A'Twitter at the Front

Twitter has found its way to the front-lines in Afghanistan. Check out AP reporter Jason Straziuso's piece today about how U.S. forces are using Twitter to inform audiences about battlefield results. Straziuso's article ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer and was carried in the Early Bird.

Straziuso reports that U.S. forces are using Twitter to give instant battlefield updates, usually hours before official news releases are sent to the media. He quotes Col. Greg Julian, the top military spokesperson in Afghanistan as saying, "There's an entire audience segment that seeks its news from alternative means outside traditional news sources, and we want to make sure we're engaging them as well."

Military forces in Afghanistan are also using other social networking sources to get information out quickly. As Straziuso's report says, the Taliban have primarily conducted an information war while U.S. forces have lagged behind. The use of social media is a direct tactic to counter Taliban misinformation about the status of the war.

We entrust our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines with great responsibility and authority over the lives of their people and with the best weapons to conduct battlefield missions. They do so under clear Rules of Engagement (ROE). As the ramp-up of forces continues in Afghanistan, we need to consider arming them with the ability to quickly communicate and with ROI (Rules of Information) to win the information battles as well.

Thank You.

"Blogpause"

I really don't know what happened. I kept saying I'll get to it tomorrow. One tomorrow turned into 65. I'm glad to say the tomorrows and the blogpause is over. I hope there's someone out there still following.

Here's what's kept me busy over the last couple of months.

* We implemented the new policy that allows media coverage at Dover AFB for the return of our fallen service members. It started on April 5 with media covering the return of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Meyers from Hopewell, Va. Nearly 40 media representatives from 18 different media outlets covered the return of SSgt. Meyers. Since then the numbers of media covering returns have dropped off significantly. I'm very proud of all the Air Force PA professionals who have taken part in ensuring the media operation for the returns is done professionally and with respect to the dignified transfer. They have gotten nothing but the highest of praise from AF leadership.

* We announced the preferred basing alternatives for Global Strike Command and the new Cyber Numbered Air Force. These announcements are but one step in the process of securing a new home for these commands. The important aspect for me personally is that we're watching history being made for our Air Force. Global Strike Command is a direct result of the reinvigoration of the nuclear enterprise in the Air Force and a testament to the great work being done at all levels to ensure our nuclear mission is safe, sound and secure. The Cyber NAF will be on the cutting-edge of cyber operations for the U.S., defending important computer systems from attack.

* We also welcomed our new director of Public Affairs, Col Les Kodlick. Col Kodlick is a career PA. His first priority is resources and he's carrying on the fight to properly staff our career field in this dynamic communication environment. He brings the freshness of the field and the experience of a tried and true professional to the job. I know we'll be doing more with Les.

Again, the blogpause is over. I look forward to future postings.

Leading the Revolution one Speech at a Time

One of the favorite parts of my job is getting to speak to a lot of groups about the PA mission. Many times the groups are other PAs and sometimes the groups are future commanders or others taking classes and there is a communication block on the schedule.

Today I'll speak to a joint class of future PA officers and then I'll do an AF-unique class. I plan on telling the joint class that now is the right time to be getting into our business. Communication expertise is a critical asset and force multiplier for commanders. We have some cultural challenges across the military concerning communication--but it's up to us to start breaking those down. Now is the perfect time because the communication environment is going through revolutionary change--we need to be the experts on how to deal with that change and how communication helps the commander accomplish the mission.

Wednesday's F-22 crash is a perfect example of the changes we've seen. There were about 900 news stories on the crash. Most papers picked up the AP and Reuters reports. But there were also thousands of blog entries and Twitter messages concerning the crash. People getting their information from each other is the new deal in global communication and I'm glad we're diving head-first into the deep-end of the pool. The town square is back in fashion and this time it's virtual.

One other note on the F-22 crash. Please remember the family of Lockheed-Martin pilot David Cooley in your thoughts and prayers. David was 49 years old and a 21-year veteran of the Air Force.

President Obama made a great decision late last week. He announced late Thursday that he's keeping on the Honorable Michael Donley as Secretary of the Air Force.

Secretary Donley, along with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Norton Schwartz, have been very effective over the last several months on focusing the mission and priorities of the Air Force while revitalizing our relationships with the Senate and Congress, OSD and the Army, Navy and Marines.

I was in the office of the OSD/PA when the White House press release was published announcing that Secretary Donley was staying on. I got a copy of the release and I walked down the 4th Floor E-Ring to let everyone know about the breaking new. To a person, the news was met with great gladness.

And, the Secretary and Chief understand and appreciate the communication mission. Their support of our mission has been staunch and they have been personally active in telling the Air Force story. Most recently they appeared together at the AFA symposium last week in Orlando. That media roundtable--mostly with trade reporters--helped clarify the way ahead for the AF budget and the F-22.

We're looking forward to their remarks at the Worldwide. I know they'll be motivating us as we continue to tackle tough issues in the months ahead.

the Worldwide

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!

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.

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?