MAXWELL

Captain Peter Shinn, an Officer Training School instructor, with Soldiers at Outpost Mace in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, Dec. 20, 2010. Shinn won an Emmy? for videography in Afghanistan. He was part of a team that put together Iowa Soldiers Remember Afghanistan, which aired on Iowa Public Television on Veterans Day in 2011. The program won the 2012 Emmy? for best Military Program in the Upper Midwest Region. (U.S. Army photo.)

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Air University instructor wins Emmy

Published Oct. 29, 2012
By Col. Edward Vaughan
Air University Air National Guard Advisor

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. - -- An Air Force Officer Training School instructor from the Iowa Air National Guard has won an Emmy for videography in Afghanistan.

Captain Peter Shinn was a key part of the team that put together Iowa Soldiers Remember Afghanistan, which aired on Iowa Public Television on Veterans Day in 2011. The program won the 2012 Emmy for best Military Program in the Upper Midwest Region.

The program, produced by David Miller, chronicled the 2010-2011 deployment of Iowa National Guardsmen with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and 734th Agribusiness Development Team then documented their feelings about the deployment after returning home.

Shinn served as the ADT's public affairs officer, producing the on-location portions of the program and providing Miller with footage of the team's work in Afghanistan.

"Captain Shinn was integral to this production," Miller said. "Without his video of the 734th ADT, I would not have been able to properly tell the story about Iowans serving in Afghanistan."

The Army general who commanded the ADT also praised Shinn's work.

"Captain Shinn told the ADT story superbly," said Brig. Gen. Craig Bargfrede, who now is the assistant adjutant general, Army, for the Minnesota National Guard. "I'm not surprised to hear he won this award."

Shinn reacted to news of his Emmy by lauding the Soldiers and Airmen of the Iowa National Guard with whom he served in Afghanistan.

"Iowa Soldiers was about the men and women of the ADT," Shinn said. "They risked their lives every day to improve conditions for ordinary Afghans, and the real honor was working with them."

Shinn is a student squadron commander at OTS on Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. In addition to leading young men and women through their training to earn a commission, he actively participates in the professional development of his fellow staff and faculty at the Air University.

According to the U.S. Army website, the Army National Guard has employed the Agribusiness Development Team concept successfully in Central America for approximately 20 years. The National Guard Bureau completed significant planning to transfer this successful model to Afghanistan. Composed of Citizen-Soldiers with farming and agribusiness expertise, team members put themselves in harm's way to offer practical training and advice to Afghan universities, provincial ministries and local farmers. Through daily community engagement, the teams helped improve Afghan farming practices, leading to more sustainable food production.