| Armed Forces Entertainment and touring rock band Hello Dave will be featured on the NEWS 21 student-produced documentary showing the intimate side of how entertainers live and work with the troops, while giving and receiving inspiration when touring for the US military overseas. The program will air on CNN Anderson Cooper 360 on September 15 at 10 p.m. EST.
NEWS 21, a reporting project at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, is designed to generate original broadcast television and multimedia reporting on the US military abroad. Sponsored by the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education, the initiative supports the reporting projects at Berkeley and at three other graduate schools of journalism: University of Southern California, Northwestern University, Columbia University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
“The American military is in the midst of a profound shift in strategy that is reshaping the military’s presence, and in many cases, its mission, around the world,” said Bob Calo, NEWS 21 advisor, senior lecturer at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and former producer for ABC and NBC news programs. “We were looking for ways to tell stories (cultural, economic, and political) about the nearly half million men and women serving the security interests of the United States overseas.”
UC Berkeley graduate students Cerissa Tanner and Aliza Nadi traveled with an Armed Forces Entertainment tour to Southwest Asia June 9-20, documenting how Chicago-based rock band Hello Dave interacted and performed for the troops. It was Hello Dave’s seventh tour with Armed Forces Entertainment, but it’s first to certain countries in Southwest Asia.
“My partner, Aliza, and I had no idea what to expect since neither of us had been on a military base. But we knew entertainers got to witness a side of the troops that few civilians ever see, which is why we wanted to film Hello Dave's tour,” said Tanner. “We weren't sure how people would respond to us since we were from the media and students from "liberal" Berkeley. But most were very open with us. We not only got access to six military bases in the Middle East, but in some small degree, we also got access to the hearts and minds of the young people stationed there.”
Performing together since the early 90s Hello Dave has released five full-length albums and performed over a thousand shows.
“We’ve toured with Armed Forces Entertainment many times—and we do it because the troops need to know that we care,” said Mike Himebaugh, lead singer for Hello Dave. “My step-father, who sang in a Barber Shop quartet, performed for troops in Vietnam. He said the experience was life changing and he encouraged me to do it.” Hello Dave performed 20 shows for troops at various bases in the Middle East, all under the scope of the NEWS 21 camera. “It was a little strange at first, getting used to the camera being in your face 24/7, but by the end of the tour we started not to notice it.”
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Armed Forces Entertainment is the lead Department of Defense agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel serving overseas, with priority given to those in contingency operations and at remote and isolated locations. The Department of the Air Force is the executive agent of Armed Forces Entertainment.
Founded in 1951, Armed Forces Entertainment brings a touch of home to more than 500,000 troops annually, embracing the best of Americana that stretches across all genres of entertainment. Visit www.armedforcesentertainment.com for more information.
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