AFRS Broadcaster looks back on 30 years of service

by Tech. Sgt. Hillary Stonemetz
Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs

1/29/2014 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- After being drafted into the Army at the tail end of the Vietnam War, Jimmy Spacek decided he wanted to take a different path in life.

"Three years was enough in the Army. I should have joined the Air Force," he said with a laugh.

While Spacek never wore Air Force blue, he did serve nearly 30 years in civil service. The Air Force Recruiting Service broadcast supervisor will retire Jan. 31.

Spacek grew up on the south side of San Antonio where he developed his passion for music, playing a fusion of blues, jazz, and rock. After the Army, he and his band recorded several blues albums and toured the United States, Canada and Europe. He also worked in some local television stations before entering civil service as a broadcast specialist in the late 1980s.

"Jimmy has a wealth of knowledge and he brings a good perspective from a historical standpoint," said Col. Marcus Johnson, AFRS Strategic Marketing division chief. "He knows what works and what doesn't work. He knows when we are on the edge of doing something innovative."

As a broadcaster, Spacek made pilot training videos for the 12th Flying Training Wing here for eight years before joining AFRS in 1994. He uses his broadcasting knowledge and experience by making customized public service announcements, supervising the "Red, White and Air Force Blue Christmas" specials, and augmenting video production for AIRFORCE.com.

"Until you come into recruiting and marketing, you don't know the Air Force offers this type of job," Spacek said. "Having a good job allows me to enjoy my music career. Some days it's a job, but most days it's fun."

One of his favorite memories as an AFRS broadcaster was when he filmed a PSA with "Star Trek: The Next Generation" actors, Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn.

"The actors agreed to do the PSA for the Air Force in exchange for location rights to film several scenes of the movie, 'Star Trek: First Contact,' at the Titan Missile Museum," Spacek said.

Over the years, Spacek has helped create thousands of PSAs and dozens of videos for AIRFORCE.com.

"We had to hire a production company to do a lot of the bigger video projects, like commercials, because we don't have the manpower," Spacek said. "But doing some of the smaller stuff in-house saves the Air Force a lot of money."

The "Red, White and Air Force Blue Christmas" special is another project that Spacek plays an integral part in producing.

"It takes months to book a country artist and arrange the production schedule," Spacek said. "Sometimes we find an artist who wants to participate but they are too busy. I work with their management teams to select an artist, then try and come up with a recording time. We need to have the program produced and delivered to country music stations across the country by mid-November."

As the project supervisor, Spacek has directed specials with artists such as Blake Shelton, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Faith Hill, Reba McEntire and George Strait.
"It is the Air Force's gift to radio stations and their listeners to show our appreciation for all their support," Spacek said. "Country music fans have always gone out of their way to support military men and women serving around the world."

The public service program, which is designed to help ease the programming load for station program directors during the holidays, includes spot breaks for stations to sell commercial time. The Christmas special is distributed to more than 2,000 country stations nationwide. Last year's Christmas special earned nearly $1 million in Air Force awareness. Spacek was able to book the big name country artists because of his connections in Nashville, Tenn.

"Jimmy has a lot of relationships with a lot of organizations," Johnson said. "He will be greatly missed. He's going to be walking out with a lot of talent and contacts that will be hard to recoup, but I'm sure we'll still see him around."

Spacek still works the music scene in south Texas on nights and weekends. He is an active member of the San Antonio Blues Society and he has seen his music surge in popularity in France in recent years.

In addition to his day job and music gigs, he volunteers twice a month with "SoldierSongs and Voices," an organization that provides free guitar lessons and song writing assistance to military veterans.

"Music heals the wounds you can't see," Spacek said.

After he retires, Spacek said he plans to travel overseas with his wife, pursue music full time, and record another album.

"I guess I should also say I'm going to focus on projects around the house," he said with a grin.