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NEWS | May 2, 2017

4th CTCS Reservists win big in media contest

By Maj. Hamilton Underwood 4th Combat Camera Squadron

Two Citizen Airmen with the 4th Combat Camera Squadron at Joint Base Charleston recently earned top honors in the 2016 Air Force Media Contest as well as third place honors in the Department of Defense level competition.

Tech Sgt. Christopher Hibben, 4th CTCS, was part of a three-person team, whose video, Weapon of Choice, won at the AFRC and Air Force level learned this week that his contribution helped earn third place at the DoD level contest.

After performing the same at AFRC and in the Air Force level, Senior Airman Armand Ortiz, 4th CTCS, earned third place in the DoD’s pictoral category.

“I’m elated,” said Ortiz, “It’s the perfect way to start out the squadron’s re-activation at Joint Base Charleston.” Ortiz took his award-winning photograph while documenting Marines during a live-fire training exercise at Twentynine Palms, Calif. 

“I happened to be in the right place at the right time, but my training helped me realize that I was in the right place at the right time,” said Ortiz.
“It demonstrates the how vital the Reserve component is,” said Hibben. “We have world class talent in multiple domains.”

In 2016, Hibben and former 4 CTCS member, Master Sgt. Sam Ameen, with Maj. Patrick Simmons producing, won DoD Production of the Year with Winning Your Wing II after wrapping up wins at the Air Force and AFRC level.

The 4 CTCS is looking to win DoD Production of the Year in 2018 as the squadron is in pre-production on its third full-scale video. This video looks to be a marked departure from the previous two productions.

“The command has provided the budget for us to do something truly remarkable this year,” said producer Maj. Harper. “We’re hoping to build upon the momentum of the previous two videos to deliver a production that will engage and inform key demographics about the Reserve mission.”
The production, tentatively titled, Saving the World, is expected to complete post production by September.

Editor's note: Michael Dukes, 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs, contributed to this article.