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    Getting the scoop, the truth behind public affairs

    Sunset shot

    Photo By 1st Sgt. Larry Mears | Hardy, Ark., native, Spc. Jeff Shackelford, a photojournalist assigned to the 343rd...... read more read more

    FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. On every battlefield, a different kind of soldier can be found. That soldier can be seen moving with a fire team not only with a rifle slung at his or her side, but also with a camera at the ready. Despite the fact that they, like any soldier, are highly-trained and proficient at marksmanship, they have an additional arsenal of equipment enabling them to bring the battlefield to life through images and words. They are Army Public Affairs specialists and their job is to tell the soldier’s story from a perspective only they can provide.

    According to the History of the Defense Information School, the Army implemented public affairs training in January of 1946 due to the need of having a professional corps trained in communication skills.

    Due to conditions following World War II and the Cold War coming quickly around the corner, the military became aware of the need to keep the civilian population and uniformed soldiers informed on military affairs.

    Following several years of training small groups of military personnel and fighting off the threat of dismissal of the public affairs courses, the Department of Defense issued DoD Directive Number 5160.48 in February 1964. This directive tasked the Army to establish and operate DINFOS to conduct common training in information techniques on a DoD-wide basis.

    Public affairs specialists are divided into two separate groups, print and broadcast. Print journalists shoot photographs as well as write stories while broadcast journalists film interviews and produce broadcast news stories.

    “We are the journalists for the military, for the Army,” said Spc. Charlotte Martinez, a photojournalist with the 345th Public Affairs Detachment from San Antonio, Texas. “Our job is to go out and tell the soldier’s story. We cover a variety of missions and exercises. As journalists for the Army, we strive to present the military with a realistic face.”

    Spc. Lindsey A. Schulte, a photojournalist with the 364th Public Affairs Operations Center from Fort Snelling, Minn., agrees with her counterpart Martinez, a San Antonio, native.

    “We are the ones who write the stories,” said Schulte, a Fridley, Minn. Native. “Public affairs shows soldiers and units from a very personal aspect; we are not this foreign and cold entity. The Army is a life force, it is a community and we help the civilians who may not be directly involved with a soldier, feel like a part of that community.”

    As public affairs, their Military Occupational Specialty is to push out the soldiers’ story and command information, said Staff Sgt. Addie Zinone, a broadcast journalist with the 222nd Broadcast Operations Detachment from Bell, Calif.

    “We basically tell the other side of the story,” she said. “The mainstream media focus on kinetic military action, the actual fight, the war and the dead. We, in public affairs, communicate to the military audience and Americans what the soldiers do while they are deployed and serving all over the world.”

    Presenting soldiers in a real life aspect helps the majority of the military understand those soldiers’ purpose, said Schulte.

    “A picture is worth a thousand words,” she said. “The emotion a civilian feels or even other soldiers feel from seeing soldiers do wonderful and heroic things is morale-building. It shows soldiers what they can attain and shows civilians how important we as soldiers are to their daily lives.”

    In addition to providing stories for internal and external use, public affairs can be used to send out command messages.

    “We also push out command information,” said Zinone, an Irvine, Calif. native. “Which means we are a tool our command can use to communicate what ever they need to communicate to any community they need to reach.”

    “Stateside or overseas, from annual trainings to combat exercises, we put an active face to the military. We present the average civilian with a small window into our world,” said Martinez.
    The soldiers are reaching out to people around the world offering help, said Zinone.

    “We show that there is another side to the story and these soldiers are not just bombing cities, they are rebuilding cities,” she said.

    As public affairs specialists they get to experience every soldier’s world, from the officer to the private, said Martinez.

    “We have the opportunity to experience every aspect of the military from the infantrymen to the cooks and that’s why our job is important.” she said. “The average soldier has to stay in their lane and do their job, which is great, and every soldier is very vital to this Army. However, our job is to go out and experience all these different MOSs and show the world what these soldiers do.”

    Public Affairs gets to experience every job in the military instead of doing that one job, said Zinone.

    “That is what I think is so important, special and amazing about being a military journalist,” she said.

    The journalists and broadcasters don’t just do one job--they have access to every MOS, said Zinone.

    “One day you could be covering military operations and convoy security and the next day you are in a hospital, seeing how medics and other soldiers are rebuilding this hospital to make life better for the natives,” she said.

    As public affairs we can reveal to the general public what their hard working tax dollars are funding, said Schulte.

    “Civilians can get a better understanding of what we do as an Army from viewing our products,” she said. “They will be able to realize where their money is going to and how to adequately support the soldiers.”

    “The important thing is Americans, quite frankly who bankroll this entire organization, the military, their tax dollars are being put to good use,” said Zinone. “Ultimately, soldiers are serving on their behalf to make the world a better place and Americans need to see that.”

    The easiest way for soldiers’ friends and family members to see the Army’s hard work is through the Digital Video Imagery Distribution System. Anyone can sign up to see the public affairs products the military produces.

    “DVIDS is a giant hub where all military service members that write stories and take pictures can upload their information and civilians and civilian media can pull those stories for their use,” said Martinez. “Again, this is their window into our world.”

    DVIDS is important because now families have the opportunity to see what their son or daughter is doing, said Zinone.

    “It is a useful tool for us to send our product out. Before, civilians couldn’t see our products unless it was on American Forces Network,” she said. “When we upload our stories or footage to DVIDS, the local news can download it and use it as part of their newscast. Then they have that perspective and that story that they would otherwise only be able to get if they sent a reporter here.”

    This hub is one of the public affairs specialists’ media tools which assists them in marketing their final work, said Schulte.

    “It’s an easy way for civilians, media and soldiers to access our products,” she said.

    DVIDS is an essential tool for these writers, photographers and broadcasters, said Martinez.

    “We could sit here and write stories for the soldiers and just do things internally, but it is important for the world to know what the Army is doing,” she said.

    Despite the avenues they take to market themselves, many people, soldiers and civilians alike, do not realize public affairs exists.

    “The perception a lot of soldiers have about public affairs is we are very similar to civilian media,” said Martinez. “They think we are outsiders and we are not. We have gone through the training like all soldiers have. We are soldiers first and we will maintain our military bearing while participating in different roles with different units.”

    Normally civilians don’t know many, if any, people in the military, said Zinone.

    “They don’t know how it functions or what it does,” she said. “I think it is because the only information they typically get is from the mainstream media and it’s always the bad stuff. Most people don’t realize the whole of the military is in support of the frontline soldiers.”

    Public affairs is an enjoyable job, however, it requires focus and determination to succeed within your field.

    “I love my job,” said Zinone. “It is hard as hell sometimes, I don’t think people understand how hard it is. We have to carry an M16 and a camera and we have to be able to shoot both. When stuff goes down you have to make the decision of whether or not you’re going to fall in line or you’re going to keep shooting to get that story.”

    soldiers can learn a lot from covering events as a public affairs specialist, said Martinez.

    “I love this job; it has taught me so much in the last seven years,” she said. “I have gotten to work with CNN, PBS, ABC, NBC, all of those media outlets. I’ve seen first-hand the difference we made in Iraq. I was there for the majority of the handover to the Iraqi government and the difference we made was phenomenal.”
    Public affairs plays a vital role in the military and the families whose son, daughter, mother, father, aunt, uncle serve in the armed forces.

    “Our job is really important,” said Zinone. “I love it so much because we are able to show that mom or dad what their son or daughter is doing and that is really important for overall morale.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.19.2012
    Date Posted: 07.20.2012 00:48
    Story ID: 91869
    Location: CA, US

    Web Views: 178
    Downloads: 0

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