Bloggers wanted

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Gallahan
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The 48th Fighter Wing wants bloggers, and there's a Web site to host their musings. USAFE Live is available to the Liberty Wing family, to help tell its stories.

Blogging isn't just for the 48th Fighter Wing though, because the Department of Defense is hosting blog sites for every branch of the military and many sub organizations.

Here's the low down on Air Force blogging. It's not about rambling on about broken hearts and how cool certain dance clubs are. This is about telling the Air Force story from the ground. It's about humanizing what the Liberty Wing is doing.

It's also about honesty, and telling the complete story, not just someone's personal opinion. To be a good blogger, you have to be able to separate personal perception from professional decisions. This basically means anyone can say how hard their lives are and how much they dislike waking up at 3 a.m. for work, but then they need to be able to explain why those decisions were made - it's called balance. If someone is able to see the complete picture, and write about it from their personal perspective, then they are a great candidate to be a blogger.

History has proven that honest, personal and complete accounts are successful at telling the military story. It's also a way for future generations to understand the era we live in.

The greatest example of this is Ernie Pyle. As the Indiana University School of Journalism states on its Web site, "Ernie Pyle was a master of telling the story of the little guy, of describing the fears and daily strife of soldiers fighting in World War II."

Ernie Pyle's personal tone touched the lives of many Americans during World War II. It also humanized the war and allowed people to get a sense of what was happening on the ground. The same can be achieved through blogging, but the key is it has to be from someone in the middle of the action, with an ability to capture those experiences through the written word.

The 48th Fighter Wing is regularly out and about in foreign countries doing amazing things; five years ago those stories would go untold unless a journalist, photographer or broadcaster were there to produce stories about it. Through the acceptance of blogs, it's not only the Air Force who will have its story told - but every Liberty Wing family member who is willing to pound on the keyboard to get the electrons flowing on the Web.

If you are up to something interesting and want to blog about it, contact the 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs office here. To visit USAFE Live, click here.