Photo By Spc. Cal Turner | Sgt. Robert Strain, 1st ACB, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs, listens hard while bundled...... read more read more
By Sgt. 1st Class Nick Conner
15th SB, Public Affairs Office
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Dropping temperatures didn't faze the crowds of Soldiers and civilians who turned out for the New Years Eve celebration. Live music kept revelers dancing during the final moments of 2006, as eyes turned to the giant palm tree dropped to mark the start of 2007.
But it wasn't just those in attendance who took part. Soldiers from 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 1st Brigade Combat Team and Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs Offices set up a live video satellite feed during the final countdown of the year.
Maj. Randell Baucom, 1st BCT public affairs officer got the idea after seeing FOX News conduct live interviews for Christmas Day. He contacted the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System hub in Atlanta, Ga. for the satellite time.
"This really couldn't have happened without the Soldiers who came and participated", he said. "Without them, it's just a satellite in a box."
An estimated 52.6 million viewers from around the world watched the party at Camp Taji, with video from the celebration airing on national FOX, CNN, NBC and ABC networks and distributed around the globe by the Associated Press. Local affiliate stations from Massachusetts to California also picked up the festivities.
"It was very stressful at first", said Sgt. Robert Strain, 1st ACB, 1st Cav. Div. on setting up the mobile satellite station. I had some concerns, since ours was the only live feed of the night. I wanted it to look good; I wanted it to be right, he said.
"We got to put our best foot forward".
Sgt. Raymond Kokel, 1st BCT,1st Cav. Div., kept busy most of the night taping Soldiers giving personal greetings to families and friends. He packaged all the "shout-outs" to send to the main DVIDS hub in Atlanta. From there, local TV stations used them during their own new casts.
"There was a lot of energy out there [coming from the Soldiers]." Being able to be part of it, to give all the Soldiers a chance to send something home, was exciting.
"The experience to be part of New Years Eve process was great", said Kokel.
The DVIDS allows Public Affairs Soldiers to send photos, audio and video stories and live video feeds directly to civilian news organizations. This puts Soldier's' and their unique stories from deployments into the living rooms of America.
Maj. Baucom sees the satellite system as the"...biggest bang for the PAO buck..." The Soldiers, and their willingness to interact with the media back home, determine its success.
"It will continue as long as Soldiers are willing and able to tell their stories."
| Date Taken: | 01.01.2002 |
| Date Posted: | 01.11.2007 14:01 |
| Story ID: | 8791 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 238 |
| Downloads: | 159 |
This work, Taji New Years Eve Celebration Seen Around The World, by MSG Nicholas Conner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
