910th scores four awards at media contest Published March 6, 2018 By Senior Airman Jeffrey Grossi 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Air Force Reserve Command announced the 2017 Media Contest award winners Feb. 21, 2018. The hard work of the 910th Airlift Wing (AW) Public Affairs (PA) team here resulted in wins in four categories. Although it takes a team to effectively run a PA program, much of Youngstown Air Reserve Station’s success comes from one common denominator: Eric M. White, director of command information for the 910th AW Public Affairs office. White is a bit of a Public Affairs polymath, often joking that PA stands for “Practically Anything.” Over the last decade he has honed his skills in several facets of the career field (photography, videography, writing, editing and community relations, to name a few) and has more than a few awards to prove it. White personally won three of the four awards designated to YARS this year: Air Force Reserve Storyteller of the Year, Layout and Design and Civilian Photographer of the Year. The unit also won first place in short form video production for a video produced by White using footage provided by Tech. Sgt. Marshall Hunsaker and Airman 1st Class Sarah Gruber, both broadcast journalists in the PA shop. The most impressive thing about White’s awards is that he is largely self-made and self-taught in several areas of content creation. Twelve years ago, White found his way to the 910th as a clerk under the Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP) while working on a Bachelor of Arts degree in professional writing and editing at Youngstown State University. “The career field matched what I was going to school for,” said White. “I got more involved than I was supposed to, and the right doors opened at the right time.” Photography interested White since he was around ten years old when a family member gifted him a 35mm film camera. When he arrived at the 910th, he found himself surrounded by professional photography equipment and the freedom to use it. “I started learning. I started absorbing as much as I could,” said White. “I just enjoyed telling peoples’ stories, especially out here because we have such an awesome team of folks that work at the 910th.” White said he was given opportunities to do more than what was required of him as a student hire. He used whatever resources were available to him, whether it was studying online, reading books, volunteering for non-profit projects or honing his talent under the guidance of seasoned photographers in the office. After he graduated with a Master’s Certificate in professional writing and editing, he was offered a full-time permanent position here. He also began photographing weddings and senior pictures on the side, anything he could get his hands on. “I enjoyed it enough that I kept delving deeper into it, and now I’ve been doing it for more than a decade, learning as I went,” said White. Throughout his constant studies and service to YARS, White recognized the importance of the job with which he was entrusted. “We’re not just photographers,” said White. “We are responsible for telling the Air Force Story and preserving its legacy. The world needs to know what the Air Force does, and that’s our job.” Although he enjoys photography and video production, writing remains his original passion. He explained his process in uncovering stories at the 910th. “To be a good photographer, your job is to look for the light and use it to your advantage,” said White. “That’s your gold mine. When you’re interviewing people (for a story), everybody has some light about them, something that is profoundly meaningful to them and profoundly interesting to the people who get to hear their story. Your job is to find that, to find the light.” White said he loves the mission of the 910th AW, but even more exceptional than the mission is the people who do it. “I’m content on the side of the camera that I get to stand on, because I get to highlight what everyone else is doing,” said White. “There’s a lot of satisfaction in that.” Having a strong grip on his trade, one of the things that excites White the most is the future of PA at YARS. White said that his goal is to train and mentor the new Public Affairs Reserve Citizen Airmen as much as possible over the course of 2018. “I would love to see our new Reservists clean house next year, to know that they are learning their craft well enough to compete on that stage would mean a lot,” said White. “It’s good to have a team of content producers again so that we can tell the story together.” According to the AFRC website, the Air Force Media Contest is a competition for public affairs professionals from Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve and Department of the Air Force civilians. The purpose of the competition is to stimulate and reward excellence and professionalism in the print, graphics, photography, broadcast and musician career fields. Individuals and units receive awards for outstanding achievements in furthering Air Force and Department of Defense communication objectives. Winners of the AFRC contest go on to compete in the AF contest.