Support Shops Play Vital Role in Mission Success

Published July 2, 2014
By Master Sgt. Matt Murray

Washington, D.C. -- The six performing flights of The United States Air Force Band - the Concert Band, Singing Sergeants, Airmen of Note, Air Force Strings, Max Impact, and the Ceremonial Brass - are the public face of the organization and deliver world-class musical missions around the globe on a daily basis. However, without the critical assistance of our support shops, the accomplishment of our countless daily missions would be literally impossible.

There are five support shops within the Band: Operations, Marketing and Outreach, Music Production, Supply, and the Commander's Support Staff. Each shop performs its own uniquely specialized role while simultaneously overlapping and interrelating in many areas. Each shop has a chief and a superintendent assigned to oversee its day-to-day activities, but is predominantly manned by Airmen Musicians serving in collateral duties in addition to their primary role as performers.

"The Support Shops are force multipliers for the squadron. They manage, train and equip the collateral work force to provide the logistical backbone for the squadron," said Senior Master Sgt. Bob Kamholz the superintendent of Marketing and Outreach. "Without the support shops, the Air Force would have to spend millions of dollars with contractors to book halls, find sponsors, promote concerts, produce shows and broadcasts, and write, arrange and store the music and printed materials we use every day."

Operations

Operations is where the missions get their start. This support shop creates and develops our schedule by responding to requests and constantly seeking out new venues and events. Chief Master Sgt. Ed Teleky is the chief of Operations and is assisted by the Operations superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Regina Coonrod and a team of 25 collateral duty, Airmen Musicians.

The areas of responsibility of Operations include scheduling and administration, tours, supporting performances for honor flights and other veteran groups, protocol performances for high-level military leadership, community relations concerts, and all the routine deployments of our Airmen Musicians performing for our troops overseas and building international relations around the world.

In addition, we've recently expanded and rebranded our educational outreach program. Now called Advancing Innovation through Music (AIM), the program has markedly increased our interaction with students around the country as touring groups come to our facilities for days-long clinics, master classes and coaching sessions, fostering relationships between the Air Force and young people lasting generations.

"The support staff is absolutely vital to the operations of more than 1,400 annual missions performed by the Band," explained Teleky. "From initial coordination with our customers, including civic organizations, the secretaries of Defense and State, Congress, the president and more, we coordinate everything from logistics, equipment, uniforms, transportation, venues and much, much more."

To put Teleky's remarks into context, here are some overriding statistics on the breadth and scale of the Band's reach:

In fiscal year 2014, total performances scheduled: 1,457
As of June 2014, total audiences reached: 2.3 million
As of June 2014, protocol performances for the president, vice president, chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, the chief of staff of the Air Force and other high-level Pentagon leadership: 93
As of June 2014, honors rendered to fallen heroes: 721

Marketing and Outreach

After Operations gets the gigs on the books our Marketing and Outreach team steps in to make sure we get as many people as possible to attend our performances. Chief Master Sgt. Jennifer Pagnard is our chief of Marketing and Outreach. She's assisted by the section's superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Bob Kamholz and a team of 38 collateral duty, Airmen

The tasks overseen by this support shop include outreach and marketing for all six performing flights, social media including six Facebook pages, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, our website, physical media including compact discs and mailings, advertising and ticketing, graphic arts, photography, media content, diversity and exhibit booths at annual music and academic conferences around the country.

Here are just a few indicators of the global impact of our Marketing and Outreach department in 2014:

Website hits more than 1.3 million from 189 countries
Twitter followers exceeding 6,000
23,000 Facebook likes
Music downloads totaling 92,000

Clearly, without the critical support of our Marketing and Outreach staff, our performers would be seen and heard by far fewer audiences.

Production

Regarding the role of the Production staff, Chief Master Sgt. Jeb Eaton said, "We're the 'Oompa Loompas' of the Air Force Band. Our job is to make ideas become reality." And that is precisely what this support shop does. Propose an idea, and these guys will figure out how to make it happen.

Eaton heads up the Production staff, and along with Production's collateral duty, superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Dennis Hoffmann, they run a team of 32 collateral duty, Airmen Musicians that oversee anything from broadcasting, internet streaming, recording, video for public television broadcasts like our annual "America's Veterans - A Musical Tribute," arranging and composing new works, scripts and narration, programming, commissions and licensing. The most frequent task managed by Production is the day-to-day audio engineering essential to nearly all of our live, public performances, from our outdoor summer concerts throughout metropolitan Washington, D.C., to the Holiday concerts at D.A.R. Constitution Hall to our national tours, and so much more.

The Production staff is also responsible for our recent Holiday Flash Mob performance at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in downtown Washington, D.C. The YouTube video went viral, reaching more than 30 million people globally at zero production costs.

An absolutely vital subcomponent of Production, and unfortunately a too-often unsung hero, is the Library staff. Managed by Senior Master Sgt. Linda Waring (the Library's a collateral duty, noncommissioned officer in charge), the Band's Music Librarian, Technical Sgt. Devon Landis, and a staff of 10 collateral duty, Airmen Musicians, the Library is the leader in Department of Defense sheet music libraries, equipped with a professional production printer and containing more than $3.5 million worth of printed music.

In the second quarter of this year alone the library created, prepared and distributed more than 11,000 individual pieces of sheet music. On an annual basis that number exceeds 50,000 pieces circulating among all six performing flights.

Supply

The countless day-to-day Air Force Band concerts around the world would be impossible without the ability to acquire and maintain world-class instruments and a host of sound support gear to blend, balance, and make our musicians audible in all circumstances and environments. This is the critical role that our support staff in Supply plays.

Chief Master Sgt. Albert Islas is the chief of Supply. He and this section's superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Doug Ellison and their team of 34 collateral duty, Airmen Musicians manage everything from acquiring uniforms, establishing contracts, managing records, billing, communications including computers, cell phones and landlines, the Band's equipment warehouse and maintaining and repairing instruments, among many, many other critical tasks.

One of the most important initiatives the Supply shop oversees is providing resources for deployments. As our Airmen Musicians prepare to deploy around the world to support fellow service members and encourage positive international relations, the Supply shop provides them with all the resources they need, from uniforms to instruments, protective gear, sleeping bags to eyewear and more.

Commander's Support Staff

Last but not least is the Commander's Support Staff (CSS), where every Airman Musician's career is managed and maintained. Chief Master Sgt. Bill Marr heads up this shop as a collateral duty, along with a collateral duty superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Chris Kosky and a team of 43 collateral duty, Airmen Musicians.

CSS handles everything from our annual performance reports for officers and enlisted, awards and decorations, training, security, safety, inspections, collateral duties, building maintenance, our fitness records, and even the acquisition of new personnel, critical components in advancing the careers of all Airmen. Without this shop's vital support the careers of countless members would be tragically cut too short.

While our performing flights garner daily attention globally on the center stage and in the media, the role of our support shops too often gets overlooked. Yet the final product The U.S. Air Froce Band delivers would be impossible without their behind-the-scenes roles being skillfully and dutifully executed on a daily basis.

So, the next time you attend a concert by your United States Air Force Band, please be sure to take notice of the incredible work of our support shops - Operations, Marketing and Outreach, Production, Supply and the Commander's Support Staff. Thank you Band support shops for your inspiring hard work and dedication!

Chief Master Sgt. Jebodiah on the set of "America's Veterans - A Musical Tribute."