First of all, Sgt. Hineline--thanks for your service and thanks for contributing to this thread. Single best thread I've seen on this site. I wish you a great holiday season and a safe return stateside when your deployment is over.
Second, let me vouch for the Combat Camera team. Every one with a military camera role I've ever had contact with impressed the hell out of me. Good people. For the post much earlier in the thread that said "why not have photojournalists do this?"...it's a totally different agenda. As a PJ, you're looking for the story or the money shot. You're not looking to document the promotion ceremony, the change of command, the tactical details, or documentation/evidence (that a host of military resources...from CID to unit historians to promotional boards to press information officers want and need) that are all just some of the things that the Combat Camera team is shooting on a daily basis.
Okay, three questions:
1. How much interaction do you have with civilian photojournalists? The complaint I always heard from people in uniform was "you guys just drop in and out--you're never here long enough to get a feel for how it REALLY is." The embed program was supposed to be one attempt to address that perspective. But I suspect that for most of your work, you're not seeing any civilian photojournalists/press shooting what you're shooting.
2. Any comments about Stacy Pearsall's "Photojournalist Field Guide"? I found it to be pretty good and spot on (with the caveat that it was obviously from a military perspective rather than a civilian photojournalist who has more freedom but also has to deal with visas and shot records).
3. Obviously American soldiers are targets in your neck of the woods. But I've heard from a couple of friends that unlike a couple of decades ago, civilian photojournalists are now being targeted in war zones in a way that didn't happen previously. In Beirut back in the 80's, photojournalists would wander back and forth across the green line, shoot Israelis and Maronite militia in the morning and the Fatah in the afternoon. What I've been told anecdotally is that civilian photojournalists are now a prime target. What's your sense of that?
1. I do see a lot of civilian journalists, but it's short and limited. I've never seen an actual embedded one. They've always just come with VIPS or the brass, stayed for a short while, and left. I've met a few, shmoozed a bit, but nothing major.
2. I would really have to read the book and see how I felt about it. No doubt her photography is very good and she is quite decorated, but I'll admit, it's very hard to undo my USMC bias and not just roll my eyes and say, "Well, yeah, Air Force." We tend to not like Air Force CC, but it's probably just that we're totally jelly. Take JT Lock. Friggin' MILPHOG winner SEVEN times. A MSgt in the Marine Corps taking photos is completely unheard of because we consider that a leadership billet. You just don't do that sort of work anymore, you're in charge of leading and managing Marines in a shop. Heck, that stops as a Staff Sgt. in most places. We're all kind of under the impression that Air Force CC just gets to do whatever they want and we all roll our eyes and say, "Must be nice. I wish I could just go shoot whatever I wanted whenever I wanted."
You know what? I AM jelly. I really don't buy much into inter-service rivalry, but in this aspect it's hard. You've got some people with major rank and resources who seem like it's their JOB to shoot and win MILPHOG. I don't really consider that fair when everyone else has to deal with what deployments (or no deployments) they're given. There's always a lot of heated discussion when it comes to Lock, too. A lot of people think he's a jerk with too much access and freedom to do whatever he wants to do. It's also painful to think that for me this year is kind of MY last chance at MILPHOG. I'm going to be at the Pentagon for the next two years doing nothing operational. Then I'm either going to get out or be a Staff Sergeant and start running a shop. If I asked to travel to different countries covering crazy operations whenever they came up they'd laugh me out of the office and sit me back behind my desk.
I'm sorry. I really didn't intend for this to turn into an Air Force rant, back to the book. I'm sure it's very interesting and insightful, but I feel that photojournalism is one of those things where experience is key. You need a feel for people, a good idea of what you can physically and mentally deal with, and when to stop. All those things take time and experience to develop. I've learned a LOT over time and only maybe 10% of that has been about photography. I think I will check out her book, though. There ARE considerable obstacles to civilian photojournalists that we just don't face, though.
It does make me wonder though how she dealt with the copyright issue. I mean technically all of her military work should be public domain and she shouldn't be able to profit from them, but is that only restricted to while you're active duty? For example, as soon as I get out could I publish a book with all my imagery? I was once told by another Sergeant that I could buy my copyright back from the military, but he also said he was raised by wolves so I'm not sure how much I can trust what he says.
On to 3!: I think with the Arab Spring and Syria happening photojournalists have definitely been targeted a lot more, or have gotten a lot more unlucky. It's possible that many people feel that killing an American journalist will get them a considerable amount of attention - which is does. There's a lot of anger going in a lot of different directions and a camera doesn't shield you from that anymore. I think it used to be that if you wanted attention for your cause you needed to keep the photojournalists alive - now with everyone having access to cameras and social media they may see death as a better option to get their message out.
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In other regards, I'll be home fairly soon. Our replacements are showing up and I'll kind of just be hanging out for a while. I have no problem admitting that I'm stressed out about it. I love what I do here and it's going to be a big change going home and having all the time in the world. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Videotape ceremonies for the next two years? Take promotion photos? Do paperwork all day?
Last time when I came home from my deployment I thought to myself, "That was the most amazing year of my life. I'm only 23, is the best year of my life already over? Am I really never going to experience anything like that ever again?" So I'm kind of going through the same thing right now.
It's a big issue and some people don't deal with it very well. You get used to an adrenaline rush from what you do over here, being busy ALL the time, and then suddenly it all stops? It's hard to adapt to. Some people come home and drink, or fight, or buy motorcycles.
I happen to be one of those people who is not dealing with it very well right now. Oh internet, you're so easy to talk to.
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