Multimedia moves from Comm to PA Published May 7, 2008 By Master Sgt. William Gomez 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Formerly part of the 56th Communications Squadron, Luke's multimedia center has moved under the umbrella of the 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs organization. In a world of constant change and with the increasing hunger for the latest news, information and imagery, the Air Force has re-organized and merged its multimedia and Public Affairs offices to fulfill the demand. What was formerly known as Visual Information, Multi-media has moved to a new facility and joined the wing staff Public Affairs team in an effort to focus on communicating the Luke story to the world. In the past, Luke's staff of photographers and videographers primarily captured images for documentation purposes. Now the primary purpose of public affairs photographers, broadcasters and journalists is to strategically communicate the base's mission represent its mission through images, video and words. Through these combined efforts, we are able to effectively share the wing's mission of training the greatest F-16 fighter pilots and maintainers and release it in a variety of mediums for our internal and external audiences. Our photos, videos and stories are compiled, reviewed for timeliness and accuracy and disseminated to the appropriate news agencies both military and civilian. The fruits of our labor can be accessed through Luke's homepage http://www.luke.af.mil. On this public Web site, the public affairs staff posts the most current of events and newsworthy stories about our Luke community. Of note is the Luke broadcast news page which contains broadcast news clips of Luke warfighters at work and play. To better market the wing's mission, the photography and broadcast production sections have reprioritized and scaled back on some services. Unit specific events with no significant mission impact will no longer have priority. Self-help equipment is available on a first come first serve basis to satisfy those needs. In addition, PBD 720 cuts implemented in conjunction with the PA/Multimedia merge dissolved the military graphics career field. On May 30 the last of the graphics specialists will depart for retraining or separation and graphics services will no longer be available at Luke. In most cases, technology and user-friendly software have enabled customers to create their own products eliminating the need to seek a graphics shop expertise. Most services previously available through graphics can be accomplished through the Defense Automated Printing Service. Chris Rogers is the Luke DAPS representative. He can be reached at DSN 837-3269 or by e-mail at Christopher.rogers@dla.mil. In the Air Force, we've all seen that our only constant is change. Though the transition of our multimedia focus reduces some services and may cause additional burden for some customers, the vision of a PA strategic communication tool empowering the Air Force is valuable and will go far in ensuring future successes for the 56th Fighter Wing and Luke.