Crew behind 'lights, camera, action' earns Air Force recognition

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Lindsey Maurice
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Those familiar voices and faces the base community has come to know as the Airmen of American Forces Network Aviano, claimed some well-earned bragging rights recently, as they garnered seven awards in the 2008 Air Force Media Contest.

Airman Lauren Lagudi, Staff Sgt. Todd Kabalan, Airman 1st Class Caitlin Jones and Senior Airmen Jarid Watson and Michael Williams were among those to garner individual awards during the competition for their work in radio and television.

"I wasn't surprised when the results came out because I know how great my staff is and how hard they work," said Senior Master Sgt. Robert Valenca, AFN Aviano affiliate superintendant. "What did surprise me was how well we did compared to the other detachments. We have some incredible talent in our career field and to have so much award winning talent in one spot is rare."

"I think what sets them apart from others is their drive and ambition," he said. "Tech. Sgt. (Tara) O'Brien, our NCO in charge of news, gives them a little direction and they run with it every time. It's that drive and ambition to want to excel and surpass what is asked of them that led to these awards and it's nice to see them being recognized for it!"

Airman Lagudi, who has been in the Air Force just over a year now, received the distinctive honor of being named the 2008 Outstanding New Broadcaster of the Year, which is awarded to broadcasters with less than two years of experience. As part of her package, Airman Lagudi submitted two television news stories, an "Aviano Minute" television newsbreak and a radio show.

"I didn't want to get my hopes up beforehand as I wasn't familiar with the contest or how the results would turn out," said Airman Lagudi, "but I was excited when I heard I won. I called my mom right away to tell her the news. I think it was about 11 p.m. her time, but she was an Air Force broadcaster too when she was in and could relate. She was really happy for me."

Airman Lagudi, who has been stationed at Aviano since July 2008, said she fell in love with broadcasting in high school.

"I worked on my high school TV station for three years filming events and making music videos out of them," she said. "Everyone really loved it and we always got great feedback. I knew then that this was what I wanted to do."

"That's what I love about the radio show too is that instant feedback we get," she said. "People really appreciate what we do and I love doing it. If I could do this for the rest of my life I would."

Sergeant Kabalan, a nine-year veteran, also received top honors in the Air Force Media Contest, earning first place in the Radio News Report and Television Newsbreak categories as well as third place in the Radio Entertainment category.

The career broadcaster and veteran to the media contest, having placed in previous years' competitions, said one thing he likes to focus on in his work, that many new broadcasters overlook, is sound.

"A lot of new broadcasters forget that the most important thing in news and TV is sound," he said. "Sound is such an important aspect of our work. It's what draws the viewer or listener into the story and it's what I like to focus on most."

The sergeant, who has been stationed at Aviano since July 2008, said he has always enjoyed broadcasting and the unique experience it brings.

"In going out and covering events and people it's almost like you get to experience life through their eyes and live vicariously through them -- experiencing their job and what they do," he said. "In broadcasting you get to see every Airman's job from the good to the not-so-good. You gain so much life experience from that."

Sergeant Kabalan said that while he is honored with his media contest wins, it was seeing his Airmen do so well that really made his day.

"I was just so happy to see that Airman Lagudi got 'Outstanding New Broadcaster' that I didn't even realize I placed until about an hour later when I was reading through all the results," he said. "It's nice to be recognized, but I'm much happier about the Airmen in the shop getting that recognition."

Airman Jones received first place honors in the Radio Spot Production category, while Airman Watson took second in the Radio Feature Report category and Airman Williams garnered third in the Television Spot Production category.

Sergeant Kabalan and Airmen Lagudi and Jones each receive the Air Force Recognition Ribbon for placing first in the contest and now go on to compete at the Department of Defense-level competition later this year.