Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield Public Affairs was named the U.S. Army Installation Management Command public affairs organization of the year and received four additional awards in the 2023 IMCOM Communications competition and another three awards placed in the 2023 Army Materiel Command David G. Harris Public Affairs competition.
IMCOM announced its winners in the 2023 Maj. Gen. Keith L. Ware Communications Awards Competition on Feb. 7 and AMC announced its winners for the 2023 David G. Harris Public Affairs Competition on Feb. 23.
Acting IMCOM-Readiness Director Col. Chris Ward wrote in a congratulatory message. “Please join me in congratulating a special group of 42 IMCOM professionals. IMCOM public affairs professionals from garrisons worldwide entered 161 pieces of content into 22 categories. Their work reflects excellence in sharing and communicating the Army’s story around the globe.”
For the AMC competition over 85 submissions in the 22 categories were judged by a panel of industry experts.
“I am amazed with the quality of submissions and how the entries somehow manage to consistently improve each year,” said Col. Scott Rawlinson, the director of AMC Public and Congressional Affairs, in a note to the field.
The Public Affairs Organization of the Year category is new to the competition, and it honors the collaborative skills of Army public affairs unit and sections, while reinforcing the importance of the Army narrative. The Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield public affairs team competed in the medium organization category, with both the public affairs staff and multi-media visual information team supporting the command’s public affairs mission.
“Recognition as the organization of the year in its inaugural year for the competition means everything to us,” said Chris Fletcher, the Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield public affairs director. “Our talented team of public affairs professionals works long hours daily, usually under stressful conditions, to tell the Army story to our stakeholders and it feels great to have our peers validate our hard work.”
Molly Cooke, the Fort Stewart- Hunter Army Airfield community relations chief, was recognized as the AMC and IMCOM Civilian Graphic Designer of the Year for her work using layout and design and visual art storytelling. She also received third place in the AMC competition and first place in the IMCOM competition for graphic layout and design with her “Faces of Garrison” campaign. Cooke also received first place in the IMCOM competition’s Social Media video category for Faces of Garrison.
Dina McKain, the former Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield community relations chief, received third place in the AMC competition and first place in the IMCOM competition in the Community Relations Campaign category. McKain, who recently retired from civil service, received this recognition for planning, developing, and executing a comprehensive community engagement program which has enhanced relationships throughout our neighboring communities. This includes the installation’s quarterly Come Meet Your Army tours, cemetery tours and community touchpoints as well as support to veteran organizations and veteran service organizations.
Cooke will now compete at the Army-level in the 2023 Maj. Gen. Keith L. Ware Communications competition for Civilian Graphic Designer of the Year.