In April 2009, I finished the Public Affairs Qualification Course and thought I was the shit.
I was a fully trained communication professional! I had the fire and was ready to grace my organization with unsurpassed wisdom.
I was an Army Reserve second lieutenant, and I wasn’t the shit. I was just shit.
Look around the leaders in your commander’s circles. Each of them employs more responsibility, education or experience than the resident Public Affairs lightweight.
- The SJA is literally a Doctor of Jurisprudence, with some Army learning too. Law school’s no ten-week DINFOS class.
- All the main S-staffers but especially the 2 and the 3 have worked their way up to this thankless career milestone. If their performance is right, this may be their last stop before battalion command.
- The boss is primarily concerned with his subordinate formations. In any plane of existence, the PAO can’t stack up to battalion and company commanders’ level of responsibility.
- Our friend the Chaplain has a master’s in divinity or other theological certification.
- Even the Information Operations officers have four more weeks’ training in their field than the PAO.
Meanwhile, the mighty Public Affairs Officer joined an easy-to-join career field, then graduated an easy-to-graduate course at Fort Meade.
So, the deck is stacked against the public affairs officer, who may very well help round out the commander’s profile for some other promising officers’ evals.
And this is for good reason. PAOs can succeed and certainly have in the big leagues, but we start from a position of zero credibility. We have no credentials or qualifications to our name. The other PAOs in your network will struggle from the same credibility issues, making your position exponentially more fixed. Furthermore, you’ll too often inherit the baggage of a crap PAO who came before you.
If only we weren’t saddled with these problems, am I right?
Unwilling to accept this? Great. Do something about. Be bold and effective. Learn more than the Army taught you, on your own, and apply it to the mission. Build relationships with influencers – journalists and senior PAOs alike. Figure our your commander’s needs, the communicate to ensure resources, authorities and support. Be a normal fixture in the staff, then assert yourself when it matters.
Note to 23-year-old me: Congrats on becoming a 46A. It’s going to take much more than that to become the commander’s communication advisor.
(Photo by Lance Cpl. Grace Kindred, DVIDS)
