916th Public Affairs Airman wins at Air Force level

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ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Senior Airman Meredith A.H. Thomas, 916th Public Affairs specialist, won top honors in the 2011 Air Force Media Contest according to an announcement on Feb. 27.

Thomas, a journalist with the Reserve wing, was named Outstanding New Writer at the Air Force Reserve Command level and at the Air Force level. She know competes for the Thomas Jefferson Award at the DoD level.

The 916th Public Affairs Office also received the command award for Outstanding New Media Initiative, but lost at the Air Force level to a National Guard wing.

In addition to Thomas' win, two other Air Force reservists won top honors in the 2011 Air Force Media Contest.

The winners from Air Force Reserve Command are Tech. Sgt. Shawn Jones, print journalist of the year, 514th Air Mobility Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. and Staff Sgt. Brent Skeen, TV feature report, 459th ARW, Joint Base Andrews, Md.

They were among 20 individual and unit award winners in the command who advanced to the service level competition. The command contest ended in late January and consisted of 300 unit and individual print, still photo, graphic art and broadcast entries from 27 organizations throughout the command.

Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr., AFRC commander, announced the results of the command contest in a memorandum Feb. 27.

"The quality and quantity of entries continues to improve with each year," wrote the general in his memo to unit commanders. He thanked the contestants for their "dedication and superb work in telling ... stories to the American public and our Air Force family."

In the command contest, Jones also penned winning stories in two of the command's three feature article categories - news feature and personality feature. His news feature article represented the command in the Air Force feature article category.

Tech. Sgt. Samuel King Jr., a print journalist from the 919th Special Operations Wing, Duke Field, Fla., snapped up the most command awards in still photography. His winning entries in the combat documentation, news, sports, picture story and photographer of the year categories represented the command in the Air Force Media Contest in San Antonio, Texas.

This was the first year in which Airmen from one functional area could compete for the top award in another functional area.

Still photographer Staff Sgt. Mikhail Berlin, from the 445th Airlift Wing, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, took awards in the feature photograph, portrait/personality photograph and pictorial photograph categories.

Tech. Sgt. Richard Gonzales, a broadcaster from the 419th Fighter Wing, Hill AFB, Utah, won the television sports report and local TV newscast categories.

Other winning entries that also advanced to the Air Force contest were:

News article - Staff Sgt. Tabitha Dupas, 403rd Wing, Keesler AFB, Miss.

Commentary - Senior Airman Bobby Pilch, 315th AW, Joint Base Charleston, S.C.

Sports article - Staff Sgt. Alexander Brown, 439 t AW, Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.

Series - Capt. S. J. Brown, 934th AW, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Air Reserve Station, Minn.

Graphics illustration - Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens, 403rd Wing, Keesler AFB

Graphic layout and design - Senior Airman Damon Kasberg, 434th Air Refueling Wing, Grissom ARB, Ind.

Photojournalism - Tech. Sgt. Mark Orders-Woempner, 434th ARW, Grissom ARB

Combat documentation photograph - Tech. Sgt Cheryl Foster, 919th SOW, Duke Field

Illustrative photograph - Tech. Sgt. Joseph McKee, 914th AW, Niagara Falls IAP ARS, N.Y.

Video documentary - Senior Master Sgt. Keith Baxter, 4th Combat Camera Squadron, March ARB, Calif.

Outstanding new photographer - Master Sgt. Gregory Steele, 307th Bomb Wing, Barksdale AFB LA

Two unit award winners are the 94th AW, Dobbins ARB, Ga., in the website category, and the 934th AW, Minneapolis-St. Paul IAP ARS, in the video field production category.

Also advancing to the Air Force contest were Master Sgt. William Pope, 439th AW, Westover ARB, in the graphics animation category; the 434th AW's Heartland Warrior from Grissom ARB in the web-based publication category.

In the command competition, the Freedom Flyer magazine from the 514th AMW, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, was named the best publication. The Mohawk magazine from the 442nd FW, Whiteman AFB, Mo., came in second.

Master Sgt. Veronica Aceveda from the 512th AW, Dover AFB, Del., wrote the best human-interest feature article, and Lt. Col. Timothy Wollmuth from the 934th AW, Minneapolis-St. Paul IAP ARS was selected the best stringer writer.

Stenner thanked the contest participants for their dedication and praised them for their "superb work" in telling their unit's story.

"We appreciate your hard work and applaud your enthusiasm," he wrote. "We look forward to seeing more success stories in the 2012 contest."

Runners-up in the AFRC contest by category are:

News article - tied for second place - Jones, 514th AMW, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and King, 919th SOW, Duke Field.

News feature article - second place - Orders-Woempner, 434th ARW, Grissom ARB, and third place - King, 919th SOW, Duke Field

Human interest feature article - second place - Senior Airman Andrew McLaughlin, 434th ARW, Grissom ARB, and third place - Jones, 514th Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

Personality feature article - second place - Staff Sgt. Brenda Haines, 910th AW, Youngstown ARS, Ohio, and third place - Tech. Sgt. Julie Weckerlein, 445th AW, Wright-Patterson AFB

Commentary - second place - Col. Jay Flournoy, 349th AMW commander, Travis AFB, Calif., and 1st Lt. Zach Anderson, 931st Air Refueling Group, McConnell AFB, Kan.

Sports article - second place - Jones, 514th AMW, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and third place - Senior Airman Jami Lancette, 434th ARW, Grissom ARB

Series - second place - Staff Sgt. Shawn Rhodes, 927th ARW, MacDill AFB, Fla., and third place - Linda Welz, 452nd AMW, March ARB

Graphics illustration - second place - Pope, 439th AW, Westover ARB, and third place - Senior Airman Hoffman, 304th Rescue Squadron, Portland IAP, Ore.

Graphics layout and design - second place - McKee, 914th AW, Niagara Falls ARS, and third place - Staff Sgt. Danielle Wolf, 442nd FW, Whiteman AFB

Website - second place - 349th AMW, Travis AFB, and third place - 307th BW, Barksdale AFB

Photojournalism - second place - Jones, 514th AMW, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and third place - Steele, 307th BW, Barksdale AFB

Combat documentation photograph - Tech. Sgt. Christine Jones, 4th CTCS, March ARB, and third place - McKee, 914th AW, Niagara Falls ARS

News photograph - second place - Senior Airman Jonathan Hehnly, 911th Pittsburgh IAP ARS, Pa., and third place - Master Sgt. Donna Jeffries, 514th AMW, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

Feature photograph - second place - Foster, 919th SOW, Duke Field, and third place - McGee, 914th AW, Niagara Falls ARS

Sports photograph - tied for second place - Brown, 439th AW, Westover ARB, and Lancette - 434th ARW, Grissom ARB

Portrait/personality photograph - second place - Ann Skarban, 302nd AW, Peterson AFB, Colo., and third place - Steele, 307th BW, Barksdale AFB

Illustrative photograph - second place - Tech. Sgt. Erica Knight, 4th CTCS, March ARB, and third place - Senior Airman Joshua Seybert, 911th AW, Pittsburgh IAP ARS

Pictorial photograph - second place - Seybert, 911th AW, Pittsburgh IAP ARS

Picture story - second place - Steele, 307th BW, Barksdale AFB, and third place - Tech. Sgt. Robert Sommer, 934th AW, Minneapolis-St. Paul IAP ARS

Photographer of the year - second place - Berlin, 445th AW, Wright-Patterson AFB