INDIANA CHAPTER, DINFOS
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
P. O. BOX 269295
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
46216-6200
(317) 546-1743 -
E-mail: jrubak@aol.com
The twenty
fourth meeting of the Indiana Chapter of the DINFOS Alumni
Association was held on October 1, 2005, at ll:00 am in the
Bunker Room at The Garrison at Ft. Harrison State Park.
Attached is a listing of those who attended.
President,
Jack Rubak, welcomed all of those in attendance, and Colonel
John Christy, USA-Ret, gave the Invocation.
When the
meal was over, all in attendance introduced themselves.
Following the individual introductions, he introduced the
guest speaker, Diana Penner, a reporter for the
Indianapolis Star.
Ms. Penner
gave an interesting detailed account of her trip over to
Afghanistan in which Quadrat Ullah Wardak, the two year old
boy who underwent open heart surgery in Indianapolis, and his
father were returning to their home in Afghanistan.
-
She mentioned how she had held Quadrat on her lap many
times during their 26-hour flight on a C-13. She said she had
become quite attached to the child, and tears welled up in her
eyes when she relayed how shocked everyone was upon learning
of his death. It was quite an emotional experience.
-
Ms. Penner said when she arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan,
she didn’t know what to expect. Chuck Ricks met her and her
photographer and the US military stationed at Camp Phoenix.
The conditions over there were pretty deplorable. They stayed
in Safe Houses, guarded by the Afghans. The Taliban was
there.
-
The Kabul River running through the city was less than
sanitary, containing human waste, and in the same river, the
residents did their washing.
-
She had an armed military guard accompany her when
walking in the city, and terrorists had captured an Italian
aid worker standing only 300 feet away from her. Although the
residents were reluctant to talk to the media, she did get the
opportunity to talk to some of them.
-
There is very little coverage by the media in
Afghanistan. The media over there consists of radio and word
of mouth.
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Ms. Penner ended her presentation by saying she had
some interesting pictures on her PC of the region where she
and her photographer were, and she invited the audience to
view these pictures after the meeting.
The next
speaker was LTC Chuck Ricks, USA-Ret, who gave the highlights
of some of his experiences during the year he spent in
Afghanistan.-
While over there, the only time they saw TV was on
Thursday and Friday afternoons.
-
He was the liaison for Tom Brokaw’s documentary visit.
Brokaw arrived at 10 o’clock in the morning, had lunch,
signed autographs and then left town. Diana Penner was the
only one who took time to talk to an Afghanistan.
-
There is a disconnect between what’s going on. The
Americans are so obsessed with good news, and a lot of time is
spent marketing stuff that is irrelevant.
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The broadcasters from DINFOS are brilliant people.
They shoot not only battles but also complex situations.
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He was very impressed with journal’s Freedom Watch.
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The longer you are in Afghanistan, the less you
understand the country.
Rubak then
gave this summary of what’s new at DINFOS, Ft. Meade that had
been prepared by Mike Gannon, newly appointed Assistant
Commandant for Institutional and Academic Affairs.
-
Lot’s of good things are happening at the school. If
the travels of any attendees at this meeting lead them to DC,
please have them stop by the school.
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Twenty Mobile Training Teams have been deployed in
support of Global War on Terror, and a five-member team has
been deployed to Afghanistan to train Afghan public affairs
official.
-
Graduated the first DINFOS distributed learning class –
the Public Affairs Officer Qualification Course – Distance
Learning. The majority of the instructional staff was
composed of Reserve and contract faculty members.
-
Completed the transition to “digital only” photography
courses.
-
Rejuvenated the Senior Public Affairs Officer Seminar
in July.
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Twenty-two Reservists are certified as adjunct faculty.
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Course developers have begun development of
Intermediate and Intermediate/Advance Public Affairs courses.
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In May, hosted the second annual “Combined Focus” award
ceremony to honor the winners of the Military Photographer,
Videographer and Graphics Artist of the year competition as
well as the winners of the Print and Broadcast Thomas
Jefferson Awards.
-
An extensive upgrading of the DINFOS FTX site at Ft.
Meade has just begun.
-
Later this month will host the second meeting of the
DINFOS Governance Executive Council. (This is similar to our
Board of Visitors).
-
Will shortly be unveiling our new Community of
Practice, a web-based portal in which all public Affairs and
Visual Information personnel (to include alumni) will be able
to access tools, information and expertise in a collaborate
environment.
-
Recently hosted a review team from the American Council
on Education. Their recommendations for college credit
equivalency are as follows: Basic Public Affairs Skills
(Writer) – 9 credits; Basic Public Affairs Skills
(Broadcaster) – 12 credits; Basic Still Photography – 12
credits; Basic Television Equipment Maintenance Course – 18
credits; Broadcast Radio/Television System Maintenance Course
– 17 credits; Intermediate and Digital Multimedia Course – 12
credits.
-
Personnel changes are as follows: Lt.Col. Cliff
Douglas is the new Deputy Commandant; the Senior Enlisted
Adviser is Master Chief Bill Reed; Commander Steve Lowry is
the Chief of Staff; LTC Mike Birmingham is in charge of the PA
Leadership department; and Mike Gannon is now the Assistant
Commandant for Institutional and Academic Affairs.
As to
nominees for the DINFOS Hall of Fame, three persons were
nominated but only one application has been received. Any
other applications should be sent to us by the end of this
October. Anyone wishing to nominate himself/herself may do
so.
The meeting
adjourned at 1:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jack Rubak,
President
Helen
C. Stritt, Secretary
