An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | March 11, 2010

National Guard announces media contest winners

By Courtesy Story

ARLINGTON, Va., - Judges waded through a record-setting number of entries in the National Guard's annual media contest this year, which included more than 700 print stories and about 140 broadcast packages.

The entries ranged from stories about the Guard's efforts to empower women in Iraq to a haunted officer's club in Michigan and came from units located around the country. They were written and produced here and by deployed troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.

The 50 or so categories in the Air and Army Guard contests included feature stories, television newscasts, stand-alone photos, commentaries and community relations plans.

In the print competition, Nebraska led the way for the Air Guard with 12 winners and North Dakota lead the Army Guard with eight, said Air Force Master Sgt. Greg Rudl, the contest administrator.

In the broadcast competition, Montana, Colorado and members of the Air National Guard's Training and Education Center, Tenn., were some of the multi-category winners for the Air Guard, said Army Master Sgt. Paul Mouilleseaux, the contest administrator.

For the Army Guard, the 34th Infantry Division's Red Bulls, the Illinois Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs Office and California's 69th Public Affairs Detachment won multiple awards.

"The overall quality of entries was the best that I have seen in some time," he said.

One of the reasons for the increase in entries may have been the ease of information sharing in the digital age.

In previous years, entrants had to cut their story or photo from a magazine or newspaper, paste it to a board, box it up and mail it to the Guard Bureau for judging.

For the second year in row, Guardsmen submitted their best work over the internet using electronic forms.

Fifteen print judges sifted through 406 Army Guard entries and 290 Air Guard entries. Contest judges were picked for their experience in military and civilian journalism, public affairs and military history.

"I was amazed by how much the Guard does all over our country, and by the contributions they make in ways big and small," said Jeri Robinson, a public affairs specialist at the Internal Revenue Service who was a new judge this year, via email. "It was a humbling, yet proud, experience."

Print and broadcast winners were forwarded to the next level of competition—the Army's Keith L. Ware Contest and the Air Force Media Contest.

The Army National Guard was allowed to forward three entries in each category and the Air Guard was allowed one in each category.

 

 

Related Articles
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Brian Searcy, the Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army National Guard, addresses attendees of a warrant officer caucus session during the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) conference in Milwaukee, August 24, 2025. The 147th NGAUS General Conference and Exhibition – which is held annually to connect delegates from all 54 states and territories to discuss the future of the National Guard – took place August 21-25 and featured various events and social gatherings throughout Milwaukee to showcase Wisconsin’s rich history and heritage.
Searcy Leaves Legacy of Advocacy for Warrant Officers in Army Guard
By Lt. Col. Carla Raisler, | Aug. 28, 2025
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Chief Warrant Officer 5 Brian Searcy, the eighth command chief warrant officer of the Army National Guard, will retire later this year after more than three decades of service.Searcy marked the occasion this...