Airmen train to honor those fallen

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Airman 1st Class Justin Baker, U.S. Air Force Honor Guard instructor, trains Airmen on proper procedures of a six-man flag fold here June 24. The U.S. Air Force Honor Guard’s Mobile Training Team traveled to Minot AFB to educate and train Airmen on basic protocol, honors and ceremonies, as well as create certified trainers for their units. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael J. Veloz)

Warbirds leave nest for Guam

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Airmen from the 5th Bomb Wing board a Boeing 767 on their way to Andersen AFB, Guam, here May 31. The 5th BW is part of deployment rotation that provides U.S. Pacific Command with a continuous bomber presence in the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael J. Veloz)

Missile maintenance

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Senior Airman James Hardy, 91st Missile Maintenance Squadron missile maintenance team technician, makes equipment checks on his team’s vehicle prior to departure while Staff Sgt. Jason Keen, 91st Maintenance Group quality assurance evaluator, watches here Aug. 18. Vehicle inspections like these are administered by a two-man team to ensure the safety of both Airmen and Air Force assets while in movement through the missile field. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael J. Veloz)

Face of the Base, Sept. 8

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Senior Airman Maricruz Johnson, 791st Missile Security Forces Squadron trainer, is from El Paso, Texas. Airman Johnson joined the Air Force more than three years ago to “further my education and give back to the country that did so much for my family.” A career goal of hers is to earn a degree in criminal justice. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael J. Veloz)

Fighting fires, saving lives

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen from the 5th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department, team up with the City of Minot fire department during live fire training here Oct. 14. This annual training requirement helps keep both fire departments sharp in their capabilities to save lives in the face of danger. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael J. Veloz)

Lighting the way to life

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The 5th Medical Group offers suicide prevention and awareness briefings at official functions upon request. Other sources for more information include the Military One Source/Military Homefront Web sites, and the annual computer based training. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Lee A. Osberry, Jr.)

Medics, engineers up to challenge

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Airman 1st Class Brian Stevens, 5th Civil Engineer Squadron emergency management technician, extracts a specimen for testing in a training scenario during Air Combat Command’s Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Equipment Challenge here June 3. The CBRNE challenge employs Airmen in the bioenvironmental and emergency management career fields to apply their combined skills in multiple training scenarios in order to ensure combat readiness. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael J. Veloz)

Islam

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Airman 1st Class Ashley Avecilla, 5th Bomb Wing Public Affairs photographer, looks out the window as she prepares for her “Introduction to Islam” class, which was held in the base community center at 5:30 p.m. Mar. 2. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton)

Public Affairs wins multiple MAJCOM awards

Published March 1, 2011
Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs office recently placed in 12 categories for major command-level awards.

In January, Air Force Global Strike Command Directors Excellence Awards were announced with the base taking two major awards.

Minot PA was awarded first place for Best Innovative Program for achieving outstanding effects using innovative approaches, strategies, tactics ideas and technology on social media campaign highlighting the mission of the base and command with its implementation of the Minot Air Force Base Facebook and twitter pages.

Today it continues to dialog directly with audiences to facilitate information flow, rumor control and idea sharing amongst its 1,247 Facebook members--the largest official social media sites in the entire Air Force Global Strike Command.

The program was led by Laurie Arellano, chief of Internal Information.

The command also awarded Tech. Sgt. Thomas Dow, NCOIC Community Relations, as the Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year for revitalizing and revamping eight different community relations programs. These programs directly helped boost the relationship between the base and local community by providing different ways for military and civilians to meet in work and social environments.

"These winners have truly taken responsibility for highlighting to the world our command's elite standards and Global Strike Command's elite Airmen--and they have done so in an outstanding manner," Lt. Col. John Thomas, AFGSC director of Public Affairs said.

In a recent announcement of the major command 2010 media awards, the base public affairs office placed first in the following categories:

Senior Airman Michael Veloz, photographer, was named AFGSC Outstanding New Photographer of the Year. This award recognizes personnel working in photography for less than two years.

Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton, former senior journalist at Minot AFB, was awarded the AFGSC Print Journalist of the Year. This award recognizes the journalist who exemplifies the highest standards of military journalism as shown by writing across a spectrum of categories. Airman Stratton recently had a permanent change of station to the 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea.

Airman Stratton also was awarded first place in the series article category for writing two or more feature articles dealing with a common theme.

First place for best Web site in AFGSC was awarded to Minot AFB PA for the base's number one information source, www.minot.af.mil. The award was for an organizational Internet or intranet site hosted on a DoD-authorized domain that presents news and information to a primarily internal audience.

Tech. Sgt. Lee Osberry, former base visual information manager, was awarded first place for his illustrative photo depicting the topic of suicide and suicide prevention. Sergeant Osberry recently had a change of duty station to the 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs at RAF Lakenheath in England.

Staff Sgt. Miguel Lara, a traditional broadcaster from the PA office here, was awarded first place in the picture story category. His picture story highlighted U.S and Iraqi military vehicle mechanics working together during his deployment to Ali Base, Iraq.

Additionally, newcomer Airman 1st Class Jessica McConnell, journalist, placed second in the News Article category for her article titled "Minot IDEA winner saves Air Force millions".

Capt. Genieve David, chief of Public Affairs at Minot and former deputy director for Public Affairs at 13th Air Force, was awarded second place in the 2010 Pacific Air Forces Media Contest Awards for the news article category. The article focused on the U.S. Air Force Airmen and representatives from the local health department who were on a crusade to combat the Dengue virus in barangays, or villages, as part of Operation Pacific Angel Feb.15-22, 2010.

In the Combat Documentation Photograph category Airman Veloz was awarded second place for images captured during his documentation of Air Combat Command's Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Equipment Challenge.

Similarly Airman Stratton placed second for Portrait-Personality Photograph with an image of Senior Airman Ashley N. Avecilla taken for the article "Islamic faith, Christian world."

Third place was awarded to Sergeant Dow for his pictorial photograph wildlife on base.

Airman McConnell was awarded third place as the command's Outstanding New Writer of the Year, which is awarded to personnel working in print journalism for less than two years.

"I'm extremely proud of the efforts of our Airmen in this office," said Captain David. "They work hard here to support the Air Force's only dual-wing nuclear capable base and I'm excited that their efforts didn't go unnoticed."