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Jul 24, 2006
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Footage Under Fire
Civilian Journalist Joins National Guard In Afghanistan
by Nancy Caronia
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Photojournalist Scott Kesterson served with the Oregon Army National Guard, 41st Brigade, from 1983-1991. Even then, he dreamed of being a combat photographer. Once his tour of duty was completed, he worked mainly as a building contractor, but in December 2005, he took steps to make his dream a reality.
His proposal -- an extended embed as a citizen journalist with the 41st Brigade, which is in charge of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix V (JTF Phoenix) in Afghanistan -- was approved in January by various military personnel. According to Kesterson, there are approximately 83 embeds in Afghanistan, but he is one of only two American journalists.
Kesterson is not tied to any media group, and the 16-month embed is completely self-funded. NBC affiliate KGW in Portland, OR, is sponsoring Kesterson's blog, where he posts images and writings every few days.
His embedment with the 41st Brigade officially began in March at Camp Shelby, MS. The unit left for Afghanistan in May, and Kesterson will stay with the unit until it's demobilized sometime around next June.
Comprised of Air Force, Army, and Navy military personnel from 39 states, JTF Phoenix is a Coalition organization tasked with training the Afghanistan National Army. While Kesterson is specifically embedded with the Army National Guard unit, he plans to include Navy and Air Force personnel stories on his blog.
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| Scott Kesterson, shown here interviewing a general at Camp Shelby, will be with JTF Phoenix in Afghanistan until next June. |
Kesterson requested the extended embed for a number of reasons. "The National Guard has become an essential element of our modern military," he said, "yet there is very little coverage on the whole of the National Guard's unique role and offerings. These men and women are community citizens and soldiers. Once they are mobilized, they become full-time warriors, yet bring a wealth of experience to their jobs, which are outside the range of skills that the regular Army soldier has. That is a story that needs to be told."
Training for the embedment was not restricted to the physical, though Kesterson had to be in good shape to tackle Afghanistan's mountainous and rugged terrain. For technical training in field editing and photography techniques, he turned to his mentor, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Leeson of the Dallas Morning News.
"I personally believe Scott represents a new breed of citizen journalism made possible as a direct result of technological and cultural shifts in media," said Leeson. "The cartels are breaking down as a result of the Internet and other technologies, such as relatively inexpensive digital video and nonlinear editing. In the past, these areas were limited to the few who could spend years in training and win the jobs. Today, someone like Scott can simply decide and then do."
Once Kesterson was deployed to Camp Shelby's mobilization center, he developed additional techniques, including learning to change film cassettes while running with a squad during live fire drills. "The Army uses a term, 'muscle memory,' which I adopted. Essentially, you train as if you are in a real situation, repeating techniques over and over until they become second nature. By the time I left Camp Shelby, my camera and my daily loading had become as natural as getting dressed in the morning."
Kesterson chose two Sony HVR-A1U HDV camcorders for the deployment to Afghanistan. As one of the first embedded photojournalists to shoot only HD video, he is taking his still images from frame grabs instead of shooting with a still camera. When he returns to the United States, he plans to produce a documentary.
"My father was a contractor and shared with me a simple set of rules," Kesterson shared. "Never get married to a tool, never get married to a technique, and never get married to a brand. Essentially, choose what you need to best accomplish the project -- in this case, storytelling."
Kesterson packs all of his gear -- cameras, laptop, approximately 200 tapes, triples and quadruples of cables, not to mention body armor, helmet, boots, and wet and cold weather gear -- into Pelican cases. Dust in Afghanistan is a big consideration. Kesterson said he must clean the cameras daily and uses a Kata dustcover whenever he's not shooting.
He edits with iMovie HD on an Apple Mac Book Pro and sends the images to an FTP at KGW where an editor formats and posts it to Kesterson's blog. "I shoot the video, sometimes for video, sometimes specifically for the stills, and sometimes for both video and the still image," he explained. "Once I get to a place where I can download the video to my laptop, I sort through the video clips to find the still images I want, save them, edit them, and send or post them. The video is then edited into a clip for a short one to four-minute video story."
So far, Kesterson said the embed has been fantastic. "I am not restricted with my coverage, unless it risks operational security. Furthermore, the Army works with me to help insure this project's success," he noted. "Their belief has become that the soldier is their best voice. I could not have asked for better support."
MORE INFO
Apple www.apple.com
David Leeson www.davidleeson.com
Kata www.kata-bags.com
KGW www.kgw.com
Pelican www.pelican.com
Sony www.sony.com/government
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