Army Sgt. Kissta Feldner / photo by Army Sgt.Tony McCaslin
Army Sgt. Kissta Feldner, public affairs photojournalist for the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, takes photos in Iraq's Anbar province, July 30,
2011. Photo by Sgt. Kissta Feldner
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IRAQ - 11/25/2011 -- “So you just take pictures, right?”
I'm
often asked this question by fellow paratroopers who are unfamiliar
with my career field. In their defense, this is the only aspect of
my job that most people see on a regular basis. As thousands of
paratroopers with bayonets affixed to their rifles stand at
attention on the parade field for hours in the summer heat, I roam
freely along the sidelines snapping photos and jotting notes. My
duty is to capture the event, while theirs is to stand rigidly
straight to represent their unit with pride – and be sure not to
lock their knees.
As a public affairs print journalist for
the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade “Falcons,” being exempt
from standing among the ranks during ceremonies is a perk, but only
accounts for a fraction of the job description.
In all
honesty, even I wasn't aware of some of the aspects of the job until
attending advanced individual training at the Defense Information
School at Fort Meade, M.D., in early 2009. One of my instructors, a
bear of a man with a baritone voice, showed the class a video from
one of his deployments. He and a group of soldiers were sitting in
an armored vehicle, laughing and joking, when there was a loud
explosion and the video scrambled – their vehicle had struck a
roadside bomb. The passengers were unscathed, but when the camera
refocused his eyes were the size of dinner plates.
The video
received a round of laughter from the class simply due to the
absurdity of the situation; this big guy looking so startled. But it
also drove home the fact that we weren't going to be skipping around
taking ‘happy snaps' all day. We would go to combat, and in order to
tell our unit's story and preserve our history we would have to be
out there where the action is.
After graduating from DINFOS,
I completed Airborne School and reported to Fort Bragg, N.C. Shortly
after my arrival, I was given several opportunities to travel to
cover brigade events. I took photos from horseback in Little Big
Horn, Mont., and interviewed members of Queen Elizabeth's Royal
Guard in Holland.
My globetrotting was short-lived, however.
The operational tempo at Bragg ramped up that summer as the 2/82
assumed the mission of the Army component of the nation's Global
Response Force. We conducted Joint Operational Access Exercises
every two months to keep our skills sharp and continue earning every
dollar of our jump pay. The night skies filled with the black shapes
of Paratroopers floating to the ground, deathly silent except for
the occasional whoop of exhilaration.
I jumped into the
darkness with these Little Groups of Paratroopers, cameras safely
bubble wrapped and stowed away in the center of my rucksack. After
hitting the ground with a thud, I'd quickly attach night vision
goggles to my helmet, put my weapon into operation, pack up my
chute, and retrieve a camera and night vision lens from my bag. |
Being the new female photojournalist in a brigade combat
team made it difficult to earn the trust of battle-hardened
paratroopers, especially when the first time we meet is on
the drop zone at night with a three-day mission ahead of us.
My camera is often referred to as my primary weapon, and I
quickly became accustomed to answering to variations of
“camera girl” (although I earned the title “camera sergeant”
after my most recent promotion). I endured some razzing as
the outsider, but after a few days in the woods and a lot of
walking, I usually earned kudos for keeping up and holding
my own.
My work really starts after the mission is
complete. As everyone else returns their rifles to the arms
room and prepares to go home, I head back to the office to
upload and edit photos and begin writing my story to send
out for publication in a timely manner. It's my job to tell
the Brigade's story; to ensure the public knows what we do
and to gain and maintain their support.
When the GRF
was alerted in January 2010, the Falcons got their chance to
do what the 82nd does best and executed a no-notice
deployment to Haiti. But instead of jumping into a combat
zone, the paratroopers were sent to provide humanitarian aid
to the people of Port-au-Prince who survived the devastating
earthquake that shook the island nation.
Boots were
on the ground within three days of the quake, but there were
little to no facilities available to sustain such an influx
of personnel. For weeks we slept on cots with no protection
from the elements or the wildlife, taking showers from a
hose behind a crumbling building. We made the best of our
situation by playing spades in our spare time and going on
recon missions for mangoes.
Within a few days,
facilities were up and running and the troopers got to work.
I spent time with each of the Brigade's six battalions,
covering missions in their respective areas of operation.
Veterans with multiple combat tours under their belts
handed out rice and water to women and children. They worked
with non-governmental organizations and soldiers from around
the world to help the Haitian people rebuild and get back on
their feet. In addition to covering food distribution and
rubble removal missions, I saw paratroopers pitch tents for
homeless orphans then spend hours playing with the displaced
children. Maybe they won't admit it, but they seemed to
enjoy the interaction just as much as the kids.
I
posted stories and photos to online marketing sites and
continually emailed newspapers and websites to run my
products to reach a larger audience. Using social media was
a relatively new concept for the Army at the time, but the
Brigade's Facebook page became an invaluable source of
information for the families and friends of our Troopers.
Our fan base skyrocketed as the audience's appetite for
photos and status updates increased. I was assigned the
additional duty of social media coordinator and lording over
the site was now my responsibility. Regularly I responded to
posts about mail and care packages, but mostly fans of the
page wanted to see photos of their troopers, to know what
they were doing and voice their support.
I feel for
the people of Haiti who lost their homes and loved ones, but
it was an amazing opportunity to cover something real. I was
able to tell the world of the good these paratroopers were
doing and prove that they were ready for any mission.
Although the paratroopers provided vital services for
the Haitian people, the unit's primary mission was combat.
The unit hadn't been deployed since 2008, and there was a
fresh new crop of paratroopers who had yet to see a
battlefield. They felt that their skills could be better
utilized in the Middle East.
Now, the 2/82 is
deployed to Iraq for the tail end of Operation New Dawn. In
support of U.S. Forces' advise, train and assist mission,
the last seven months have consisted mainly of training
Iraqi Security Forces and ensuring the Government of Iraq
and ISF are able to provide security for the people here as
U.S. military forces withdraw through the end of the year.
The soldiers here have earned combat patches for their
right shoulders and convoy across the desert in armored
vehicles, but the mission is different than most expected.
Nevertheless, our paratroopers understand the historic
significance of the 2nd Brigade closing out U.S. military
operations in Iraq. Falcon paratroopers have contributed
greatly to U.S. forces' missions here from the beginning;
they were the first troopers from the 82nd to deploy during
the initial invasion, they supported the first Iraqi
national elections, and were the first to respond during the
Surge. It is only fitting that this experienced unit would
see it through to the end.
Being here covering the
drawdown of American troops and the transfer of
responsibility to the Iraqi government and security forces,
I feel like I'm not only witnessing history but contributing
to it as well. I'll be there as the last Falcon Brigade
paratrooper crosses the border into Kuwait, and yes, I'll be
taking pictures.
By Army Sgt. Kissta Feldner
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2011
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