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                         September 13, 2002

USMA helps NFL Films tell the soldiers' story

Compiled by Irene Brown
Editor

Throughout the NFL season, American football fans will be able get a glimpse of the men and women of the armed forces.

The league sponsored "American Postcards," a series of profiles now being broadcast during regular and post-season games.

"About 120 million people watch an NFL game each weekend," Allison Barber, a Pentagon spokeswoman told reporters at the American Forces Press Service. "Our goal is to allow men and women across America to be able to feel a connection to our military members."

Barber said NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue came up with the idea in early August.

"What they wanted was stories of military folks who had written letters home, or who have e-mailed or found unique ways to communicate with their families," she said.

The Defense Department and the services submitted stories -- including two featured on www.DefendAmerica.gov. The spots began airing Sept. 5 at the New York Giants vs. the San Francisco 49ers game on ESPN. CBS, Fox and ABC also aired spots during their NFL broadcasts.

The U.S. Military Academy’s Public Affairs Office became involved with the project when they received a request from NFL Films to set up a video teleconference between them and Spc. Julia Pilat, an Army Reservist assigned to a Civil Affairs unit in Afghanistan.

Pilat is a high school teacher at Beacon High School in Beacon, N.Y., and had been deployed for several months at the time of the filming.

"NFL Films had interviewed her in Afghanistan (as in the photo) and wanted to do a video teleconference between her and her students in Beacon, and film it from this area," said USMA Public Information Chief, Maj. Kent Cassella. "NFL Films were scrambling for a VTC location and contacted me asking if it would be possible to bring the students to the academy for the conference and filming."

Cassella said the academy’s Directorate of Information Management worked all day August 23 to establish a link with Afghanistan and run a test conference to ensure they could support the request.

"The next day approximately 15 of her students, five of her fellow teachers, some parents and the NFL Films crew arrived and shot the segment," he said.

As a special treat, NFL Films had Pilat’s father flown in from Florida to surprise her during the VTC. Cassella said it was a great way for Pilat’s family and friends to get to spend a few moments with her and barely a dry eye was left in the place by the end of the conference.

"It was a great experience," he said. I’m glad we were able to be a part of it and congratulate NFL Films on their efforts to highlight those who serve."

NFL Films also shot "postcards" featuring Marine Capt. Rico Hunter and Air Force Airman Amy Ting. On Sept. 11 last year, Ting was a civilian and in the Marriott Hotel across the street from the World Trade Center. She enlisted the week following the attack. The crew filmed her on duty at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

Plans are for future spots to feature service members based in the Persian Gulf, aboard ship and across the United States.

"In the midst of a football game, we want people to pause and recognize that every minute of every day, someone is defending our country," Barber said.

She said a secondary DoD goal is for people to become excited about the military. "It’s not a recruiting campaign in any way," she said. "But it is an education campaign."

Barber said the NFL is just the latest in a long list of organizations that have contacted the Defense Department looking for ways to support the men and women of the military.