AFN Okinawa’s mission is to communicate local command information and highlight the efforts of Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen to an audience of more than 70,000 listeners on 11 different military bases on Okinawa using various media outlets. They’re always looking for new and innovative ways to deepen the connection with the community.

Monday, AFN Okinawa launched a new station lineup and positioning statement, “Rockin’ the Ryukyus!” – a slight change from the past AFN sound – moving to music from the ‘90s to today complete with new show promotions, names and a better music mix.

“This is an exciting new chapter in our book,” said Staff Sgt. Brian J. Griffin, AFN Okinawa detachment operations manager. “What we’ve been doing over the past few months is looking at what our audience likes to listen to and developing a new schedule with a better variety of what our audience is asking for.

“With the implementation of the AFN Okinawa Facebook page, we have seen an explosion of audience interaction,” Griffin said. “On Nov. 18, we hit a milestone by welcoming our 1,000th Facebook fan, who we invited to the AFN studios as a guest disc jockey as well as receiving several other prizes.”

The Facebook page is nearly 75 percent of the way to reaching 2,000 fans, and the station plans to continue the new tradition of celebrating every 1,000th fan with the ‘Grand Fan Giveaway,’ said Griffin.

AFN Okinawa broadcasts and inserts command information using locally generated spots and news stories over Wave 89.1 FM and Surf 648 AM. Surf 648 AM is automated and plays mostly talk radio shows that are pre-recorded from the U.S. and aired at peak hours locally, Griffin said. Wave 89.1 carries a minimum of 40 hours of live airtime per week, with command information, live interviews and radio news stories about local events of interest to the military community.

When AFN Okinawa is not live, satellite feeds are used to broadcast music channels, news, sports and talk programs from the U.S.

“Jack FM has been a staple on island here for years because of its good variety of mix music,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Rachael “Rach H” Garneau, AFN Okinawa’s radio noncommissioned officer-in-charge and morning disc jockey.

“As soon as our Facebook page went live, we received a lot of feedback about (Jack FM). People were saying the songs were older and even repetitive around the same times every day. We noticed it ourselves, and realized it had to do with the fact that it was in the middle of the night in the U.S. - which meant it was recorded, not live. Since then, we’ve bounced back and forth between Jack FM and Hot AC, and almost immediately, we started receiving positive feedback.”

Fan feedback is always welcome, said Garneau. The Facebook page has opened a new avenue for the audience to interact and help make AFN Okinawa better.

“I love hearing from the fans, and we are always open to suggestions,” Garneau added. “Positive or negative, feedback from the listeners helps us improve and get listeners what they want.”

AFN Okinawa is always looking for innovative ways to deepen its connection with the community, said Griffin. Through television, radio, social media, on-site radio remotes and the Community Outreach Program, AFN Okinawa reaches a diverse audience.

“We strive to provide great command information and community happenings to our audience,” said Griffin. “We are still developing new programs and looking to revamp some current ones. We look forward to working closely with organizations to offer new and exciting programs for our military community on Okinawa.”

The new schedule can also be found at www.facebook.com/Wave89.