Currently serving as the Public Affairs NCO for the 29th Infantry Division. I believe serving in the National Guard is a tangible way to serve the Commonwealth and my fellow Virginians. I execute numerous Public Affairs tasks: media guidance/briefs, writing articles, capturing photos and video, editing photos and video, editing articles and written products on behalf of my command.

I worked on client-site as the contracted Communications Strategy and Operations officer for a one-star command. My daily tasks included: managing/creating internal and external communication, advising on communication best practices, and working ComRel projects. I was responsible for monitoring and analyzing my client's media presence, ran social media sites (Instagram/Twitter/FB, wrote/market articles, solicited content/coverage from SMEs, briefed leadership on media relevance and support higher headquarters when needed.I also captured/edited photos and video tailored for all platforms. I facilitated 20+ media requests a month.

I was on staff as a part-time consultant for Expeditionary Communicators.Expeditionary Communicators is a disabled veteran-owned small business, using communication to help you achieve your business goals and improve your relationships.Our communicators are truly expeditionary. In addition to working throughout the United States, we’ve helped our clients communicate in rough spots like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. We will deploy for you on a moment’s notice, or work with our networks on the ground to get you the vital, realtime information you need.With 80 percent of our staff having served in the U.S. military since 9/11, our team is dedicated to service. Let us serve your business.

Maintained affiliation with the Marine Corps Reserve while serving as a DoD Contractor in Afghanistan, prior to switching to the Virginia Army National Guard.

Served as primary public relations representative responsible for preparing military representatives of all levels for local and international media engagements.• Ensured theme and message coherence and application by synchronizing with Department of State, U.S. Embassies, United States European Command, United States Africa Command, Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Marine Corps Forces, Africa.• Proficient as spokesman, coordinating with local, national and international media.• Coordinated and executed the first MV-22B Osprey event at United States Army GarrisonStuttgart. This event garnered extensive media interest; resulting in a television reach of morethan 50,000 and a robust social media, web and print presence.• Collaborated with two combatant command-level strategic communication teams to develop andsynchronize messages and posturing for successful public affairs engagements with partnernations throughout Europe.• Wrote and edited policy papers for media engagements.• Wrote the social media standard operating procedure manual for Marine Forces, Europe/Africacovering proper implementation of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Wordpress blogs.• Delivered media briefs to groups of more than 50 people prior to media engagements.• Researched, wrote, and published dozens of news stories for release.• Served as public affairs lead planner for Exercise Combined Endeavor 2013, responsible fordrafting public affairs guidance, themes and messages and coordinating media access. Successfully synchronized themes and messages between multiple U.S. military units and branches, as well as 40 participating NATO and partner nation countries.

*This is an overview of my experiences w/ my recommendations attached. My experiences are further broken down by assignment in the rest of my profile.*As a Public Affairs Specialist/Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps:• Contributed more than 400 feature-length articles to military and civilian publications.• Served as press chief for Marine Corps Forces, Europe/Africa.• Served as a writer/assistant editor for an award-winning military newspaper.• Proficient in AP Stylebook and web publishing.• School trained, proficient broadcaster/photojournalist

Hand-selected by the public affairs officer to serve as the acting public affairs chief while the current chief was deployed to Afghanistan.• Handled assignments, assigned articles and photo shoots, maintained unit web page and fulfilled photography and videographer roles for shooting and editing photos and video.• Produced content for the unit web site, both print and photo.• Earned the photo of the month for Leatherneck magazine for July 2010.• Handled and resolved media inquiries and facilitated media visits and interviews with high-level officers and staff.• Developed talking points and drafted press releases for media engagements.

Coordinated media events for Camp Lejeune, to include the Camp Lejeune water contamination investigation and clean-up. Escorted media from National Geographic, FOX news affiliates, CNN news affiliates onto the Camp Lejeune base to conduct interview and capture photos and video of the spill site. Worked closely with Headquarters Marine Corps Public Affairs and directed inquiries to their dedicated team in a timely and thorough fashion.• Developed messaging and public relations guidance for use in press releases, media engagements and interviews.• Coordinated tours of Camp Lejeune with the base community relations office.• Answered queries from local, regional, national and international media outlets.• Narrated two joint battle streamer celebrations, one Veterans Day parade, dozens of retirements, changes of command and post and relief ceremonies.• Prepared commanders and high-level staff members for news interviews and press conferences.• Responsible for regular visits from community leaders and local media to establish and maintaina positive relationship between the Jacksonville community and the Marine Corps.

Deployed as the Public Affairs NCO aboard the USS Iwo Jima from Camp Lejeune into the CENTCOM AOR.• Served as senior writer/photographer/videographer.• Provided PA support for military-to-military engagements in Jordan and Pakistan.• Wrote the primary article for the noncombatant evacuation of the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.• Assisted as part of the ECC Team for the NEO at the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.• Edited articles written during the deployment.• Responsible for mentoring and developing three junior Marines.

Served as content editor for the award-winning Camp Lejeune newspaper: The Globe.• Reported on events on base to inform the service members and their families.• Provided news, sports and feature photography support to accompany articles for print and webpublication.• Responsible for mentoring and developing junior staff writers.• Selected as news editor, responsible for assigning articles and pitching layouts and content to editor in chief.

Captured, edited and narrated video packages to air on the AFN television station and Pentagon Channel.• Produced nightly news segments and worked as on-air producer.• Served as on-air personality, anchored nightly news segment for six months.• Produced and edited radio news packages to air on the AFN radio station.• Served as on-air personality as a Saturday morning radio show host.

I worked on client-site as the Strategic Communications Specialist managing internal and external communication. I monitored and analyzed my client's media presence, ran social media sites, wrote articles, solicited content from SMEs for blogs and briefed leadership on media relevance and perceptions.I was the sole public affairs/strategic communications practitioner on this contract. Working to disseminate my client's mission success serving the U.S. Army. Ensuring they were postured to be recognized by higher headquarters, component commands and military health in general. My client at this time was the U.S. Army at Fort Detrick, Md.

During this period I was a client-facing Senior Consultant who managed one of many work streams for the TRICARE Beneficiary Publication Office. I worked on the team responsible for drafting, editing, updating, delivering and improving all TRICARE beneficiary publications. Most of my day consisted of editing team member's products, making edits and pushing my products through an involved production cycle with multi-tiered editing procedures and a focus on accuracy and assisting in maintaining a nearly error-free product line.

As the Outreach Coordination Manager for Navy Medicine, I was responsible for reaching out into the community to find ways for Navy Medicine personnel to interact and inform the public of their functions and capabilities. My support functions included: coordinating speaking engagements, writing talking points, providing administrative support by way of transportation and liaison. Developing and assembling read books about locations, programs and people our staff may visit. Coordinate with and for any external or internal media outlets to ensure they get the access they needed to locations and personnel to allow a 360-degree picture for their audiences so they see the full capability sets of Navy Medicine.

I did a mixture of public affairs and community outreach. I was responsible for the drafting and dissemination of press advisories, releases and answering press inquiries. I also conducted school visits and presentations to talk about what the U.S. Attorney's function is, encourage kids in the local community to become and remain upstanding members of society. I was also responsible for drafting talking points and messaging for the U.S. Attorney and the Assistant U.S. Attorneys.

I provided an atmosphere for cigar lovers to come together to network and enjoy a fine smoke.

I draft and briefed narratives and communication plans to address and get in front of the international media and ensure International Security Assistance Force has competent messaging to tell the "why" of ISAF and their mission in Afghanistan.

I was responsible for monitoring US and International news outlets and social media to determine effectiveness of the ISAF messaging.