Airmen take home four awards in National Guard Bureau PA contest

By 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs / Published April 06, 2015

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Patrick Cooney celebrates his final Mass as Catholic chaplain for the 123rd Airlift Wing at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Dec. 7, 2014. Cooney retired from military service the same day, concluding a career of more than 30 years in the active-duty Air Force and Air National Guard. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Joshua Horton)

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Senior Airman Joshua Horton won first place in the Feature Photo Division of the 2014 National Guard Bureau Media Contest for this image depicting Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Patrick Cooney as he celebrates his final Mass as Catholic chaplain for the 123rd Airlift Wing at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Dec. 7, 2014. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Joshua Horton)

Aerial porters from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group off-load the unit’s gear from a Mississippi Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 4, 2014, in support of Operation United Assistance. More than 70 Kentucky Airmen arrived with the gear to stand up an Intermediate Staging Base at the airport that will funnel humanitarian supplies and equipment into West Africa as part of the international effort to fight Ebola. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

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Maj. Dale Greer won third place in the Documentation Photo Division of the 2014 National Guard Bureau Media Contest for this image depicting aerial porters from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group as they off-load gear from a C-17 Globemaster III at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 4, 2014, in support of Operation United Assistance, the international effort to fight the worst Ebola outbreak in history. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Clarke III, director of the Air National Guard, administers the oath of enlistment to 15 members of the Kentucky Air National Guard on the 2nd Street Bridge in Louisville, Ky., April 12, 2014. The event kicked off Thunder Over Louisville, the city’s annual air show and fireworks display over the Ohio River. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

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Maj. Dale Greer won second place in the News Photo Division of the 2014 National Guard Bureau Media Contest for this image depicting Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Clarke III, director of the Air National Guard, as he administers the oath of enlistment to 15 members of the Kentucky Air Guard to kick off the annual Thunder Over Louisville air show in Louisville, Ky., April 12, 2014. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Airmen from the 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office earned four awards of excellence in the 2014 National Guard Bureau Media Contest, officials announced Feb. 1.

Senior Airman Joshua Horton took first place in the feature photo category for his coverage of retiring Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Patrick Cooney's final Catholic Mass here; while Staff Sgt. Vicky Spesard won third place for a feature article on Shutsy Reynolds, who served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots corps during World War II.

Maj. Dale Greer earned two photography awards: second place for a news photo depicting a mass re-enlistment ceremony led by the director of the Air National Guard; and third place for a documentation photo showing the wing's role in an Ebola-response mission in Africa.

The contest, which received more than 400 submissions last year, honors the best work of public affairs professionals from across the Air National Guard.

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office have now won more than 75 awards of excellence from the National Guard Bureau, U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense since 1995.