MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY, Ga. -- The Albany Maintenance Center will become a television studio Thursday when the local NBC affiliate, WALB-TV, broadcasts live from there during the station's 6 p.m. newscast.
Base personnel may have noticed an increase in the station's vehicles on base recently. WALB-TV news crews have spent the past two weeks covering on the various operations here and getting a taste of life as a Marine.
"MCLB Albany has a huge role in our country's preparation for war," said Rick Williams, the station's news director. "The importance of the base should be pointed out to our viewers. We will also highlight MCLB's support of the Department of Defense and all branches of the military.
"Viewers will get an inside look at the Marines and civilians who carry out the base's mission. From repairing and testing weapons, to maintenance of crucial armored vehicles, we will show viewers the work that's done each and every day at MCLB Albany," said Williams.
The station's two primary anchors, Dawn Hobby and Ben Roberts, have led the way on the base feature project, which will demonstrate the value the station places on the area's Marine Base, said Williams.
Roberts, a native South Georgian, graduated from nearby Colquitt County High School and earned a Communications Arts degree with a minor in English from Georgia Southern University in 1991. He later came to WALB-TV as a reporter. Roberts left in 1997 for Tennessee, but returned to WALB-TV in 2001.
Hobby came to WALB-TV in 1985 as a reporter and in 1986 became the station's first female anchor of the 6 p.m. newscast.
In 1988 she left WALB-TV to join WFXL-TV to launch a news department for the area's other local station, a FOX affiliate.
She came back to WALB-TV in 1993 where she has earned numerous honors and recognition for her work.
After doing a segment on Marines running the obstacle course, Roberts braved the course himself and may have learned the need for Marines staying in top physical condition.
While covering the Albany Marine Band Marines and the Provost Marshal's Office Marines in marksmanship training at the Albany Police Department's Pistol Range, Hobby fired a Benelli semi-automatic shotgun.
The 30-minute broadcast will also highlight the Maintenance Center and some of the Civilian-Marines who work on the craneway and the equipment they repair for the Fleet Marine Force.
The DoD's Joint NBC Assessment Program, the Defense Distribution Depot Albany, Ga., and the U.S. Army Humanitarian Assistance Program were among other programs Hobby and Roberts covered.
According to Williams, the program is vital to Southwest Georgians, who are intensely interested in the base and the work done here.
The broadcast will give viewers more information about the role the base plays in protecting the nation Ð and, hopefully, a greater appreciation for the importance of the work done by their friends and neighbors employed here.
"This program will leave viewers with a greater sense of patriotism," said Williams.