There's been a mini controversy over some ads that AFN has been airing overseas. Letter-writers have pointed to commercials for universities contracted with DOD, and for Stars and Stripes. Mention of a hot dog brand even made its way into an ad. The argument is that these favor commercial enterprises and therefore violate AFN's charter.

The network, by directive, is not supposed to have ads for commercial products. The universities are certainly that, as is the hot dog. Stars and Stripes isn't. It collects revenues but is not a for-profit enterprise.

I inquired about the theory and practice behind the ads. Paul Waldrop, chief of the AFRTS Radio and TV production office, provided an explanation. He said the network has no problem airing commercials for Stars and Stripes because it is a "DOD-owned" entity. The same goes for the Benjamin Franklin Village Bowling Alley, home of the Primo's Hebrew Franks hot dogs that made it into one ad, he said. Waldrop pointed out that Stars and Stripes commercials are not allowed to contain plugs for specific products, and that is the case for AFIS commercials as well.

As to the universities, Waldrop said "education is a service" and the DOD is providing it to troops through the arrangements with the schools. In that sense, he said, the schools are sponsored by the DOD, and AFN is using the commercials as "internal command information."

There you have it -- why AFN runs the ads it does.

And as to the hot dog, Waldrop said that may have been "overstepping the line a bit."