The Army Public Affairs Association is proud to announce retired Lt. Col. Ned Longsworth as our 2026 recipient of the Joe Galloway Lifetime Achievement Award for his exceptional lifetime of accomplishments and contributions to the Army Public Affairs community.
The Joe Galloway Lifetime Achievement Award is an annual award that recognizes a lifetime of sustained extraordinary support to the U.S. Army and to the Army Public Affairs and Visual Information community. The award is presented to a practitioner whose accomplishments broke new ground for Army Public Affairs, who gave selflessly to the community of practice, and who made major and lasting contributions to the profession.
"Lt. Col. Longsworth was a tireless, dedicated public affairs professional in every way throughout his entire decades-long Army career. Not finished yet, Colonel Longsworth went on to two and a half decades more as part of the Army's Warfighting Exercise Program, contributing by coaching and training Army leaders to communicate effectively and to understand the critical value to mission success of their public affairs advisors," said Rebecca Wriggle, Army Public Affairs Association president. "We are supremely honored this year to recognize him with our association's highest honor, the Joe Galloway Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Longsworth's nomination package illustrated his remarkable contributions and legacy in Army Public Affair and beyond. For more than 50 years, Longsworth served this nation as an Infantry Officer, a Public Affairs Officer, and as a civilian contractor. As such, he made sustained, meaningful, and long-lasting contributions to the Army and to the Public Affairs career field.
Longsworth graduated from The Citadel in 1971 and was commissioned as a Regular Army Infantry Officer. As a young soldier, Longsworth earned his Airborne wings and Ranger tab, and from 1972-1975 he led infantrymen in the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and later served as a Brigade Adjutant in the 2d Infantry Division in South Korea, and as an Advanced Individual Training company commander at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
Longsworth attended the University of South Carolina to earn a master’s degree in journalism and served as a Plans and Programs Officer working with the creative team in the Army’s contract advertising agency during the early days of the “Be All You Can Be” advertising campaign.
He then returned to South Korea to serve as the Public Affairs Officer for the 2d Infantry Division in 1984-85. Upon his return to the United States, Longsworth attended the Army Command and General Staff College, followed by his post to the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Test Board as a Test Officer and Chief, Test Division from 1986-1989.
In the ensuing years, Longsworth served as the Public Affairs Officer for the XVIII Airborne Corps. In 1989, he deployed to Panama as the Joint Task Force South PAO during Operation Just Cause where he provided support for the DOD National Media Pool and other reporters in country. Next, he deployed to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm – managing the reception, staging, onward movement, and integration of war correspondents for the Corps, and acting as a spokesman and communications advisor for Corps leadership. Longsworth’s work in both of those operations helped inform the American people and citizens of the world about the power and effectiveness of the American Army.
He then served at Third Army/U.S. Army Central Command headquarters at Fort McPherson, Georgia, where he directed and supervised public affairs support during U.S. Army redeployments to Kuwait in response to Iraqi provocations. These operations also included former President George H.W. Bush’s visit to Kuwait and President Bill Clinton’s visit with the troops during Operation Vigilant Warrior.
After serving 24 years on active duty, Longsworth retired in Florida and chose to become a civilian contractor with the Battle Command Training Program (which later became the Mission Command Training Program) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. As an observer-trainer and media role player, Longsworth participated in more than 100 Warfighter corps and division command post exercises and dozens of similar exercises with Army National Guard brigade and division headquarters.
After the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, Longsworth took part in several dozen mission readiness exercises with Army units and their public affairs staffs as they prepared to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan, along with numerous other training missions in Africa and the Middle East. His work as a contractor continues to this day, where he serves as a media role player and senior editor, and as a de facto leader to the 18-person team.
In his 54 years of service to the nation, Longsworth has led soldiers in war and peace and trained soldiers to fight and win. Likewise, Longsworth was involved in the resurrection of the Army’s image in the advertising and public affairs realms in the two decades following the Vietnam War. He has been a champion and pioneer on the integration of news media into units deploying to combat, and he has been involved in realistic media training for corps and division commanders for more than a quarter century. He has trained and coached hundreds of young public affairs soldiers – many of whom have gone on to meet with great success at the highest levels of their career field.
“Ned has given so much of his life in selfless service to our public affairs community, our Army and to our nation," Wriggle said. “He spent five decades making a difference, anywhere he could, everywhere he could - a true role model for all of us. On behalf of our entire Board of Directors and the membership of the association, I'm thrilled to offer our sincere and most enthusiastic congratulations!"
Longsworth will receive the award at the association's Awards Banquet May 29 at the Hilton Mark Center, Alexandria, Va.