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Media Representatives Get Taste of Military Training
Monday, November 18, 2002
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

The training culminates Nov. 22 with a five-mile tactical road march carrying 25-pound rucksacks, complete with ambushes and other attacks. Another interesting twist: Quantico is hosting a media day to give other media representatives the chance to cover their fellow reporters' actions.

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Fifty-eight reporters, photographers and cameramen are getting a view of military training they don't usually see -- they're doing it, not watching it.

The media representatives are participating in a Pentagon program this week to familiarize them with the rigors of wartime reporting. They're learning how to deal with the military and some basic techniques to protect themselves in a combat environment, Army Lt. Col. Gary Keck, a Defense Department spokesman, explained.

He said the training is not graded, and getting the training won't guarantee a reporter a seat with a military plane, ship or unit. Likewise, not receiving the training won't preclude a reporter from accompanying a deploying unit.

"It's designed to make them more comfortable in dealing with the military," Keck said. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's easy either: Participants are rising with reveille and training way past taps.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan