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    Celebrating The Women Who Tell the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Stories

    WINCHESTER, VA, UNITED STATES

    03.31.2023

    Story by Catherine Carroll 

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Transatlantic Division

    WINCHESTER, Va. - Each year during March, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division joins the nation in celebrating National Women’s History Month, bringing women to the forefront of our lives, and sharing how they support, inspire, motivate and shape us all to be the individuals we are today and the nation we will be tomorrow.

    Throughout history, women have been instrumental in passing on our heritage in word and in print to communicate the lessons of those who came before us. Women’s stories, and the larger human story, expand our understanding and strengthen our connections with each other. This is the power of storytelling. This is why storytellers often feel both a heartfelt calling and a vital responsibility.

    This year’s theme was “Celebrating the women who tell our stories.” So, before we close out March, let’s give a special nod of recognition to the women who are telling the Army Corps of Engineers’ stories, each and every day – Public Affairs Officers.

    Public Affairs Officers, the Army’s official storytellers, spend their careers at the heart of everything that happens. Yet they almost always remain behind the scenes, behind the cameras, and behind the words, putting our stories up front. This month allows us to recognize and honor their contributions to the collective histories that exist, the stories that are known, and the accomplishments shared because they were covered, capture and chronicled by a PAO.

    Public Affairs Officers are the voice of the Army Corps of Engineers, communicating its mission, goals, and achievements to the public and the media. They keep the USACE family connected. And they keep the American public and our U.S. and allied nation mission partners accurately and timely informed. PAOs help to establish the conditions that lead to confidence in America’s Engineers and showcase our support of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Forces Command and other global partners to advance national security interests, all while telling the stories of USACE’s most important asset – PEOPLE!

    This month, we recognize and honor these brave, accomplished and influential women who told – and continue to tell – our stories. Their dedication and shared desire to tell the Army story is critical to keeping us informed, entertained and aware. Let’s also challenge each other to continue celebrating women’s contributions to our histories, our stories, and our lives well beyond Women’s History Month because – women’s history is our history.

    In a rare flip of the storytelling script, the women who tell the USACE Transatlantic Division story shared a little about what storytelling means to them. Here are their stories in their own words …

    Julie Shoemaker, USACE Transatlantic Middle East District Public Affairs Officer: Storyteller since 1986:

    “Starting life as an Army brat, my bond with the U.S. Army has always been strong and a proud part of who I am. Graduating to Army wife and finding a career in Army Public Affairs – actually getting paid to write and tell stories about the Army?! – was a perfect fit for me. I’m always energized (emotionally, patriotically and intellectually) by highlighting the successes, challenges and accomplishments of individuals and organizations; sharing the good that we continue to do for and with our mission partners, and doing my part to help communicate goals, responsibilities and project progress in the Middle East.”

    U.S. Army Lt. Col. Angela King-Sweigart, USACE Transatlantic Division Public Affairs Officer: Storyteller since 2005:

    “I really enjoy telling and sharing the stories of my fellow Soldiers and Civilians. I’ve been able to work on stories about the work they are doing, the things they are achieving, the obstacles they’ve overcome and more. Having the opportunity to highlight them is rewarding. As a PAO I’ve had some amazing opportunities present themselves to me while serving. The Army has enabled me to do things I never would have seen myself doing while growing up. It’s been a fantastic adventure so far.”

    U.S. Army (R) Catherine Carroll, USACE Transatlantic Division Public Affairs Regional Director: Storyteller since 2009:

    “I joined the Army Reserve at the age of 35 as a Chemical Biological Radiological, and Nuclear specialist. I had no idea public affairs was even a career option. When I reported for my first duty assignment with a unit supporting the Centers for Disease and Control in Atlanta, Ga., an officer recruiting Soldiers for a deployment to Iraq asked me if I could be a 46 Romeo. I had no idea what that was, but I said, “yes, sir.” The next month I was sent to The Defense Information School, DINFOS, at Fort Meade. Seven months later, I was standing in Iraq.

    That first deployment was full of stories, but one stands out and remains the reason I feel so passionately about being a PAO.

    I published a series of video stories on an Army tank unit out in the middle of nowhere training the Iraqi army on how to operate Abrams tanks. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Richard Thomas spent one minute and 30 seconds or so telling the AFN world what he was doing out there and why it was important to him. Job done.

    But later, Staff Sgt. Thomas shared with me his family’s Facebook comments on his page where he had posted his video. I was overwhelmed at their responses. Seeing the pride and love they had poured out for their son, their Soldier, and their gratitude for seeing and hearing him doing what he loved 7000 miles away from home., just floored me. It was the first time I realized how powerful and meaningful telling the Soldier’s story could be.

    Everything else I had to do as a Soldier became secondary to the responsibility I felt for ensuring our men and women so far away from home had their stories captured, archived and told. And I have spent the last 14 years trying to live up to that responsibility.”

    One of SGT Thomas’ video stories: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/97204/tank-training-weapons

    Shannon Moeck, USACE Transatlantic Middle East District Public Affairs Officer: Storyteller since 2010 (Joined the USACE TAM team this month!):

    “I professionally started storytelling in 2010 when I became a Park Ranger Interpreter at Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historic Park. I find storytelling a powerful way to connect people to history and humanity. These images show me engaging with audiences telling the story of Judah, an enslaved cook at Belle Grove Plantation, and her 12 children. Until the research was done in 2016, this enslaved family’s story had been lost in time. Uplifting the stories of the voiceless and forgotten have provided a way to emphasize the humanity of the many enslaved whose forced labor built the wealth of this nation.”

    Shannon Hodges, USACE Transatlantic Middle East District Visual Information Specialist: Storyteller since 2014:

    “When I was a child, we had a house fire and I remember how upset my grandmother was over losing all her photos. I think it made a lasting impression on the importance of photographs as memories and I have been carrying around a camera since grade school because of that experience. I had one of those small 110 film cameras and I took it everywhere. By high school, I was on the yearbook staff and taking classes on photography. Before I started working for the Corps, I was already running my own business doing professional wedding and family photography so this position opening up just seemed like a really good fit for me.

    I always tell people being a photographer is a “cake job”, not because it’s easy (sometimes it’s really challenging), but because I usually get to be there for someone’s important life moments, whether it’s a wedding or promotion or retirement ceremony, they all usually come with the added benefit of delicious cake! Getting to be there for the “big moments” in people’s lives and capturing their stories that will be a part of their family’s history is really rewarding. But my very favorite things to photograph are life’s in between moments; little things that in the moment are nice but 20 years from now you might not necessarily remember, like that old photo of your grandmother standing in her kitchen and you can smell the meal she’s cooking or the excitement in the eyes of your kid holding up their first lost tooth. Being a visual storyteller is an important job and I usually try to stay in the background and go somewhat unnoticed while working, but I know when someone looks back on the photos I took one day and doesn’t even remember who I am, they will still feel something looking at that captured memory and that’s a big deal.”

    U.S. Army Maj. Jamia Odom, USACE Transatlantic Division Public Affairs Officer: Storyteller since 2014:

    “I joined the Army in 1996 as a Small Arms Specialist. In 2002 I was accepted into the Green to Gold Program where I became a Signal Officer. After a deployment to Iraq in 2009 my husband and I moved up to Alaska where I joined the Alaska National Guard. I was then assigned to the 1-207th Aviation Battalion where I was put in charge of the S6-Communications section. One day my commander asked me if I would set up a Facebook page for the unit. After I set up the page, I started taking pictures of the Blackhawk pilots and their training. I also started working on stories about the Soldiers that supported their mission. Even though this was an extra duty, I enjoyed telling the Army story. Shortly after that I learned that there was an MOS for this. I learned that they needed a commander for their Public Affairs Detachment. I submitted my request for command of the unit and was approved. In 2019 I was sent to the Public Affairs Qualification Course and the rest is history!

    Since starting my Public Affairs journey, engaging with the public and telling the Army story has been a rewarding opportunity. Showing the world who we are and how we show up to a crisis or train to keep peace around the world is a true honor.”

    If you want to meet more the Department of Defense and Storytellers and see the amazing stories they tell, go to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) STORYTELLER page at: https://www.dvidshub.net/portfolio

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 03.31.2023
    Date Posted: 03.31.2023 14:43
    Story ID: 441705
    Location: WINCHESTER, VA, US

    Web Views: 100
    Downloads: 1

    PUBLIC DOMAIN