AFN Kaiserslautern wins station of the year

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KAISERSLAUTERN MILITARY COMMUNITY, Germany --  This is not your average boring, military Web site. That's what many people think when they first click on the AFN Kaiserslautern site at afneurope.net and vote on the top songs playing on AFN The Eagle radio, participate in contests to win prizes or play a game of hangman.

The site also features AFN Europe TV news stories you can download, as well as the day's exchange rate and weather information. When the weather gets bad, the site has all the latest in community delays and closures.

The station's Web site is one of the reasons AFN Kaiserslautern was selected as the top AFN Europe station out of five in 2008. The geek brain behind the Web magic is Tech. Sgt. Jeramie Brown, who is a few semester hours away from getting his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Science. He programs and he plays. Sergeant Brown's current favorite game is "Warhammer on Line." He takes his experiences and puts it into a weekly "Virtual World News" computer gaming feature airing Europe-wide on AFN The Eagle.

The Air Force sergeant, who still sometimes slips into a limp from leg wounds suffered during a mortar attack in Iraq in 2007, is one of 13 people who contributed to the station winning station of the year for overall excellence in broadcasting, engineering, logistics and personnel.

Station Commander Master Sgt. Shiela Flinders said the key to the Kaiserslautern win was "each person displaying initiative, motivation and teamwork."

Many individuals accomplished a lot at AFN Kaiserslautern, with each achievement contributing to the station's overall success. Sergeant Flinders won the Air Force News Agency Senior NCO of the Quarter. Senior Airman Rob Joswiak won AFN Europe junior enlisted service member of the year, Staff Sgt. Daniel Vernatter earned network NCO of the year and Senior Airman Joely Santiago got junior enlisted member of the quarter in 2008.

Airman Santiago also got a below-the-zone promotion to senior airman and Army Sgt. Ian Camejo was promoted to staff sergeant. Station personnel excelled while deployed, with Senior Airman Scott Johnson serving six months in Iraq and Airman Joswiak and Sergeant Vernatter each serving six months in Afghanistan. Sergeant Flinders was selected for Officer Training School in June and newly arrived Tech. Sgt. Colleen Armstrong was chosen for a week of advanced television reporting training in Italy.

While the individual achievements indicate a cohesive, competent team, AFN Europe competition judges felt it was most important that the station was succeeding in broadcasting quality command information and clients felt those messages effectively achieved their goals.

"The biggest thing we hear back from our clients is they know they will get results by advertising with us -- whether it's participation for a blood drive or asking the community to donate to holiday programs for military families," said Sergeant Flinders. "We consider many of our clients more as our partners in getting the word out about important events and information. It's a cooperative effort to be successful!"

Since the messages AFN Europe puts on the air are free, stations rely on clients telling the station how well the broadcast publicity worked. Defense Commissary Agency Europe Public Affairs Officer Gerri Young said AFN Kaiserslautern's last-minute publicity for the Vogelweh Commissary's Seafood Roadshow, the sixth location for the sale, "busted all records for the others by a long shot!"

And 435th Air Base Wing Commander Col. Don Bacon said AFN Kaiserslautern's promotion of a voter registration drive resulted in 178 people signing up, "approximately 45 percent greater than events without the AFN effort." The wing commander added, "We believe the extra emphasis through over-the-air exposure, and other advertising, is the reason for the large number of registrants in a short four-hour period."

Assistant Superintendent of Lorraine American Cemetery Walter Benjamin credits AFN Kaiserslautern's promotion with doubling the participation for Memorial Day at Lorraine Cemetery from 400 people in 2007 to 800 in 2008.

The measurable comparative results of AFN Kaiserslautern's support of the Memorial Day event helped the station win an AFN Europe broadcast excellence award. The station also won honors for its morning DJ show with Demarrio Spence as well as radio and TV spots produced by Ops Manager Jerry Cormier.

Of course creating broadcast publicity is useless if it doesn't go out over the airwaves. Technicians Oliver Leismann and Gerhard Geyer kept radio transmitters on the air and all broadcast systems working.

Traffic Manager Margit Lesmeister started her career as a secretary, then jumped into the digital age to become the first point-of-contact for people wanting to get their publicity requests on the air in the Kaiserslautern Military Community.

The 33rd AFN Europe Commander Col. Scott Malcom felt the station's accomplishments resulted from a common attribute. "What set apart AFN Kaiserslautern from their sister stations this year was the attitude of initiative that each and every team member there exudes every day. The many contests they sponsor to connect members of the K-town community with their key information clients are all the result of their good ideas and their collective ability and energy to implement them. In short, the relationships that they have with their supported communities are exceptional. I couldn't be prouder of them."

Every AFN station has a close relationship with their community, but every station works constantly to improve the quality and effectiveness of their messages and stories. Every station follows the philosophy of being "your station, and telling your stories." The role you can play to help is to contact your AFN station and let them know when publicity works, and when it doesn't. And when you have an interesting idea on a story give the station a call!