PA uses new media to reach out, tell Wolf Pack story

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Angela Ruiz
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  The Kunsan Public Affairs Office launched two new publicly accessible Internet sites recently to better tell the Kunsan story to Airmen, and their families and friends around the world. 

Kunsan Air Base now has YouTube and Facebook pages. While not accessible from mil domain computers, the sites can be viewed by Wolf Pack members and their loved ones from their homes. 

"When the Public Affairs and Multimedia career field merged in 2007, we gained the capability to produce TV stories in addition to usual print stories, but had no way to get these stories out to our Airmen and their families back home," said Staff Sgt. Trevor Tiernan, NCO in charge of PA operations. 

The PA staff works closely with Kunsan's American Forces Network detachment to air the stories on the network's TV and radio stations. However, if an Airman wants his or her family back home to see their story, unless they receive AFN broadcasts they couldn't receive the story. 

"The best thing about sites like YouTube is that anyone can access them," said Public Affairs Chief, 1st Lt. David Herndon. "A lot of the stories our broadcasters here produce play only on AFN. For most people, their families back home will never get a chance to see these stories. Now they can." 

The intent, said Lieutenant Herndon, is to allow current and former Wolf Pack members, and anyone else interested in the Wing, to stay current with Kunsan events. 

"News today operates on a 24 hour basis," he said. "Since Public Affairs offices stopped producing hard copy newspapers we've been constantly adapting to new methods to tell our stories. Using the Web is quicker, reaches a wider audience, and best of all it's free." 

The YouTube page has 27 video stories currently loaded which have already been viewed more than 240 times since the page's launch Sept. 17. The Facebook page is still in development. When completed, it too will show Kunsan video stories in addition to photo albums, print stories, current events and will serve as a medium for Wolf Pack Airmen and friends to stay in touch. 

Additionally, the PA staff will forward a link to family members back home if the featured Airman provides an e-mail or regular mailing address. 

Check out Kunsan's online presence at www.youtube.com/kunsanairbase and Kunsan Air Base at www.facebook.com. AFN's videos are also regularly loaded at www.afnkorea.net, and the Wolf's Weekly "Wolf Hour" radio show can be downloaded from www.kunsan.af.mil.