The [military] broadcast center of the universe

My cubicle is NOT the center of the broadcast universe.

That title may have built this post up a bit, but my new job really is in on the front line of military news reporting.  I work for DoD News (formerly The Pentagon Channel) which reports on all military-wide news.

Working very near us are armies of servicemembers and civilians producing content for individual military branches.  Everyone is churning out TV broadcasts, commercials, social media blitzes and much more.
 

The DoD News control room.

My building is called Defense Media Activity, or DMA, and it's located on Fort Meade.  There are billions of high-paced conversations happening all around me. 

"...Did you get the lead-in request for that Kirby brief?"
"...We're at speed when content control is ready for Sundance recording"
"...I need to coordinate a web transfer for this rotator please."

These and many other phrases are sloooooowly becoming things I understand.

 

Ever watch a news show where they cut to someone in the newsroom?  We do that here.  Air Force Staff Sergeant Chad Usher is preparing for what's called a "toss" to him from the studio.

See the camera way back there?  It's controlled remotely from the DoD News control room.

I can run the teleprompter!  

Your mobile device NEEDS this

Let's face it, most of us spend a lot of time on our smartphones or tablets.  But are your apps leaving you cold and empty inside?

I have the solution.

The Navy's been working on a badass app for some time now, and it's gotten to the point where I feel really good recommending it to you.  There's a bunch of fun stuff on it but my favorites are:

1.  Personalized Mail - I receive Navy environmental and humanitarian news
2.  Interactive Map - This thing looks like a video game, and shows global fleet activity.
 
Check out The Official Navy App here!  (Scroll down the page for a cool graphic ad.)

As a bonus for reading my shameless sales pitch, here's yet another awesome job an MC could end up with.

MC1 David Holmes:  This photo was from Dakar, Senegal (2009) while I was deployed with USS Nashville as part of 6th Fleet's Africa Partnership Station.  The event was a ceremony thanking the Seabees for installing a water well at a school.  Your best chance to be a part of something like this is to get orders to 6th Fleet or NPASE Europe.  Both are out of Naples, Italy.  I was at 6th Fleet. Great tour!

Goodbye Syracuse! Hello [lots of stuff]!

Graduation night.  MC1 Lingo, center with duck lips.  Selfie by Shawn Weismiller.

Ok that's all she wrote for Syracuse University.  We all made it through, with MC1 Nicholas Lingo not only working towards a master's (on top of normal course work), but earning the best grades in the group. (pretty much straight A's)

Those of you in the military have already realized that the bonds formed between us are stronger than most, because of what we go through.  There will always be a special connection with classes that survive two semesters (and a winter) at Syracuse U.

Huge shoutout to all the civilians and Navy 

that have worked to keep this program alive and well.

To my classmates: 

MC2 Torrey Lee 
MC2 Dom Pineiro
MC2 Bullet Tooth Tony Ramos

MC1 D Kennon
MC1 Nick Next Level Lingo
MC1 Ras Rasmussen
MC1 Sean Spratt


Love you guys.  Stay safe out there.

MC1 Alan Gragg (center with hand on hip), an instructor at DINFOS, gives a pep talk after PT.

That last line is normally when I'd start crying...but look what I get to do now!  Take photos of A schoolers!

Okay I technically work at Defense Media Activity, more specifically The Pentagon Channel.  But my building is located next door to the Defense Information School, so after checking in to work, I quickly showed up to see what the newbies were doing.  I tagged along for their 0430 PT muster today.  That's 4:30...AM.

After an hour of me realizing how out of shape I was, a couple students came and talked to me about the blog, and even knew about my Mars One venture.  (Manukin and ...Ecklebecker [sp?])

I'm really psyched to get personal access to this stuff, for two reasons.  One, my readers want current information.  Two, I love being in the place where MCs are molded.

Hopefully they don't get too annoyed with the old guy taking photos of them all the time.  I'll have more on my job as I learn it, and more on MC A school as I get the chance to get over there.

IMPORTANT:  Ignore any rumors about me getting covered in ants during PT and running around like I was on fire.

MC Perspective: What'd you learn today?

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (April 7, 2014, 2014) -- Seaman LaDereke Grant poses for a  studio recreation portrait in the Basic Mass Communication Specialist Course. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Eric Chan/Released)

"...it took quite a bit of effort to break out of their comfort zones, 

often times facing rejection or having to be in someone's face with a camera." - SN Madanat

FEED THE BEAST.  The majority of my readers, and most of the emails I get, are interested in three things.

1. boot camp
2. cross rating or striking to MC
3. A school

Number 3 is by far the biggest interest, so any day I can do a post about DINFOS is a good day.  Every once in a while an extra-motivated A school student will help me feed the insatiable mob of I Am Your Eyes readers.

Feast on this solid gold straight from the classroom.

 --------------------

Much of the Basic Mass Communication Specialist Course (BMCSC), such as the photo portion of the class, is designed to be a stressful environment to make sure MCs are well-prepared for the fleet. We learn about preserving the image or message being conveyed. Everyday we learned something new and then applied the knowledge through a class exercise. I definitely think the learning environment demanded that previous training be used and expanded upon.

BALTIMORE (April 17, 2014) -- Historic Ships of Baltimore crew member R. J. Welker fires a 20-pound Parrot cannon aboard the USS Constellation.  Firing the cannon is the main attraction of the day for the large contingent of visitors aboard the ship. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Spencer F. Fling/ Released)

 

During the photo functional area of training, we still had to maintain the writing concepts and techniques that we learned in the previous functional areas. Caption writing is an important part of photography and is critical to be able to release images to the public. 

Shooting in studio was a lot of fun because DINFOS has a fantastic studio classroom. We practiced shooting formal Navy portraiture, as well as various experimental shots. Studio was very interesting because we were able to control so much of what the image ended up looking like before ethically enhancing pictures.

 BALTIMORE (April 19, 2014) -- The crowd at the Color Run celebrate their completion of the 5K run. The Color Run is a global event that is known as the happiest 5K on the planet, it was founded in January 2012 and it has donated more than $3 million to charities. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Apprentice Juan A. Salinas-León/ Released)

Applying the photographic techniques on the trips we took to Alexandria, Baltimore and Washington D.C. to create our photo stories was such an exciting learning experience! It took a great deal of planning in order to make sure we were going to be able to get a story from our prior research and connections.

We had to basically cold call a lot of the places and pitch the idea of meeting with them, conducting an interview and taking photos for hours. These trips were definitely an exercise in our public affairs skills. For many of the Sailors, it took quite a bit effort to break out of their comfort zones, often times facing rejection or having to be in someone's face with a camera.

WASHINGTON (April 21, 2014) -- Employees and customers interact at Captain White's Seafood City while a crab attempts to escape from the display. Captain White’s Seafood City is a seafood market selling a variety of live and cooked seafood. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Recruit Derry Todd/Released)

 "One other major aspect of our training is 

developing the ability to tell a story. 

I'm learning more and more that Navy MCs are storytellers."

 
They are trained in many different mediums in order to convey an effective and enjoyable message to either a general or specific audience. Learning to tell a story using photographic images meant that I had to look through hundreds and hundreds of images taken just to find the one that captured the right moment at the right time, all while framing the most aesthetically appealing image.

BALTIMORE (April 23, 2014) Brian Rudzinski, a seven-year-old Baltimore resident, gazes out the window of the Top of the World Observation Level. The observation level is open to tourists and residents of all ages offering a high vantage point for people to see the city of Baltimore. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Apprentice Mason M. Gillan/Released)

It feels good completing the photography portion of Basic Mass Communication Specialist Course. However, I know that I need to remember the camera techniques that I learned and apply them to everything else in the training, as well as in the fleet.

Moreover, refining my storytelling ability is now a lifelong goal of mine. The fantastic story tellers the Navy has as MCs, as well as those training them, are indeed examples and role models for me.

-SN Madanat

 Seaman Rawad Madanat