Col. Franklin S. Forsberg

Helped start Yank and The Stars and Stripes
Awarded Posthumously

Franklin Forsberg was a publisher who joined the Army in 1942 and used his industry experience to change the face of military news.

As the executive officer for the Information and Education Division of the U.S. Army Morale Branch, LTC Forsberg oversaw most of the Army’s internal newspapers. He saw that camp-based newspapers were having trouble getting the information they needed so he began developing the first Army-based newswire service.

His informal news service became the forerunner to today’s famous Army News Service, ARNEWS. His service distributed stories from the major news services so that camp editors could include wire stories in their publications. Stories were provided from the Associated Press, United Press, International News Service and Reuters, via cable and short-wave radio. Broadcasting at slow-dictation speed, the service allowed the most fledgling camp editors to include wire stories in their publications.

But LTC Forsberg also knew that Soldiers needed a break from the war so he invented “The Army Weekly” which later became Yank. It was laid out in magazine format, catered to its readers interests by including not only editorials and sports, but included entertainment-type strategies like the “pin-up girl” and the first Army cartoons.

Funding for the magazine was a problem so Forsberg used $25,000 of his own money in start up costs. When Yank published its last issue in December of 1945 it had given the War Department a $1,000,000 profit.

LTC Forsberg also saw the need for a military-wide daily newspaper and became one of the architects of The Stars and Stripes. He was the administrative center of this worldwide publication. He selected every editor and was responsible for the Army news feed to each of the newspaper’s 25 overseas offices.

Franklin Forsberg left the Army with the rank of Colonel in 1946. He went on to a distinguished career in publishing and later served as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from 1981 to 1985.

COL Forsberg will be remembered for developing the early publications during World War II that lead to the global military news services that we have today.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Stephen E. Mason

Awarded Posthumously

LTC Stephen E. Mason was a combat veteran of Vietnam where he received the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars with Combat V device and two Purple Hearts.

He initially joined the Army as an enlisted artilleryman but later received his commission and served two tours in Vietnam as an artillery officer. He subsequently transferred to the Signal Corps because of combat injuries he suffered in Vietnam. LTC Mason culminated his decorated career as the Commander of the Southern European Broadcast Headquarters, Vicenza, Italy, where he retired in 1987 with more than 20 years of active duty service.

After transitioning from military to civilian life, Mr. Mason served from 1988 to 1990 as the Chief Engineer for the Army Broadcasting Service in Washington, D.C. He then served as Chief Engineer at AFRTS Headquarters in Virginia and ultimately as the Deputy Director of AFRTS until his retirement in 2001 after more than 34 years of government service.

In 2002, Mr. Mason was honored with AFRTS' highest honor – the Colonel Tom Lewis Leadership Award — for his hands-on design and management of the year-long move of the AFRTS-Broadcast Center from Sun Valley to its high-tech and industry leading facility at March Air Force Base.

His revolutionary concept and design of the AFRTS Broadcast Center digital broadcast automation system enabled AFRTS to provide more programming services with fewer resources using state-of-the-art technology.

Mr. Mason’s visionary championing and implementation of digital compression enabled AFRTS to expand its worldwide satellite distribution from one to nine television services and from one to 12 radio services.

Additionally, he devised and implemented a revolutionary delivery system of AFRTS TV services to Sailors and Marines onboard U.S. Navy ships at sea providing them with real-time television programming.
Mr. Mason lost his long battle with cancer on Friday, July 9, 2004, at his home in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

He will be remembered for his outstanding contributions and unwavering loyalty that made AFRTS what it is today.

The AFN South headquarters building in Vicenza, Italy, was dedicated the “Stephen E. Mason Media Center” on April 29, 2005.

Col. F. William "Bill" Smullen, III

Reshaped Army Media Relations

Colonel Bill Smullen became the Chief of the Army Public Affairs Media Relations Division when interaction with the civilian press was frayed and trust was nearly nonexistent. Nearly five years later COL Smullen had turned the climate 180 degrees. Reporters genuinely strived for balanced news stories and came out to the field instead of reporting from inside the beltway.

Colonel Smullen wanted the Pentagon Press Corps to see Soldiers in the field so he took a seven-member pool of reporters to Fort Hood to see the Bradley Fighting Vehicle in action. The resulting positive coverage did much to diminish criticism of the Bradley Program. This and many other trips were the beginning of the Army’s practice of embedding reporters in units.

Colonel Smullen constantly sought opportunities to place the Army’s leadership in front of the press. He arranged a number of successful editorial board sessions for our senior leaders. This included the first recorded appearance by the Army Chief of Staff before the editorial board of the Washington Post. The practice continues today as Army leaders regularly appear before publishers of major newspapers like the New York Times, the LA Times and USA Today.

Colonel Smullen also handled tragedy with complete professionalism. When a chartered airliner carrying more than 200 Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division crashed in Gander, Newfoundland, COL Smullen organized and supervised the Army’s response. He got an 800 number established to field the heavy volume of phone calls and sent a media relations staff officer to Gander to assist the Army Task Force on the ground. He also handled media activities during the arrival of the first remains to Dover Air Force Base which helped lead to balanced and responsible media coverage of event.

COL Smullen served as the Special Assistant for Public Affairs to two Chairmans of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell and Admiral Bill Crowe. He was the first public affairs officer to hold this position. General Powell respected him so highly that he made Colonel Smullen his Chief of Staff when he became the Secretary of State.

Colonel Smullen is now the director of the National Security Studies program at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.