JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. - –
The National Capital Region is not the first place people may think of when it comes to the entertainment industry. But one Department of Defense agency here is Armed Forces Entertainment, the official agency within the DoD that facilitates entertainment outreach which is similar to companies in the civilian world.
The Armed Forces Entertainment agency is a jointly-manned team of five, comprised of two civilians, and an Air Force, Navy and Marine officer who focus on sending entertainment to the troops, both at home and in the most-remote global locations.
"We work with the artists, recruit entertainment and communicate with them," said Navy Lt. Max Mayer, originally a pilot, now an AFE circuit manager for the Pacific and Western Hemisphere regional manager.
The AFE program started in 1951 where its former mission was to support the United Service Organizations as an entertainment liaison by providing assistance for the USO to get to military installations.
"Originally, the USO couldn't get to all the places we could, and they didn't have the appropriate funding, so we supplemented," said Brian Burke, AFE business and marketing analyst.
Since then, they have developed into an entity of their own. The Air Force has been the executive agent for more than 16 years.
"As the program grew, we became our own animal and now we are just partners," said Burke.
Armed Forces Entertainment now serves 371 U.S. military installations worldwide and is categorized into five regions: the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia, the Pacific, Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
Armed Forces Entertainment also works with American entertainers who are both well-known and up-and-coming, ensuring shows are not only entertaining, but wholesome and family-friendly.
The AFE team scouts talent and books a variety of tours such as sports personalities, cheerleaders, dance troupes, motivational speakers, comedians and musicians from various genres.
They have the capability to customize tours and bring acts to many secluded areas.
Before an act is chosen, each location and audience is taken into consideration. The performance stages can vary, either built to accommodate Cirque du Soleil acrobats, to a beach side concert or a meet and greet on a ship at sea.
"A lot of the sites don't have the lodging or facilities to support a big tour, but they can have somebody fly in on a helicopter to say hi and sign autographs," said Air Force Lt. Col. John Ponton, AFE chief.
Armed Forces Entertainment team members play an active role in each stage of a tour' s development. When covering so much ground, they rely on each location' s points of contact, the regional and circuit managers.
The regional manager takes an in-house role and is the person on the ground escorting new acts. The circuit managers take care of the overall, big picture responsibilities and paperwork.
"It's a lot of e-mailing back and forth, working within different time zones," said Mayer.
Moreover, to produce a tour takes a lot of planning and preparation, an aspect of the business often unseen by the audience.
"The regional managers usually travel with the talent," said Mayer. "We work with the artists, recruit entertainment and communicate with them, then put the contract together."
An AFE regional manager travels an average of 2.5 months out of the year.
"Getting to go on tour has a huge reward," said Mayer. "After all the time spent preparing, to see it unfold and to see the troops really enjoying it, pays off in the end."
Before an act is chosen, each location and audience, no matter how big or small, is taken into consideration.
"In one of my bases in the Bahamas if we have 100 percent attendance, 37 people would show, that's how many are on the base," said Mayer.
One key point that drives the development of a tour is audience feedback. The extended AFE team on the ground collects data after every performance, either face to face or through an after action report. The data is compiled, and then the process begins again.
"One of the big questions we ask is do you want them again? And 95 percent say yes," said Brian Burke, AFE business and marketing analyst. "There is an effort to make that happen."
Additionally, the AFE website, http://www.armedforcesentertainment.com, is a source for service members to communicate with AFE and check for upcoming tours.
"If members are not happy, we hear about it too," said Burke. "If we aren't sending entertainment to the proper locations and we remedy that as soon as possible."
In spite of their efforts, when a performance or an upcoming show is advertised , AFE is not the first brand that comes to mind. When it comes to military entertainment production, AFE is the dark horse.
"I think it happens to every tour that goes to a military base," said Burke. "When they see a tour, it's automatically assumed that it's the USO."
The difference between the USO and AFE is how they are funded. The USO gets funding through large corporations, while in contrast, AFE is solely funded by the DoD.
"The USO gets large donations from household named corporations," said Elmo Gladden, financial manager. "We don't generate money from the tickets or merchandise sold."
Working to serve a military audience, AFE faces an additional set of challenges; competing in the marketplace, coupled with changes in the weather and global conflict.
The challenges we face are related to world tension," said Elmo Gladden, financial manager. "Some regions have to deal with weather, especially during hurricane season."
"Safety is paramount," said Gladden. "We have been blessed that there have not been any major incident from a security standpoint."
An AFE tour may not be the most lucrative for entertainers, but AFE has many repeat acts that tour for the opportunity to give back to the troops.
"A lot of them come back to say thank you, and that's really why we're here," said Burke. "It's so that we can provide those kinds of experiences to folks."
In addition, since the closure in Iraq, there has been a decrease in demand and the restriction of funds has put a squeeze on the operation.
"When we were operating at our requested funding levels, we were sending out about 120 tours a year. Now, we're hovering around 70," said Burke.
With the federal cutbacks, like everyone else, AFE is doing more with less but still strives to get the most value for the money.
"A tour with travel and production will average about $70k," said Burke.
When looking at cost and value, the return on investment for a tour is gaged in a couple of ways. The cost is estimated by the projected attendance and is compared to the dollar value of what service members would be able to get outside of the base.
"For one of our larger tours, AFE sent One Republic to Japan and Hawaii and the average cost per attendee was roughly $4, compared to $60 if you were to go off base," said Burke. "So to be able to provide something with that kind of cost to the troops is a no-brainer to me."
Marine Capt. Marc Bucks, AFE circuit manager for the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia and Europe regions. Having deployment experience as a combat engineer, he knows first-hand what it was like to serve in a remote area.
"I deployed twice to Afghanistan and I didn't see any entertainment the entire time, so morale was a very big issue for the troops," said Bucks. "And for us, it was very tough."
Buck served in a location that was so inaccessible, that their food and supplies had to be convoyed in.
"The more remote and isolated sites we can hit, the more important it is to get there and break away from the daily grind. They can forget about what they're doing and just have fun," said Bucks. "You can't put a dollar amount on that."
To see featured artists and for scheduled tours, visit: http://www.armedforcesentertainment.com