Desert Wings continues publishing

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 95th Air Base Wing commander, Col. H. Brent Baker Sr., decided Feb. 9 to postpone the migration of the Desert Wings newspaper to a private publisher. 

The migration, which was to take place after the Feb. 23 edition, would have ended the more than 59-year run of the paper. 

"Colonel Baker made the decision after carefully evaluating all of his options," said 2nd Lt. Brad Kimberly, 95th ABW Public Affairs acting chief. "There were only two options the commander had - doing away with the newspaper all together or migrating to a private publisher. Ultimately, Colonel Baker decided that since the contract doesn't expire until November, we should use the time to work out all the details." 

Deciding to hold off on the transition wasn't an easy decision, Colonel Baker said. 

"It severely affects the Public Affairs professionals who day-in, day-out produce this award winning publication," Colonel Baker said. "I'm confident the PA staff will continue to produce the quality newspaper everyone is used to seeing, while at the same time researching future options for the migration." 

One of the driving forces of the newspaper's migration is an Air Force Smart Operations 21 initiative to reduce the amount of time Public Affairs newspaper staffs spend laying out and designing a physical newspaper. 

"A typical newspaper staff will spend more than thirty-percent of its time in the newspaper design process, Lieutenant Kimberly said. "At Edwards, it's more like forty-percent. Once we do migrate to a private publisher, we can use that time for reporting on the base mission." 

On Jan. 12, Edwards moved to the Air Force Public Information Management System and launched the new Edwards Public Web site. In doing so, Lieutenant Kimberly said the news reported would go from a weekly news cycle to a daily news cycle.

"Although we'll still be producing a newspaper, the Edwards Public Web site is the place to get the most up-to-date news," Lieutenant Kimberly said. "Anyone who wants to hold a physical paper in their hands can still get that on Fridays." 

Regarding the move to a private publisher, Colonel Baker said, "We want to take our time to make sure the transition goes smoothly. It's better to do it right than to do it fast."