I am truly looking forward to what us old-timers call "the Worldwide." It's our Public Affairs Professional Development Seminar scheduled for 17-19 March in Washington, D.C. Back in "the day" it was called the Worldwide Public Affairs Conference. We referred to it as simply "the Worldwide," and I'm glad that name has stuck through the years.
I don't have a problem living in the past but this Worldwide is dedicated to the now and the future. And, it has to be.
The theme of the Worldwide is Lead the Revolution. I've discussed before that we're somewhere on a continuum of a communication revolution that started in the early- to mid- 1980s. This Worldwide will embrace that revolution and hopefully we'll establish the foundation for how we'll research, plan, execute and evaluate our PA mission now and into the near future.
We'll be establishing the expectation of engagement for our PAs. We're pretty strapped for people across the board these days but we're going to help our PAs to do some things that are easy and fast and effective that will get them engaging more and more with their local communities and local media.
We'll give everyone a heavy dose of new media at the Worldwide. I actually believe the current technology in the communication revolution can make our job a bit easier, especially in these times of dwindling resources. We're all just a few clicks away from being connected with the world as more and more people start looking to the Internet to receive and pass information.
The timing is right for us. We finally have the capabilities in one place--Multimedia pros, Bandsmen, Broadcaster, Journalists--to craft products that are ready-made for now media.
I'm also looking forward to the Worldwide banquet. I hope we'll have several member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association at the banquet. I want them to see that they have left an endearing legacy of excellence and excitement about the communication mission. I know they will be impressed with all of our PA professionals.
Hope to see you at the Worldwide!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
It's Personal
What is the face of the Air Force?
Your first thought might be a plane. Our technology and equipment have been major communication points down through the years. And, why not? We can all picture a squadron of
B-17s lumbering toward a target over Europe, or the F-15 Eagle dominating the skies over Iraq, or B-52s in Linebacker II bombing North Vietnam to the peace table and providing the sound and quake of hope to our POWs in Hanoi.
But the real face of the Air Force is Airmen. The word Airman is a proper noun just like Soldier, Sailor and Marine. Unfortunately, and I don't mean to be negative, we don't always get to shine the light on our Airmen and so we become just another face in the crowd.
Our Airmen have great stories to tell. Check out this NPR story by Tom Bowman on a Combat Search and Rescue mission in Afghanistan. The story centers around the fact that we've left no one behind in Afghanistan, dead or alive. This isn't a story about the Pave Hawk helicopter or the effectiveness of Night-Vision Goggles. Instead it's a look at how Airmen risked their lives deep in enemy territory to recover a Soldier that gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country. That's the face of the Air Force.
Too often though we fail to get out of our own way. For example many Airmen are either forbidden or unwilling to use their full names when talking to reporters. That has kept us out of some national-level stories of late.
For example, USA Today reporter Tom Vanden Brook, on a recent trip to Afghanistan couldn't use quotes provided by Airmen because they would only provide call-signs. These were great quotes about how the Air Force avoids collateral damage and avoids killing civilians in air strikes. That story, an important one for us, didn't get told.
Airmen and their stories are our key to success in a global information environment that operates at the speed of heat. If the Air Force wants to be competitive then we have to make it personal.
Your first thought might be a plane. Our technology and equipment have been major communication points down through the years. And, why not? We can all picture a squadron of
B-17s lumbering toward a target over Europe, or the F-15 Eagle dominating the skies over Iraq, or B-52s in Linebacker II bombing North Vietnam to the peace table and providing the sound and quake of hope to our POWs in Hanoi.
But the real face of the Air Force is Airmen. The word Airman is a proper noun just like Soldier, Sailor and Marine. Unfortunately, and I don't mean to be negative, we don't always get to shine the light on our Airmen and so we become just another face in the crowd.
Our Airmen have great stories to tell. Check out this NPR story by Tom Bowman on a Combat Search and Rescue mission in Afghanistan. The story centers around the fact that we've left no one behind in Afghanistan, dead or alive. This isn't a story about the Pave Hawk helicopter or the effectiveness of Night-Vision Goggles. Instead it's a look at how Airmen risked their lives deep in enemy territory to recover a Soldier that gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country. That's the face of the Air Force.
Too often though we fail to get out of our own way. For example many Airmen are either forbidden or unwilling to use their full names when talking to reporters. That has kept us out of some national-level stories of late.
For example, USA Today reporter Tom Vanden Brook, on a recent trip to Afghanistan couldn't use quotes provided by Airmen because they would only provide call-signs. These were great quotes about how the Air Force avoids collateral damage and avoids killing civilians in air strikes. That story, an important one for us, didn't get told.
Airmen and their stories are our key to success in a global information environment that operates at the speed of heat. If the Air Force wants to be competitive then we have to make it personal.
Monday, February 9, 2009
What are we worth
My advice as a career Air Force Public Affairs Officer is to be "measured" in how we as a military service react to stories in the news. Unless it's dead-wrong or ridiculously sensational it's usually best to just leave it alone. However, I felt it necessary to comment on a recent piece about public relations in the Department of Defense. Now, this article had the bounce of a water balloon but it pains me when someone lumps mission areas into a loose confederation and then tries to make a story of it all.
AP reporter Chris Tomlinson published last week about how much money over the last five years the Department of Defense has spent on public relations. Its certainly a worthwhile effort to examine how the government spends it's money. However, the Tomlinson story is troublesome because the article paints recruiting and advertising, Psychological Operations and Public Affairs with the same brush. That makes for a bad picture. These missions are definitely separate from each other and they each deliver different results for America.
Recruiting and Advertising.
In FY08 the Army spent $283 million, the Navy spent $189 million, the Marine Corps spent $138 million and the Air Force budgeted $36 million and spent an additional $25 million on the "Above All" advertising campaign. That's a total of $671 million. It's a lot of money but according to the Joint Advertising, Market Research & Studies group there are significant recruiting challenges:
*Only 12 percent of youth have a propensity to serve in the military--the lowest since tracking began in 1975 and 8 percent lower than 1999 when the Air Force last missed it's recruiting goal.
*Propensity of adults to recommend military service as employment for youth continues to decline.
*53 percent of youth ages 16-21 are ineligible for military service due to medical, moral, or legal reasons.
*Of the 26 percent of youth qualified for military service between the ages of 17-24 approximately 42 percent of those enroll in college within one year after graduating from high school. Since 1980, the number of youth enrolling in college has increased 35% and that trend is expected to continue.
*Only 5% of eligible youth age 17-24 not attending college have the aptitude for high-tech AF jobs, and the other services want them also.
This is an important mission that costs big dollars because the services have to go where the kids are these days--cable TV and the Internet. But, with some exceptions, that mission is virtually divorced from the traditional Public Affairs missions of the services.
Psychological Operations.
The Tomlinson article also included Psychological Operations with public relations. That's a loose fit at best. PSYOPs are conducted by specially trained people and units to ensure certain audiences get the truth. They are not done in the United States and they are not done, as a matter of course, by traditional Public Affairs Officers. I have worked with PSYOP experts in a couple of different deployed locations. While most of the time our messaging was the same, their means of delivering the message and their target audiences were different than mine.
Public Affairs.
The Tomlinson article states that the Defense Department will employ about 27,000 people for recruiting and advertising, PSYOP and Public Affairs. That may be true but he definitely didn't ask anyone how it's going in Air Force Public Affairs. Since 1989 we've lost 310 officers and 891 enlisted professionals. This personnel implosion has occurred while the global information environment has supernova'd. Today, we have well over 120 million blogs, news is quickly moving to the Internet and because of that breaking news happens at any time and it doesn't wait for the morning paper to hit your doorstep. That makes my job very challenging and today we have very few people to actually get the mission done.
I focus my efforts on the Air Force Public Affairs core competencies of Trusted Counsel to Leaders, Airman Morale and Readiness, Public Trust and Support and Global Influence and Deterrence. That's done through engaging Airmen, the public and the media so they can better understand our mission and how we protect the American way of life--including a free press. Tomlinson took a broad swing at the Army/Air Force Hometown News Service in his article. This organization lets people know in hometowns across America what their Soldiers and Airmen are doing to protect the nation. It's not propaganda.
It's a time of war Tomlinson points out. Americans deserve to know how their sons and daughters are prepared for it and how we are spending their tax dollars. What are we worth? If we can't do that in war time, then when can we?
AP reporter Chris Tomlinson published last week about how much money over the last five years the Department of Defense has spent on public relations. Its certainly a worthwhile effort to examine how the government spends it's money. However, the Tomlinson story is troublesome because the article paints recruiting and advertising, Psychological Operations and Public Affairs with the same brush. That makes for a bad picture. These missions are definitely separate from each other and they each deliver different results for America.
Recruiting and Advertising.
In FY08 the Army spent $283 million, the Navy spent $189 million, the Marine Corps spent $138 million and the Air Force budgeted $36 million and spent an additional $25 million on the "Above All" advertising campaign. That's a total of $671 million. It's a lot of money but according to the Joint Advertising, Market Research & Studies group there are significant recruiting challenges:
*Only 12 percent of youth have a propensity to serve in the military--the lowest since tracking began in 1975 and 8 percent lower than 1999 when the Air Force last missed it's recruiting goal.
*Propensity of adults to recommend military service as employment for youth continues to decline.
*53 percent of youth ages 16-21 are ineligible for military service due to medical, moral, or legal reasons.
*Of the 26 percent of youth qualified for military service between the ages of 17-24 approximately 42 percent of those enroll in college within one year after graduating from high school. Since 1980, the number of youth enrolling in college has increased 35% and that trend is expected to continue.
*Only 5% of eligible youth age 17-24 not attending college have the aptitude for high-tech AF jobs, and the other services want them also.
This is an important mission that costs big dollars because the services have to go where the kids are these days--cable TV and the Internet. But, with some exceptions, that mission is virtually divorced from the traditional Public Affairs missions of the services.
Psychological Operations.
The Tomlinson article also included Psychological Operations with public relations. That's a loose fit at best. PSYOPs are conducted by specially trained people and units to ensure certain audiences get the truth. They are not done in the United States and they are not done, as a matter of course, by traditional Public Affairs Officers. I have worked with PSYOP experts in a couple of different deployed locations. While most of the time our messaging was the same, their means of delivering the message and their target audiences were different than mine.
Public Affairs.
The Tomlinson article states that the Defense Department will employ about 27,000 people for recruiting and advertising, PSYOP and Public Affairs. That may be true but he definitely didn't ask anyone how it's going in Air Force Public Affairs. Since 1989 we've lost 310 officers and 891 enlisted professionals. This personnel implosion has occurred while the global information environment has supernova'd. Today, we have well over 120 million blogs, news is quickly moving to the Internet and because of that breaking news happens at any time and it doesn't wait for the morning paper to hit your doorstep. That makes my job very challenging and today we have very few people to actually get the mission done.
I focus my efforts on the Air Force Public Affairs core competencies of Trusted Counsel to Leaders, Airman Morale and Readiness, Public Trust and Support and Global Influence and Deterrence. That's done through engaging Airmen, the public and the media so they can better understand our mission and how we protect the American way of life--including a free press. Tomlinson took a broad swing at the Army/Air Force Hometown News Service in his article. This organization lets people know in hometowns across America what their Soldiers and Airmen are doing to protect the nation. It's not propaganda.
It's a time of war Tomlinson points out. Americans deserve to know how their sons and daughters are prepared for it and how we are spending their tax dollars. What are we worth? If we can't do that in war time, then when can we?
Friday, February 6, 2009
My Top Ten
Below are the top ten things I have learned after nearly 24 years as an Air Force Public Affairs Officer. I hope there are some lessons that you can also use.
10. Never answer the phone after 3:30 on Friday--it can only be bad news.
I passed someone in the hall this morning and she said "It's Friday." That has a different connotation for me. Too many times in too many places the worst dilemmas have occurred late on a Friday afternoon when many of the "experts" we need to get help from have already departed for the weekend.
9. Every job is a PA job.
No matter where I've been, no matter what rank I am wearing, invariably people will come up to me and either say "I'm glad I don't have your job," or "I could never do your job." In fact, every Airman does my job. Just wearing the uniform communicates. The Air Force's best stories are about it's people. My job is to help them tell theirs.
8. The office symbol is PA not AP.
One of my biggest obstacles over the years has been getting Airmen I serve with in the same unit to talk to me about what they're doing. Many felt, because I was the PA, that I had a direct conduit to the media and that what they said to me would be quoted back in the morning paper. When I was the Chief of PA at Bitburg Air Base, Germany the fire marshal would always go silent when I walked up to his mobile command post during a Disaster Response Group exercise. He knew where the fire was but he never saw the light.
7. Questions don't matter, answers do.
We very seldom see or hear the question when we read a newspaper report or watch a TV news story. It's the answer that makes the story. This is one of my foundational points when I conduct media training for Airmen. Many are nervous about what questions a reporter might ask. For the most part I'm not concerned about the question. My goal, no matter the question, is to deliver a PGM--Precision Guided Message--so our real audience, the public, understands and appreciates our mission. We have to always be prepared with a message and know how to bridge to it no matter the question. We can't control the question; we have absolutely total control of the answer.
6. If you worry about it; IT won't happen.
This is somewhat counter to the faux self-actionalized people who like to say "Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff." What I've learned is that when your gut tells you something is going to be an issue then you need to start focussing on that possibility. If you can keep IT (whatever IT is) from happening then you've done your job. That doesn't mean bad news won't happen and won't be reported but you can keep that bad news from becoming an issue unto itself.
5. Routinely take the Page 2 test.
Base newspapers have what we call a Masthead and it's usually located at the bottom of Page 2. The Masthead shows the names of the people who are responsible for publishing the paper. Unless you're the Wing Commander your name isn't on top of the Masthead. My first mission as a PA is to provide trusted counsel to leaders. It's up to the leaders to take my advice. If they don't that doesn't mean I'm wrong and that they're idiots. It just means they want to go in a different direction. That's why they're leaders. State your case and then salute smartly. If you can't do that then you need to find something else to do with your life.
4. Separate your ego from your position.
This is a great lesson I learned from General Ed Eberhart when he was the commander at Air Combat Command. His point--not every battle is worth fighting. For those that are you may not win. It's not about you. It is about what's best for the Air Force.
3. How YOU react to a situation, dilemma, crisis or issue is a reflection of YOU, not the situation, dilemma, crisis or issue.
This is much easier said than done especially when we're tired and worn out because Air Force careers these days resemble a "sprintathon." Imagine having to run an entire marathon at a full-out sprint and your life depended on it. That's where we are. So each of us must rely heavily on those core AF values of Integrity First, Service before Self and Excellenc in All We Do.
2. If you want something done good and fast it takes two people; one to do it good and one to do it fast.
Sometimes we need things fast. That's ok, but it's rarely as good as it can be when you have the time to give it your best.
1. Perfection is the goal but most of the time good enough is better.
At some point you just have to pull the trigger. Give it your best shot!
10. Never answer the phone after 3:30 on Friday--it can only be bad news.
I passed someone in the hall this morning and she said "It's Friday." That has a different connotation for me. Too many times in too many places the worst dilemmas have occurred late on a Friday afternoon when many of the "experts" we need to get help from have already departed for the weekend.
9. Every job is a PA job.
No matter where I've been, no matter what rank I am wearing, invariably people will come up to me and either say "I'm glad I don't have your job," or "I could never do your job." In fact, every Airman does my job. Just wearing the uniform communicates. The Air Force's best stories are about it's people. My job is to help them tell theirs.
8. The office symbol is PA not AP.
One of my biggest obstacles over the years has been getting Airmen I serve with in the same unit to talk to me about what they're doing. Many felt, because I was the PA, that I had a direct conduit to the media and that what they said to me would be quoted back in the morning paper. When I was the Chief of PA at Bitburg Air Base, Germany the fire marshal would always go silent when I walked up to his mobile command post during a Disaster Response Group exercise. He knew where the fire was but he never saw the light.
7. Questions don't matter, answers do.
We very seldom see or hear the question when we read a newspaper report or watch a TV news story. It's the answer that makes the story. This is one of my foundational points when I conduct media training for Airmen. Many are nervous about what questions a reporter might ask. For the most part I'm not concerned about the question. My goal, no matter the question, is to deliver a PGM--Precision Guided Message--so our real audience, the public, understands and appreciates our mission. We have to always be prepared with a message and know how to bridge to it no matter the question. We can't control the question; we have absolutely total control of the answer.
6. If you worry about it; IT won't happen.
This is somewhat counter to the faux self-actionalized people who like to say "Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff." What I've learned is that when your gut tells you something is going to be an issue then you need to start focussing on that possibility. If you can keep IT (whatever IT is) from happening then you've done your job. That doesn't mean bad news won't happen and won't be reported but you can keep that bad news from becoming an issue unto itself.
5. Routinely take the Page 2 test.
Base newspapers have what we call a Masthead and it's usually located at the bottom of Page 2. The Masthead shows the names of the people who are responsible for publishing the paper. Unless you're the Wing Commander your name isn't on top of the Masthead. My first mission as a PA is to provide trusted counsel to leaders. It's up to the leaders to take my advice. If they don't that doesn't mean I'm wrong and that they're idiots. It just means they want to go in a different direction. That's why they're leaders. State your case and then salute smartly. If you can't do that then you need to find something else to do with your life.
4. Separate your ego from your position.
This is a great lesson I learned from General Ed Eberhart when he was the commander at Air Combat Command. His point--not every battle is worth fighting. For those that are you may not win. It's not about you. It is about what's best for the Air Force.
3. How YOU react to a situation, dilemma, crisis or issue is a reflection of YOU, not the situation, dilemma, crisis or issue.
This is much easier said than done especially when we're tired and worn out because Air Force careers these days resemble a "sprintathon." Imagine having to run an entire marathon at a full-out sprint and your life depended on it. That's where we are. So each of us must rely heavily on those core AF values of Integrity First, Service before Self and Excellenc in All We Do.
2. If you want something done good and fast it takes two people; one to do it good and one to do it fast.
Sometimes we need things fast. That's ok, but it's rarely as good as it can be when you have the time to give it your best.
1. Perfection is the goal but most of the time good enough is better.
At some point you just have to pull the trigger. Give it your best shot!
Monday, February 2, 2009
We Need to Talk
This is probably what we call in the Air Force a BFO--a Blinding Flash of the Obvious--but how we communicate has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades. We in the Air Force have some catching up to do.
For the last 18 months my stump speech on the speaking circuit to whomever will listen goes something like this:
*We're in a communication revolution that started in the early 1980s and is in afterburner in 2009. I don't know where we are in the life-cycle of this communication revolution but I do know that it's not over and some incredible things are on the horizon. The revolution started when we evolved from IBM Selectrics to word processors and eventually computers that linked us to the rest of the world. And, let's not forget the wall-bound telephone has given way to cell phones and now the iPhone which lets us connect with anyone, or anything, almost anywhere.
*Technology wrought from the communication revolution has dramatically changed how we receive information and how we pass that information on to others. Check out Jeff Greenfield's piece on CBS Sunday Morning that aired Feb. 1. Mr. Greenfield clearly and succinctly recounts the changes in the communication environment over just the last five years. He says the revolution has been so dramatic that the word "change" just doesn't do justice to describe what has taken place.
*The communication revolution has also caused the business of the media to change dramatically. For the last 18 months I've predicted that by 2015 there will only be four printed newspapers left in America: the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the USA Today and the Washington Post. They're just too expensive to print and deliver and readers are going on-line to get the specific information they want from the sources they want to read. Just take a look at the Romenesko column and you'll see the media business is in dire straits.
For the last 18 months my stump speech on the speaking circuit to whomever will listen goes something like this:
*We're in a communication revolution that started in the early 1980s and is in afterburner in 2009. I don't know where we are in the life-cycle of this communication revolution but I do know that it's not over and some incredible things are on the horizon. The revolution started when we evolved from IBM Selectrics to word processors and eventually computers that linked us to the rest of the world. And, let's not forget the wall-bound telephone has given way to cell phones and now the iPhone which lets us connect with anyone, or anything, almost anywhere.
*Technology wrought from the communication revolution has dramatically changed how we receive information and how we pass that information on to others. Check out Jeff Greenfield's piece on CBS Sunday Morning that aired Feb. 1. Mr. Greenfield clearly and succinctly recounts the changes in the communication environment over just the last five years. He says the revolution has been so dramatic that the word "change" just doesn't do justice to describe what has taken place.
*The communication revolution has also caused the business of the media to change dramatically. For the last 18 months I've predicted that by 2015 there will only be four printed newspapers left in America: the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the USA Today and the Washington Post. They're just too expensive to print and deliver and readers are going on-line to get the specific information they want from the sources they want to read. Just take a look at the Romenesko column and you'll see the media business is in dire straits.
The technology is designed to work for us. Gone are the days when we had to wait for the morning paper or the evening news to get caught up. Now we control what information we want to receive, when we want to get it, how we want to get it and we can pass it on to others we know are interested.
We have to make a few adjustments if the Air Force is going to stay "in formation" with regard to the changes in the communication environment. First, corporately we need to embrace the change. Many AF folks won't even be able to view the CBS news piece I linked to above because their work computers are blocked from accessing media sites. Secondly, Airmen at all levels must be armed with ROI--Rules of Information--so that they are cleared and available to engage the public. Thirdly, we in the Public Affairs career field need to merge our writing, video and photo capabilities and produce Internet-ready packages that communicate in ways the public wants to receive information.
The consequences are serious if we don't engage; our Air Force will be divorced from the national policy debate and others will define our capabilities and relevance.
The Air Force must have an enduring commitment to communicate with the public it serves. If they don't know, they won't care and we won't matter.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
What America Thinks of Us
There are some very telling statistics in a recent Gallup Military Perceptions 2008 poll that may affect recruiting over the next few years.
I am not surprised by the data because it mirrors research Air Force Public Affairs has seen over the last couple of years concerning those who would encourage young people to join the military services. The bottom line to the data in the Gallup survey is that parents and grandparents are extremely less likely these days to encourage their children or grandchildren to join a military service.
That's problematic because family support is critical to the success of a person serving in the military. Additionally, the pool of eligible 18-24 year-olds with a propensity to serve in the military has dwindled dramatically over the last few years. That means the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are competing hard for the same, small group of young adults who want to serve their country.
This trend didn't affect military recruiting in 2008 but it bares watching. If the economy gets stronger and parents and grandparents continue to downplay joining the military then we could have some recruiting challenges within a few years.
Meanwhile, this Gallup survey also revealed America's feelings about their military services. Americans viewed the Marine Corps as the most respected service with the Air Force placing a distant second in the survey.
Americans feel the Army is the service most critical to the nation's defense. The Air Force is second among most demographic groups surveyed with the Marine Corps either basically tied or in a very close third.
All the demographic groups identified the Air Force as the service in which they would most like to serve.
How Americans feel about their military services is extremely important to us. Their sons and daughters are handed tremendous challenges and great opportunities and we have to ensure they're well-trained, well-equipped and prepared for each.
Fortunately, we're still getting the best and the brightest and it's a great pleasure to serve with all of them.
I am not surprised by the data because it mirrors research Air Force Public Affairs has seen over the last couple of years concerning those who would encourage young people to join the military services. The bottom line to the data in the Gallup survey is that parents and grandparents are extremely less likely these days to encourage their children or grandchildren to join a military service.
That's problematic because family support is critical to the success of a person serving in the military. Additionally, the pool of eligible 18-24 year-olds with a propensity to serve in the military has dwindled dramatically over the last few years. That means the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are competing hard for the same, small group of young adults who want to serve their country.
This trend didn't affect military recruiting in 2008 but it bares watching. If the economy gets stronger and parents and grandparents continue to downplay joining the military then we could have some recruiting challenges within a few years.
Meanwhile, this Gallup survey also revealed America's feelings about their military services. Americans viewed the Marine Corps as the most respected service with the Air Force placing a distant second in the survey.
Americans feel the Army is the service most critical to the nation's defense. The Air Force is second among most demographic groups surveyed with the Marine Corps either basically tied or in a very close third.
All the demographic groups identified the Air Force as the service in which they would most like to serve.
How Americans feel about their military services is extremely important to us. Their sons and daughters are handed tremendous challenges and great opportunities and we have to ensure they're well-trained, well-equipped and prepared for each.
Fortunately, we're still getting the best and the brightest and it's a great pleasure to serve with all of them.
Monday, January 26, 2009
New to the Pentagon
I had the opportunity to speak today with Airmen who are new to the Pentagon. They all go through a course called HAF (Headquarters Air Force) Orientation. Air Force Public Affairs is a standard on the schedule to brief these folks. For many it's their first tour and first time in the Pentagon.I like to tell them that this is my third tour at the Pentagon since 2000 and that it's really a great place to work. The biggest challenge really--because of the insane traffic-- is getting to work in the morning and getting home at night.
I told them today that they're here at a very important juncture in the history of the Air Force and our country. With a Presidential Administration change you just never know what's going to happen next as far as the priorities of the new President are concerned. I shared with them that I'm encouraged by President Obama's new web site--especially that it's interactive--but that on today's site the Administration staunchly supported air power with the following comment: "We must preserve our unparalleled air power capabilities to deter and defeat any conventional competitors, swiftly respond to crises across the globe, and support our ground forces."
The fact sheet on the President's site also states support for the C-17 cargo plane, unmanned aerial vehicles and for a new aerial refueling tanker. That's all good news for those of us who have been fighting the battles in the media about Air Force modernization.
I also told these officers and senior enlisted Airmen that they're here at the Pentagon because they are experts in their career fields. Truly, the Air Force needs their expertise now more than ever as we continue to ensure America's Air Force stays the most powerful air force on the planet.
The next couple of years should be interesting around here. I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you in future posts. I also look forward to your comments.
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