Telling the Army Story: An Excellent Media Center for Public Affairs Soldiers

Photo By Sgt. Emilie Lenglain | Master Sgt. Brad Staggs, the Camp Atterbury - Muscatatuck public affairs representative and museum director, shows a U.S. Army Soldier the training areas at Muscatatuck Training Center, Indiana, April 19, 2023. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Emilie Lenglain)  

BUTLERVILLE, IN, UNITED STATES

04.20.2023

Story by Sgt. Emilie Lenglain 

361st Theater Public Affairs Support Element

MUSCATATUCK TRAINING CENTER, Ind. – When soldiers arrive at Muscatatuck Training Center (MuTC), Indiana, for annual training, they witness what looks like remnants from a tornado passing through; mattresses, tables, chairs and clothing are scattered all over the grounds. The wreckage is staging for a homeland emergency training exercise, which prepares military personnel for a possible chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear catastrophe.

Some soldiers may think they have arrived at a facility from the 1940s or 50s, taking in buildings built in an older Art Deco design. One building of utter importance, that may be overlooked and used by only a select few, is the Media Center and Museum.

The Media Center provides a one-of-a-kind training space that is an essential tool and home base for public affairs Soldiers, whose job is to tell the Army story. At the heart of the Media Center is Master Sgt. Brad Staggs, the Camp Atterbury — the Muscatatuck public affairs representative and museum director, who was at the forefront of its development.

Staggs, born in Indiana, joined the U.S. Air Force in 1985 on a three-year contract. Fifteen years later, with a background in radio, film and theater, Staggs discovered that Army public affairs was an avenue he could pursue.

“I went to the recruiters and said this is what I want,” Staggs said. “I was doing film and doing theater and that’s what I wanted to do in the military.”

So, in 2001 he joined the Florida Army National Guard and was assigned to the 107th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (MPAD).

Early in his National Guard career, his MPAD received orders to work at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. While working there, not only did he report directly to the U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, but spoke to various media outlets constantly, which provided him experience interacting with various people.

In 2005, while working at the Pentagon, he was tasked with assisting the Hurricane Katrina communications effort. He suddenly needed to find a way for his commander to speak to the community that was listening in using a radio station powered by a generator.

"We had never trained for that or dealt with that before,” Stags recalled. “We're in this environment, this situation — how do I get our message out?"

Staggs took that problem-solving philosophy with him to MuTC. Starkly different were his new settings. He now found himself in a small office with just a desk and a phone, but he still had his prudence, dedication and fortitude.

One day, while reading through old newspapers, he stumbled upon an article from a few years earlier, when the National Guard acquired the Muscatatuck State Developmental Center from the state. He read that the National Guard promised the town a museum as a way to keep the Center's history. Since a museum had yet to be in the works, Staggs jumped at the opportunity and reported his findings up his chain of command. He knew that the museum’s creation would fulfill that promise.

Following the museum's completion, Staggs’ next vision was a radio station. Not only did this allow training organizations to simulate media you may hear during a real-world catastrophe, it allowed public affairs soldiers the ability to train on equipment that usually only a select few active duty soldiers at an American Forces Network would have access to.

Approximately a decade after establishing the museum and radio station, the public affairs office required a larger space to thrive. This need began the vision for the current Media Center and Museum.

Staggs had a vision of how everything should look and was hands-on in the planning and preparation. He even took it upon himself to demolish a wall.

Further proof of his devotion to public affairs is when he reached out to the Defense Information School, which trains all public affairs service members and acquired donations. Equipment that units usually don’t have access to were now accessible at the Media Center, like control room equipment for the TV studio, making it simpler for units to be certified on their public affairs requirements.

He is also an asset when public affairs Soldiers come to annual training at MuTC. Playing an integral role for public affairs units to tell their stories, he assists and advises training and shows units what the center has to offer.

"If the commander asks me what I think his/her public affairs unit needs, I have the regulations and what the mission essential task list is supposed to be," Staggs said.

He also inquires if they have had time to get hands-on training with cameras or audio equipment during battle assemblies and provides that training if needed. Throughout the years, his commitment to the Media Center’s vision has been evident. Broadcast operations detachments and MPADs now train at a facility with state-of-the-art equipment and capture training, such as search and rescue missions, medical evacuations, helicopter hoisting operations and decontamination lines. The Media Center that Staggs helped develop allows public affairs Soldiers to do their job efficiently if and when these scenarios become real.

"We are the professionals. We have to know what we're doing, how to operate and be ready to operate at any time," Staggs said. "Here at Muscatatuck, PA units do the job."

• Date Taken: 04.20.2023
• Date Posted: 04.20.2023 22:15
• Story ID: 443045
• Location: BUTLERVILLE, IN, US
• Hometown: ROCKVILLE, IN, US