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On 1/8/2011 3:18:30 PM By Airman 1st Class Jevon Smith
Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa strategic communication combat camera videographer
wrote
No job worth doing is ever easy. That being said, imagine being a construction worker, and being told you can a build a bridge but you weren't allowed to use your tools. Well, fortunately, I wasn't literally tasked to perform that scenario, but telling a videographer he can't bring his video camera into a country to document is the metaphorical equivalent of building with no tools.
I'm in Public Affairs, and one of the things we do is "build bridges". Essentially, we do that through documentation and communication. So construction allegories aside, my point is: it's tough to do what you are tasked to do without the proper tools.
This isn't to say I didn't have tools at all, I just had different ones. Foreign ones, if you will. Instead of a digital camcorder, which I've been trained to proficency with, I could only bring my "secondary" tool, a still camera. The mission was to follow and document Air Force Chaplain (Lt. Col.) David Terrinoni's trip around Ethiopia and his interactions with service members and citizens from our partner nations. Seems simple, right? The only thing is that certain restrictions did not allow me to bring my video camera into the country, and I had only a little bit of training with the still camera.
I'm still fairly new to the military and always eager to prove my abilities. Even when tasked with a new camera system, I was timid at first, but willing to get out there and give it my best shot. Things seemed to pay off as I am back in Djibouti and being congratulated on my first expedition as a photographer. No one seemed to care that I was new at the still camera as every time I pointed it in someone's direction, that wonderful thing that only happens when you take photos happened: bridges were built. I couldn't speak a lick of Amharic (God bless the translator who tried to teach me some), but luckily for me, my camera did a lot of communicating for me. Sure, the other service members we ran into along the road spoke English, but they were only half the reason we were there.
The true bridge was made at an orphanage in Awasa, in which a large group of Ethiopian children with no knowledge of English played, prayed, and shared with foreigners they had never seen before. After only a few moments it became clear these children needed something, and even with language barriers, their condition spoke volumes. Body language accounts for 93 percent of communication. To me that is what makes my job so amazing, the fact that we can capture that kind of human interaction onto film or a digital format. Because running, chasing, high-fiving, holding hands, hugging, and sharing food say way more than what words can and with less effort.
My job may have been made a bit difficult by putting me a bit outside of my area of expertise, but in this case, I feel less like a construction worker who was told not to bring his tools, and more like one who lost his tool box, and had to borrow someone else's instead. And I still got the job done. And the best part is, I had fun and met great people while doing it.
Visiting Our Teams over the Holidays 1/4/2011 · Rear Admiral Brian Losey, commander, and Captain John Dixon, chief of staff, Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa
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