Security forces enhance combat skills at Fort Knox

Fire Team members from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Security Forces Squadron conduct training to recover a simulated downed pilot inside a mock Afghan Village at Fort Knox, Ky., Oct. 20, 2015. The Airmen were required to execute a coordinated search while defending their positions and engaging hostile enemy forces. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer)

123rd's Public Affairs Office earns six national awards of excellence

Published Sept. 16, 2016
123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- For the sixth consecutive year, members of the 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office have earned multiple awards of excellence, taking home six honors in the 2015 National Guard Bureau and U.S. Air Force media contests.

At the National Guard-level competition, Senior Airman Joshua Horton won first place in photojournalism for a story and photo package covering field training by the 123rd Civil Engineer Squadron; Master Sgt. Phil Speck took second place in the documentation category for his photo of 123rd Security Forces Airmen conducting training at Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Lt. Col. Dale Greer won two first-place awards in news photos and photo essays for his pictures depicting Airmen arriving home from an overseas deployment and conducting field exercises at Fort Knox. Greer also won second place for a feature photo of Air Force One on the flight line at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base.

At the Air Force level, Greer's homecoming image won second place for news photography.

"I am extremely proud of the work being accomplished by our Public Affairs team," said Brig. Gen. Warren Hurst, Kentucky's assistant adjutant general for Air. "They are true professionals who blaze a trail of excellence. I congratulate them on another round of well-earned awards."

The annual media contests evaluate hundreds of entries in news and feature writing, photojournalism, broadcasting and publications design. Competition is fierce, with entries originating from all across the Air Force. Winners are selected by a panel of judges comprised of professional journalists.

The 123rd Airlift Wing Pubic Affairs Office has won more than 80 national awards of excellence from the NGB, U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense since 1995. Past honors include Air Force Print Journalist of the Year and a Department of Defense Thomas Jefferson Award for news writing, DOD's highest journalism prize.