120th Public Affairs Team Garners National Awards

  • Published
  • By Maj. Rick Anderson
  • 120th Fighter Wing
The Air National Guard held its annual media contest recently, with the Montana National Guard coming away with the lion's share of awards and recognition. 
     
Nearly 450 entries were received from 27 states. Entries consisted of articles, photos and videos capturing what the National Guard did in 2008. This included Army Guard members sand bagging swollen rivers in Iowa and Illinois, and North Dakota Air Guard members exercising their chemical and biological warfare skills in sub-freezing conditions. 
     
The Big Sky Flyer, a quarterly magazine produced and edited at the 120th Fighter Wing, was applauded by the judges and awarded first place as the Outstanding Magazine in the Air National Guard. The Flyer is a 16 page magazine that includes numerous photos and articles on recent happenings at the MTANG, a commander's section that includes key information from senior leadership and a history page that reminds us where we came from. 
     
Additional awards for the MTANG included Outstanding Broadcast Journalist of the Year-first place was Senior Master Sgt. Eric Peterson and second place was Tech. Sgt. Charlie Heit. Staff Sgt. Christy Mason was recognized as an up-and-coming reporter and received the Outstanding New Broadcaster of the Year award, and also took second place in the category of television news report for her aircraft conversion story on the last F-16 sortie at the MTANG. 
     
Maj. Rick Anderson received third place in the Outstanding New Print Journalist category and the entire MTANG Public Affairs team collected first place in Outstanding Local Television Newscast for its in-depth program, the 2008 MTANG Year in Review.     
     
The 2008 MTANG Year in Review program continued on in national competition to win first place in the Air Force Media Contest.