Navy to Army to Air Force, according to Montenegro Armed Forces 2nd Lt. Filip Rakonjac, public affairs officer.
The training of these select service members on public affairs foundations now gives Rakonjac and the Montenegro Armed Forces public affairs office additional opportunities to acquire photo and video content when they are unable to physically be present for the field training exercise.
“They are now training and practicing the ability to gather imagery for us when [the public affairs office] is not able to be in the field,” Rakonjac said. “We now have people who know the basics and have the knowledge to do the job to [the level we desire.]”
After Holden taught photo and video techniques in imagery acquisition, Hawkins led a class on the importance of photo captions and the writing process it entails.
“I remember being in their shoes, being taught the proper way to write photo captions,” Hawkins said. “It felt very rewarding to be able to share the knowledge with our NATO ally.”
“It is an honor and privilege to learn from the best military in the world,” Rakonjac said. “We are really happy to have someone who [has] such great experience in military public affairs and [we are] trying to get as much knowledge as we can.”
The Oregon MPAD continues to share their experiences in public affairs throughout the European theatre. Holden conducted a second training in Montenegro Feb. 14-17, 2022. SOCEUR hopes to encounter more opportunities to exchange public affairs knowledge with NATO allies and partners in the future to strengthen bonds and amplify the message of a unified force.
| Date Taken: | 11.15.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.16.2022 05:39 |
| Story ID: | 416545 |
| Location: | SARAJEVO, BA |
| Web Views: | 119 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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