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Military Communications Staff to Speak at UC

Ft. Drum Personnel Address Communications Careers in US Army

Written By Joe Stabb, PRSSA

Contact - prssa@utica.edu

Utica, NY (11/28/2006) - Karen Martinez, command information chief, and Benjamin Abel, media relations officer, for the 10th Mountain Infantry at Fort Drum, Watertown, will speak on at Utica College at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Strebel Auditorium. The event, which is free and open to the public, is cosponsored by the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), the Raymond Simon Institute, Utica College Career Services, and Army ROTC.
Martinez began her career in government public affairs when she served six years on active duty as a journalist in the U.S. Army. As a soldier, Martinez served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, KY.; Joint Task Force – Bravo, Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras; and 19th Theater Army Area Command, Taegu, South Korea. During her time in service, she served as a staff writer and photographer, news editor, editor, and public affairs supervisor.
Upon her departure from active duty in 1998, Martinez worked for the Kentucky New Era newspaper, Hopkinsville, Ky., where she was an on-site manager at the Fort Campbell Courier as well as a copy editor and graphic artist. In 1999, she was the top selectee for the U.S. Army public affairs intern program and became an intern at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah, Ga. The conclusion of the internship included four months working in all aspects of Department of the Army Public Affairs at the Pentagon.
After completing the internship, Martinez accepted a position as public affairs specialist at Fort Drum, where she has worked since September 2000. She has served there as media relations officer, hometown news coordinator, and in her current position as command information officer.
Martinez has earned numerous Keith L. Ware Army journalism awards for news and feature writing, and one for information graphics. Her awards also include three achievement medals for civilian service and a commander’s award for civilian service.
Abel served as a psychological operations specialist while on active duty with the U.S. Army. His unit was tasked with tactical and strategic communications in support of military operations. During his time in uniform, he participated in counter-drug operations in South America, assisting Venezuelan and Colombian governments in developing multimedia campaigns to prevent the growth and traffic of narcotics.
Following his departure from uniformed service in 1999, he joined the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and completed the U.S. Army’s public affairs officer course at the defense information school at Fort Meade, Md. He served at Fort Bragg, N.C., as public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne).
Abel has also been involved with media coordination for national press events involving the president, vice president and secretary of defense, as well as the president of Poland. In 2000, he assisted in the training of actors to portray U.S. Army soldiers in the Jerry Bruckheimer film, ‘Black Hawk Down.’


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