Four Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard public affairs team here have been recognized for excellence in the National Guard Bureau’s 2024 media contest.

The competition recognizes the highest-caliber work by public affairs specialists across the Air and Army National Guard, evaluating hundreds of entries from the 54 states and territories each year.

“These entries showcase the best of our talents in print, photography, videography and public affairs,” said Tracy O’Grady-Walsh, director of public affairs for the National Guard Bureau. “We applaud the dedication and efforts that our Soldiers, Airmen and civilians give to our nation every day to bring the Guard story to the American public.”

This year, Airman 1st Class Annaliese Billings, Tech. Sgt. Chloe Ochs, Master Sgt. Phil Speck, and Lt. Col. Dale Greer all took home awards in the Air Guard division, O’Grady-Walsh announced Feb. 28.

Billings won third place in the information story category for an article on the efforts of a Kentucky Air Guardsman to locate and repatriate the remains of two Marine Corps aviators who were shot down in combat over Vietnam more than 50 years ago. She also was coined for excellence by the director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for her story, which received national attention. Billings was further recognized March 15 as the Kentucky Air National Guard’s Airman of the Year in the Airman category.

Ochs earned second place in the media contest’s news photo competition for an image depicting Kentucky Guard Airmen transporting construction supplies to the Arctic Circle to address a chronic housing shortage. Ochs is no stranger to the contest, formally known as the Air Force Public Affairs Chief Master Sgt. Douglass W. Morrell Media Awards, having earned four previous honors, including second-place ANG Military Videographer of the Year.

Master Sgt. Phil Speck was recognized for superior photography as well, taking third place in the feature photo category for an image depicting aircraft arrivals for the Thunder Over Louisville air show. Speck won second place in the same category last year, when he also was named Air National Guard Civilian Photographer of the Year in his role as a dual-status Air Reserve Technician.

Rounding out this year’s honors is Greer, acting in his capacity as a dual-status Air Reserve Technician. He took second place as ANG Civilian Writer of the Year for a package of five news and feature articles covering a broad range of unit events. Greer won first place in this same category in 2022 and 2023, narrowly missing a three-peat for 2024. He is a former Air Force Print Journalist of the Year, five-time ANG Military Journalist of the Year and a Thomas Jefferson award-winner for best news writer in the Department of Defense. In 2019, he also was named ANG Civilian Photographer of the Year.

In total, the Kentucky Air Guard public affairs team has earned 112 awards of excellence from the DOD, U.S. Air Force and NGB since 1995, scoring top-three honors in 26 of the past 30 years.