AMBER LYNN DANIEL ’04

“I am absolutely thrilled to have been able to attend SOU.  What makes SOU unique is that it was and remains a tight-knit community.  SOU is a premier school and it really is the gem of Oregon.”

Hometown

Ramona, CA

Degree

BA English and Writing, 2004

Current Occupation

US Navy Lieutenant
Public Affairs Officer with the Blue Angels

Amber’s Story

Amber Lynn (Scott) Daniel grew up in the small, rural southern California town of Ramona and chose SOU because she felt at home here. “I fell in love the second I set foot on campus. It had the small school feel that I was looking for while also having some absolutely fantastic professors.  I just knew it was the perfect fit,” she explained. While the work was stressful, Amber Lynn’s favorite memories of SOU mostly revolve around her work with the Siskiyou student newspaper.  “Bottom line, the best memories I have are being up until 4 AM putting on the final touches on the newspaper and trying to get it done before it needed to go to press.  We had this old record player and one record that we would play every night, just over and over again, to try and keep our spirits up.”

Amber Lynn’s work experience with the Siskiyou Newspaper and her writing skills helped to pave her way into working in television.  When she graduated in 2004, Medford’s KOBI Chanel 5 hired Amber Lynn as a script editor.  Through the next several years, she worked her way up to Lead Reporter. That media experience is what helped Amber be selected to join Naval Public Affairs. “It was a very fluid transition when I decided to join the military.  Having this media background is something that the Navy was looking for. I learned very early on how to lead and how to work with others from a variety of backgrounds.  I do the same thing today in the Navy.  I lead sailors.  From day one, I was tasked with leading a team of sailors as a public affairs officer and I learned to do that as a news editor for the Siskiyou.”

Amber Lynn is currently the Public Affairs Officer for the US Navy’s Blue Angels, the elite flight demonstration squadron.  “I love my job!  It’s constantly in flux and changing. As a public affairs officer, I’m in charge of media, coordinating interviews, and basically overseeing internal and external communication for the team. My second role in the team is the safety officer, which means I’m the one that’s on the ground ensuring they have the wind calls they need, the air space, and other safety precautions during the flight demonstration.”

Amber Lynn is stationed at NAS Pensacola in Pensacola, FL.  She is currently working toward her Masters in Communication through the University of Oklahoma.  Her job requires her to travel 300 days a year, but when she isn’t traveling or working, she is either training for her next half marathon or curling up with a good biography novel, her dog, Sergio, and a glass of wine.  She still calls herself an Oregonian at heart and plans to come back to southern Oregon after retiring from the Navy.