WEBVTT 00:05.591 --> 00:07.463 ^- Next to him is Mr. Bill Harris. 00:07.463 --> 00:08.296 ^- [Narrator] A good story 00:08.296 --> 00:11.121 ^usually has a beginning, middle, and end. 00:11.121 --> 00:13.752 ^This is a story of an Air Force organization 00:13.752 --> 00:15.945 ^that began before many of its current staff 00:15.945 --> 00:17.195 ^were even born. 00:17.746 --> 00:19.663 A unit with many names, 00:19.747 --> 00:21.692 but one that has existed in one place 00:21.692 --> 00:23.692 for all of its 50 years. 00:24.202 --> 00:26.000 An Air Force unit that has endured 00:26.000 --> 00:27.945 as the preeminent television production facility 00:27.945 --> 00:29.362 in the Air Force. 00:30.237 --> 00:33.408 Technology has made our mission easier to accomplish, 00:33.408 --> 00:35.917 but the mission continues to be the same. 00:35.917 --> 00:38.834 To tell the story of our Air Force, 00:38.860 --> 00:40.110 wherever it is, 00:40.500 --> 00:42.250 and whatever it does. 00:42.318 --> 00:43.894 ^- I set foot in this building, 00:43.894 --> 00:46.759 ^Building 1269 at Hill Air Force Base 00:46.759 --> 00:48.426 ^in the Fall of 1966. 00:50.115 --> 00:51.864 - [Narrator] The Air Force's newest fighter, 00:51.864 --> 00:54.486 the F-4 Phantom, was an increasingly vital part 00:54.486 --> 00:56.319 of the war in Vietnam. 00:56.375 --> 00:58.027 To keep it in the fight, 00:58.027 --> 00:59.128 the Air Force needed a way 00:59.128 --> 01:00.593 to train its maintenance crews 01:00.593 --> 01:03.089 on this new, sophisticated aircraft. 01:03.089 --> 01:04.393 And the fast-moving changes needed 01:04.393 --> 01:07.293 to keep it at the forefront of technology. 01:07.293 --> 01:09.709 - [Bill] The Air Force had decided to establish a 01:09.709 --> 01:12.350 television production capability 01:12.350 --> 01:14.324 to support technical order changes 01:14.324 --> 01:16.324 on the F-4 weapon system 01:16.639 --> 01:18.010 and to provide training videos 01:18.010 --> 01:21.593 to our maintenance crews in Southeast Asia. 01:21.967 --> 01:23.487 - The vans themselves 01:23.487 --> 01:24.987 were equipped with 01:25.425 --> 01:27.092 two black and white, 01:28.640 --> 01:31.284 three inch image orthicon cameras. 01:31.284 --> 01:32.598 - [Narrator] Harris and his team were told 01:32.598 --> 01:35.515 they had $25,000 to build a studio. 01:35.616 --> 01:38.199 Not much, even in 1966 dollars. 01:39.971 --> 01:41.332 - And so, we worked with the civil engineers. 01:41.332 --> 01:45.499 We designed the basic shell for what now is the studio 01:46.003 --> 01:47.620 and the rooms behind it, 01:47.620 --> 01:50.203 and that was a $25,000 package. 01:50.797 --> 01:54.297 We set up operations here out of a TV van. 01:54.625 --> 01:55.625 Two cameras, 01:55.864 --> 01:57.808 two two-inch tape machines, 01:57.808 --> 01:59.689 and a Kinescope recorder. 01:59.689 --> 02:01.447 In those days, we had no electronic editing, 02:01.447 --> 02:03.462 so all our production was live. 02:03.462 --> 02:05.000 If we made a mistake, we would just stop 02:05.000 --> 02:06.698 and start over again and run the whole program 02:06.698 --> 02:09.115 or we would what do we called 02:09.149 --> 02:11.460 physical splicing of the video tape. 02:11.460 --> 02:13.303 - [Ted] Which involved a microscope 02:13.303 --> 02:16.784 and various things, a little developer pin 02:16.784 --> 02:19.373 that you brushed to reveal the control track. 02:19.373 --> 02:20.888 - So, you'd see kind of a little glitch 02:20.888 --> 02:22.763 or you hear a zing when it went through 02:22.763 --> 02:24.708 the heads of the tape machine. 02:24.708 --> 02:26.323 But, we evolved over time. 02:26.323 --> 02:28.085 We went to color as quickly as we could. 02:28.085 --> 02:28.918 I think 02:29.888 --> 02:33.539 we got into color television, late 69 and 70. 02:33.539 --> 02:37.706 We got some used color television cameras from the Pentagon 02:37.868 --> 02:40.213 and converted our tape machines to color. 02:40.213 --> 02:41.797 (classic rock music) 02:41.797 --> 02:44.043 - [Narrator] Still, the unit struggled for acceptance 02:44.043 --> 02:45.793 in those early years. 02:45.840 --> 02:47.784 Film production was backed by a well-established 02:47.784 --> 02:49.475 organization in the Air Force, 02:49.475 --> 02:51.285 and deep-rooted production procedures 02:51.285 --> 02:53.287 within the industry itself. 02:53.287 --> 02:55.587 Television was the new kind on the block, 02:55.587 --> 02:57.444 but the technology of television, 02:57.444 --> 02:58.750 almost from the beginning, 02:58.750 --> 03:01.383 ^offered a freedom unmatched by film. 03:01.383 --> 03:05.164 ^- The film is recording and it's a great media, 03:05.164 --> 03:05.997 ^but for 03:06.349 --> 03:08.849 cost, immediate communication, 03:09.569 --> 03:12.546 and flexibility, the television just opened up 03:12.546 --> 03:14.629 a whole new way to do it. 03:15.208 --> 03:16.891 Faster, easier, cheaper, 03:16.891 --> 03:19.788 and to replicate it so it could be used and disseminated. 03:19.788 --> 03:21.559 - [Narrator] As the mission grew and expanded, 03:21.559 --> 03:24.509 the unit developed an unwavering commitment to quality 03:24.509 --> 03:27.292 that led to a reputation as the finest video production 03:27.292 --> 03:29.459 facility in the Air Force. 03:29.723 --> 03:31.705 - Because our quality standards were high, 03:31.705 --> 03:34.232 ^we consistently produced the best quality. 03:34.232 --> 03:36.645 ^- There was always, kind of, a competition 03:36.645 --> 03:39.556 ^within the 65th and the television units. 03:39.556 --> 03:41.505 ^- We were always looking to progress 03:41.505 --> 03:43.588 ^in one manner or another, 03:44.538 --> 03:47.288 and it seemed that we always did. 03:47.937 --> 03:51.432 - [Narrator] Detachment Eight, 1365th Audiovisual Squadron 03:51.432 --> 03:54.146 roared into the 80s as the go-to television production 03:54.146 --> 03:56.313 facility in the Air Force. 03:56.596 --> 03:59.346 ^- What Det-8 was, in all regards, 03:59.367 --> 04:02.897 ^the premier television production facility in the Air Force. 04:02.897 --> 04:04.066 I mean, some people would argue with you, 04:04.066 --> 04:05.928 but they'd mostly lose. 04:05.928 --> 04:07.263 - We wanted to be on the leading edge, 04:07.263 --> 04:09.411 and we did everything we could to find the latest 04:09.411 --> 04:12.634 and greatest and best technology to use. 04:12.634 --> 04:14.831 ^- And, so at that time, they bought, 04:14.831 --> 04:17.025 ^new Grass Valley switchers and 04:17.025 --> 04:18.108 Abacus DDE's, 04:18.895 --> 04:20.834 and so, we wound up being 04:20.834 --> 04:23.460 probably the state-of-the-art of anybody, 04:23.460 --> 04:26.188 any production house or TV station. 04:26.188 --> 04:27.589 - [Don] But, we added a lot of mission. 04:27.589 --> 04:31.623 We added the interactive video production mission, 04:31.623 --> 04:35.773 so we had a big element from, then, tactical air command. 04:35.773 --> 04:37.849 - [Jim] We had people out on the road, TDY, 04:37.849 --> 04:40.485 week after week, month after month. 04:40.485 --> 04:43.152 ^- We would do knobs and buttons and switches 04:43.152 --> 04:46.033 ^for hours on end with these mobile trucks. 04:46.033 --> 04:47.789 And, we'd record frame by frame, 04:47.789 --> 04:48.938 and they would bring those back 04:48.938 --> 04:51.379 and they were put together on a video disc for training. 04:51.379 --> 04:55.299 The culture and environment that the Bills created, 04:55.299 --> 04:58.868 Bill Devlin and Bill Harris, really was the foundation 04:58.868 --> 05:01.785 upon what Det-8 was best known for. 05:02.586 --> 05:03.988 - [Narrator] Part of that drive to stay current 05:03.988 --> 05:05.834 with the technology was due in large part 05:05.834 --> 05:08.401 to the engineering staff of Larry Fugunaka 05:08.401 --> 05:09.818 and Dean Komatsu. 05:10.074 --> 05:11.782 ^- So, Mr. Fugunaka, I'll start with him 05:11.782 --> 05:14.742 ^since he was really the lead engineer, 05:14.742 --> 05:16.376 and that's exactly what he was. 05:16.376 --> 05:17.740 He engineered everything. 05:17.740 --> 05:21.590 He engineered all the NASA control environment, 05:21.590 --> 05:24.507 the mobile equipment that went out. 05:25.306 --> 05:29.341 He also determined what many of the products were used 05:29.341 --> 05:32.648 to either do acquisition and the work flows 05:32.648 --> 05:34.579 that resulted from that. 05:34.579 --> 05:37.524 So, he was a mastermind, he understood 05:37.524 --> 05:39.253 the technology better than anyone 05:39.253 --> 05:41.503 that I knew of in that day. 05:41.529 --> 05:43.420 Mr. Komatsu was the trainer. 05:43.420 --> 05:46.319 He always worked with the airmen, one on one, 05:46.319 --> 05:49.381 the staff sergeants and all the other folks that came here 05:49.381 --> 05:51.815 to ensure that we were at the standard 05:51.815 --> 05:55.193 that was expected for this organization as an engineer. 05:55.193 --> 05:58.518 And, Mr. Komatsu was just one of those guys 05:58.518 --> 06:01.706 that expected, you know, you to do your job. 06:01.706 --> 06:05.484 One of his favorite phrases that I still like to use is 06:05.484 --> 06:09.213 "Remembering is knowing, and knowing is remembering." 06:09.213 --> 06:10.865 - [Narrator] Detachment Eight entered the 90s, 06:10.865 --> 06:12.490 busy as it had ever been. 06:12.490 --> 06:15.625 An expanded combat camera mission was being planned, 06:15.625 --> 06:17.453 along with a larger production workload 06:17.453 --> 06:18.841 and new personnel. 06:18.841 --> 06:22.788 - They created a superintendent position here at 06:22.788 --> 06:26.451 Det-8, they were gonna build up the combat camera 06:26.451 --> 06:27.951 side of the house. 06:28.381 --> 06:29.427 - [Narrator] After the Gulf War, 06:29.427 --> 06:30.893 the Chief of Staff of the Air Force 06:30.893 --> 06:32.996 undertook a massive reorganization. 06:32.996 --> 06:35.171 One of the casualties of that reorganization 06:35.171 --> 06:38.090 was the Aerospace Audiovisual Service. 06:38.090 --> 06:40.368 The unit became Detachment Eight, 06:40.368 --> 06:42.868 Second Combat Camera Squadron. 06:42.922 --> 06:45.708 Two years later, the follow-on organization, 06:45.708 --> 06:48.683 Air Combat Camera Service, was disbanded. 06:48.683 --> 06:50.618 After 27 years, the unit was looking 06:50.618 --> 06:53.368 for an organization to call home. 06:53.910 --> 06:57.160 - We were told we were gonna go to ATC. 06:58.516 --> 07:01.516 - We thought we may have to move and 07:01.809 --> 07:05.219 go to somewhere else and combine with someone 07:05.219 --> 07:06.052 in video. 07:07.221 --> 07:10.554 But, happily, we were able to stay here. 07:11.157 --> 07:13.407 - With the jobs that we did 07:14.535 --> 07:16.202 and the truck rolls, 07:17.629 --> 07:20.357 it's things that nobody else does. 07:20.357 --> 07:22.054 - [Narrator] The truck rolls. 07:22.054 --> 07:24.161 Throughout the years, the television production truck 07:24.161 --> 07:26.278 was a vital part of the unit's mission. 07:26.278 --> 07:29.211 The organization, now known as the Media Production Flight 07:29.211 --> 07:31.896 of the 367th Training Support Squadron, 07:31.896 --> 07:35.102 was called on because of their unique capabilities. 07:35.102 --> 07:36.944 One of the biggest missions they supported 07:36.944 --> 07:39.571 were the Capstone Airpower demonstrations. 07:39.571 --> 07:40.600 - We would go out and 07:40.600 --> 07:43.330 capture the capabilities of the Air Force, 07:43.330 --> 07:45.260 which was amazing to watch these jets 07:45.260 --> 07:47.756 come in and do what we do best, 07:47.756 --> 07:49.558 which is bombs on target. 07:49.558 --> 07:52.526 - [Ted] We would take our production truck down 07:52.526 --> 07:56.526 and normally, we would have four manned cameras, 07:57.722 --> 08:01.668 and then, out on the range, there may be up to 11 08:01.668 --> 08:02.902 target cameras. 08:02.902 --> 08:06.492 - [Stan] And, to engineer that size of an event 08:06.492 --> 08:08.125 was pretty substantial. 08:08.125 --> 08:10.519 We would go down, usually, about 08:10.519 --> 08:13.620 four to five days prior to that to get the truck set up 08:13.620 --> 08:15.803 out in the middle of the desert. 08:15.803 --> 08:17.546 - [Ted] It was a pretty big deal. 08:17.546 --> 08:19.401 - [Narrator] Despite the organizational upheavals, 08:19.401 --> 08:21.456 one thing remained constant: 08:21.456 --> 08:23.999 the core of civilian producer directors, 08:23.999 --> 08:26.514 who were responsible for creating many of the products 08:26.514 --> 08:28.393 that contributed to the stellar reputation 08:28.393 --> 08:30.060 of the organization. 08:30.152 --> 08:32.673 ^- It started with our two amazing editors, 08:32.673 --> 08:35.006 ^Jim Sorensen and Bob Marvel. 08:35.403 --> 08:37.812 Sorensen and Marvel, I mean, those guys, 08:37.812 --> 08:39.277 they own the edit bays and they're the ones 08:39.277 --> 08:41.194 that made us look great 08:41.369 --> 08:45.160 and turned what we brought into them into total magic. 08:45.160 --> 08:46.932 ^- I did not like, at first, 08:46.932 --> 08:50.586 ^having to hook into a monitor and have a producer 08:50.586 --> 08:53.126 look at my footage or watch me shoot 08:53.126 --> 08:54.883 or tell me how to compose my shot. 08:54.883 --> 08:55.772 I'm thinkin, "I can do that. 08:55.772 --> 08:57.573 "I don't need you to tell me what to do." 08:57.573 --> 08:59.545 I didn't say it, but I was thinkin it. 08:59.545 --> 09:01.694 - Senior producers, like Don Broadhead 09:01.694 --> 09:02.944 and Jerry Bader 09:03.190 --> 09:06.857 to Tom Cowan, then Mark Savage, Brad Doliff, 09:08.214 --> 09:10.214 later on, John Anderson, 09:11.703 --> 09:13.521 amazing group of guys that 09:13.521 --> 09:15.809 I learned from and was inspired by. 09:15.809 --> 09:18.019 - But, what I realized was, 09:18.019 --> 09:19.849 you know, just keep the teamwork concept, 09:19.849 --> 09:21.849 again with the producer, 09:22.171 --> 09:24.639 listen to em, get their shots. 09:24.639 --> 09:26.529 And then, once you built that rapport with them, 09:26.529 --> 09:29.267 say, "Hey, I have an idea, can we try this shot? 09:29.267 --> 09:30.436 "Can we try that shot?" 09:30.436 --> 09:32.499 And, I have never had any of them say, 09:32.499 --> 09:33.958 "No, we're not trying that." 09:33.958 --> 09:36.326 - [Narrator] After September 11, 2001, 09:36.326 --> 09:39.270 the media production flight began sending videographers 09:39.270 --> 09:42.550 to support combat camera taskings around the world. 09:42.550 --> 09:44.710 ^- As we were constantly deploying 09:44.710 --> 09:47.861 ^members of the media production flight downrange to 09:47.861 --> 09:50.809 everywhere from Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti. 09:50.809 --> 09:52.838 - [Narrator] In 2007, a career filled merger 09:52.838 --> 09:55.392 with public affairs and increased combat camera 09:55.392 --> 09:57.836 operations tempo led the newly formed 09:57.836 --> 10:00.675 Air Force Public Affairs Agency, or AFPAA, 10:00.675 --> 10:03.236 to look for new ways to ease the First Combat Camera 10:03.236 --> 10:05.209 Squadron's deployment burden. 10:05.209 --> 10:07.935 The solution was to pull the media production flight 10:07.935 --> 10:10.575 from the 367th Training Support Squadron 10:10.575 --> 10:12.884 and reactivate the Second Combat Camera Squadron 10:12.884 --> 10:14.801 at Hill Air Force Base. 10:14.907 --> 10:16.542 - So, in some ways it made sense. 10:16.542 --> 10:18.777 I seem to remember that our chain of command 10:18.777 --> 10:20.620 through Air Education and Training Command, 10:20.620 --> 10:23.146 although initially they probably weren't too thrilled 10:23.146 --> 10:25.437 with the split, because it was arranged 10:25.437 --> 10:27.209 that they would retain a smaller 10:27.209 --> 10:29.358 367th Training Support Squadron 10:29.358 --> 10:31.946 that would continue to create the training products 10:31.946 --> 10:34.538 that they needed from the organization, 10:34.538 --> 10:37.205 the 82nd Training Wing commander 10:37.888 --> 10:40.100 ended up going along with the decision. 10:40.100 --> 10:41.553 ^- We did it in about a year and a half, 10:41.553 --> 10:44.120 ^which is pretty impressive, considering 10:44.120 --> 10:47.235 a lot of times you have to wait for the manpower. 10:47.235 --> 10:49.981 And as the squadron commander, nothin's fast enough, 10:49.981 --> 10:51.287 and so, you gotta wait for money, 10:51.287 --> 10:53.650 you gotta wait for resources. 10:53.650 --> 10:55.301 And even when you showed up, like, I showed up to Hill 10:55.301 --> 10:56.455 and said, "Hey, I'm gonna be 10:56.455 --> 10:58.357 "the Commander Second Combat Camera." 10:58.357 --> 11:01.945 The drop-down menu for the NPF was like, "What?" 11:01.945 --> 11:02.883 So, you had to put "Other". 11:02.883 --> 11:05.300 ^- And, our focus changed from 11:05.466 --> 11:07.840 ^AATC and training oriented products 11:07.840 --> 11:11.178 to a broader, more strategic level messaging 11:11.178 --> 11:12.678 and story-telling. 11:13.876 --> 11:15.402 - [Narrator] After a successful five year run 11:15.402 --> 11:17.243 as the Second Combat Camera Squadron, 11:17.243 --> 11:19.478 the mission once again dictated a change 11:19.478 --> 11:21.370 in the focus of the unit. 11:21.370 --> 11:24.943 - When it became apparent that we were going to be doing 11:24.943 --> 11:27.524 solely video production and that we were gonna focus 11:27.524 --> 11:29.078 all of our efforts, 11:29.078 --> 11:31.182 the entire collective of the unit was mainly 11:31.182 --> 11:33.516 all headed the same direction 11:33.516 --> 11:35.246 and working video production. 11:35.246 --> 11:36.079 I think everyone around here 11:36.079 --> 11:37.992 was pretty excited about that. 11:37.992 --> 11:40.761 - [Narrator] And after two years, another change. 11:40.761 --> 11:42.839 Some might say it's a full circle. 11:42.839 --> 11:44.855 - What I've been tellin people is that 11:44.855 --> 11:46.130 we change our name so often, 11:46.130 --> 11:48.035 it looks like we're runnin from the law. 11:48.035 --> 11:50.961 ^- I think that most people recognize 11:50.961 --> 11:53.967 ^that the work that we produce is top-notch. 11:53.967 --> 11:57.757 And, we have a history of people coming to us, 11:57.757 --> 12:00.329 from very high leadership positions, 12:00.329 --> 12:03.550 asking us for work because they know where to get 12:03.550 --> 12:05.218 a high quality product from. 12:05.218 --> 12:07.233 - But when I think about all the different name changes 12:07.233 --> 12:09.096 that this organization has been through, 12:09.096 --> 12:10.369 what I really thing about 12:10.369 --> 12:12.752 is an organization that the Air Force 12:12.752 --> 12:14.176 absolutely has to have. 12:14.176 --> 12:17.268 - [Narrator] So at the end of this story is a beginning. 12:17.268 --> 12:19.095 The beginning of a bright future, 12:19.095 --> 12:21.286 grounded in 50 years of excellence. 12:21.286 --> 12:24.205 This story could not be told without the contributions 12:24.205 --> 12:26.974 of hundreds of military and civilian staff members, 12:26.974 --> 12:29.924 who have made this organization what it is, 12:29.924 --> 12:31.949 a legendary Air Force resource 12:31.949 --> 12:34.138 dedicated to telling the Air Force story 12:34.138 --> 12:36.971 through innovative motion imagery. 12:38.200 --> 12:41.367 (light, upbeat music)