News Search

News

18th Wing Public Affairs earns PACAF Communication Excellence, Media awards

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Keith A. James
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  18th Wing Public Affairs was recently awarded four 2012 Pacific Air Forces Communication Excellence awards and two PACAF Media Contest awards.

Two of the PACAF Communication Excellence awards and one of the Media Contest awards recognized programs and initiatives run by the entire office.

The team earned the Best Integrated Communication award for its "Power Nap" campaign, which helped reduce energy usage by 3 percent through the months of June and September. By the end of the campaign, energy usage was reduced by 6 percent and the Department of Defense saved $1.7 million.

"We realized we needed to help educate the people on what the problem was, and then get the base community involved in solving the problem," said Maj. Christopher Anderson, 18th Wing Public Affairs chief.

The 18th Wing PA team also received the Best Innovative Program award for the Tanken Bakumon, or Deep Inside, program that depicted Kadena Air Base as "an America within Japan." It highlighted Kadena's mission and U.S. service members, using comedy as a mechanism to help educate the 20- to 50-year-old demographic of mainland Japan and Okinawan audience.

The episode was watched by 700,000 viewers in the greater Tokyo metropolis area alone, and was awarded the Galaxy award, which is the most prestigious Japanese award for media.

"It was actually picked up worldwide," Anderson explained. "We received positive feedback from Japanese nationals in the United States and from other parts of the world."

The media contest's Outstanding Initiative in New Media award went to the 18th Wing PA office for its use of Facebook during the 2012 typhoon season.

Anderson said the programs were successful because of the partnership and support of the base community and the units around the base.

"We couldn't have earned these awards without the great leadership and support from our group and squadron partners in the wing," he said.

Three individuals also earned PACAF Communication Excellence and Media Contest awards in 2012.

Takako Fukuhara, 18th Wing PA community relations chief, received the Outstanding Communication Intermediate Grade Civilian award. Hideaki Sakihama, 18th Wing PA community relations specialist, was named Outstanding Communication Tactical-level Civilian. Naoko Shimoji, 18th Wing PA graphics artist, received the Graphics Layout and Design award.

"I am very proud of our team," Anderson said. "These awards were well earned and are the result of their hard work, enthusiasm, and creativity in support of the 18th Wing's mission."