FORT LEE, VA – The deputy commander of the Army’s Public Affairs Office is seeking assistance from leaders of major Army commands in reducing instances of “photobombing,” which renders combat photographs unusable, and often makes the public relations war unwinnable.
“Our job is to get out there and capture real-world moments in combat, so that we can really tell the story of the Army to the public,” said Col. James Hutton, U.S. Army deputy chief of public affairs. “Our combat cameramen and women are some of the hardest working soldiers in today’s Army. They really do have a difficult job, and we want to make sure that people aren’t making it harder for them than it needs to be.”
Officials estimate the cost of photobombing to the Army — in terms of wasted man-hours and ruined photographs — at roughly $125 annually. “This might seem like a trivial amount,” says Hutton, “but there’s no way to put an appropriate price tag on the cost to our soldiers in terms of the headaches, frustration, and bitterness they suffer as a result of photobombing incidents, not to mention the mental anguish of having a potentially amazing shot ruined by some infantryman who isn’t supporting our mission.”
Combat camera soldiers are often attached to infantry units on patrols, sometimes carrying dozens of pounds of photography equipment. “I’d be willing to say that our job is just as physically demanding as the infantry,” said Private First Class Jessica Whitehurst, a public-affairs soldier attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.
