Colonel Matt Lawrence is a public affairs officer and senior US Army Reserve Advisor at the US Army War College in Carlise, PA. Matt has years of experience as a PAO including Chief of Media Relations and Chief Marketing Officer at Army Reserve Command. We’re recycling one of Matt’s popular posts from the past – Definition of Evergreen!
This is some unsolicited advice to those of you new to our field from someone who has been around a bit and seen public affairs both done right and wrong. Many of us who are senior leaders in the Public Affairs community wish we could work with you individually and mentor you on a daily basis, but the fact is, we just can’t. So please read this and feel free to ask for some help if you feel you need it – or even if you don’t. We always love to hear from PAOs who reach out just to say hi and tell us about the great things they are doing. The following thoughts are not a step-by-step guide, although some points will obviously come before others.
The Art of Diplomacy
First, understand that you will need a level of political acumen and charisma for this job. You need to understand how to persuade people to support your ideas and programs, to know when to push and to know when to pull back. You will have to be able to diplomatically tell people you won’t do certain things they may expect you to do. You need to balance the ability to say, “no” and analyze ways you can say “yes” (to things like taking grip & grin pictures). You need to have the confidence to get what you want but not so much that you are perceived as arrogant. The PAO world is not one for the gruff and unyielding. We need diplomats who are team players.
How Your Command Sees You
Among our commands, a majority of our commanders understand what we do and what right looks like. However, the level of knowledge about PAOs is likely less among your principal staff. They aren’t bad people, they just haven’t had the opportunity to closely work with public affairs before, or they were shown the wrong things. Public Affairs senior leaders get to talk to the commanders occasionally at the pre-command course and conferences, but these touch points are few and far between, so you will have to help them best understand Public Affairs as a resource.
You Work for the Commander
DINFOS has probably told you that you need to be rated by the CG, and they are right. You are personal staff, much like the SJA and the Chaplain. In reality, I will tell you that you may not be rated by the CG, although I would get help from the senior leaders at USARC if he/she wasn’t at least your senior rater. This is one of those diplomacy parts of the job, and it should be handled carefully. Your CG may be one of those who has seen PAOs misused in the past and thinks that is the right way, or they may think that your job is to be their publicist. Once again, it is their program, so if they want you to take pictures of them handing out awards or some other non-PAO functions, know when and how to push back, when to suck it up and do it, and when to propose an acceptable alternative. My recommendation is to show them the possibilities of what you can accomplish. More about that later.
Meet The Staff
If you just left DINFOS, they probably have you feeling as if you will show up and everyone will bow to your immense skill and knowledge. It doesn’t happen, and you will have to prove yourself. This will be more difficult if your previous PAO was a boat anchor (I know, we’re trying to weed them out of the field). Establish credibility first by learning your command and meeting with the key staff. You will need their support and buy-in to have a strong Public Affairs program. You may not get iPERMS access from your G1, but at least get a contact where you can get personnel information in the event you need it – especially when an incident occurs outside the duty day. Meet your G3 – they will be the key to getting you involved in operations and making your program a success. Meet your G2 and work with them to ensure they understand that you are not the enemy (mine even took me to the OPSEC Conference). Meet the G4, whom you will need if you are short equipment. Work closely with your G8, because they hold the purse strings. Meet the SJA and discuss when and how you need to work together to properly advise the CG. And most of all, develop a good relationship with the Chief of Staff, who will help open all of these doors to you and will be your primary contact in the command. Anything you ever discuss with the CG should be discussed with the Chief of Staff first. Annoy your CoS, and your job will be infinitely more difficult.
Get Involved
Don’t just know what your command does, but stay involved with what they are doing. This is where your relationship with the staff and especially the G3 comes into play. The G3 and G7 will be able to identify what the important missions your command is doing every year are so that you can plan your efforts well in advance. Go to the G3 meetings and ask questions to help set your priorities. Be sure you have things to present at the command & staff meetings and give your advice when there are things that should involve the PAO. If another staff section has bypassed you, this is the time to explain the importance of your involvement. You won’t be the main attraction there, but it will reflect that you understand your role and take your business seriously. Be sure that you are on your command’s SIR/CCIR alert list in the event that there is a media component of a serious incident. An involved PAO is a valuable team member. A passive PAO is irrelevant.
Establish Credibility
When I started out at the 807th Medical Command, no one on the staff really knew what a PAO did and there was resistance to getting me the $35,000 of equipment I needed, my TDY budget, and so on. What I did to turn them all around was produce, and I made sure the entire command knew what was being produced. Come in early and do a daily morning media scrub for the command on industry-specific news that should interest them. For the medical command, we did a lot of missions in SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM areas, so they got a list of the key events in Central and South America and Africa, in addition to key medical news. These things were NOT reflected in the Early Bird news reports. Leaders appreciate relevant information.
Work to get your products out. If your shop is print-heavy, produce quality photojournalism. If you are film-savvy, make quality video news releases on your operations and make sure they get distributed. Work on your social media platforms and ensure quality content is being added daily. Establish your measurements and ensure they are broadcast at your command & staff meetings. The staff will be more willing to support an effort they know will get results. They won’t subsidize a black hole.
Ensure Superior Quality
If your production is high, but your products are weak, that’s not good either, and it will be noticed. We have a lot of experts throughout the PAO field with a wide array of expertise. Reach out to them or get advice on who to talk with from USARC. There is nothing more embarrassing than working hard to get something broadcast at an NFL game to support some initiative only for the audience to see that it looks like someone’s first editing project in grade school. For writing, if you are not a good editor, find someone who is. There are English majors out there who would love to help. Don’t let perfection bog down your production rate, but you should be able to proudly stand behind your section’s products.
Develop a Plan
This will be key in getting you the resources you need. There are a dozen POPs (Plans on a Page) out in the field. Develop one with the knowledge of the command’s actions for the next FY that you got from your G3. List the equipment needed, man hours required, and TDY budget that will also be needed. Money is tight, and if your plan is by the seat of your pants, you’ll be at the mercy of the budget scraps that are left. Commanders and staff, in general, have no idea what a quality PA program costs. At the first PAO conference I went to, the rest of the PAOs were aghast that I had a $100,000 budget to execute my program that year. I had the benefit of a supportive command, but that plan was key in getting much of that support.
Understand How to Engage Senior Leaders
You can walk into the CG’s office and lay out your great ideas, but don’t be surprised if you have challenges implementing those plans with that approach. The better idea is to work the staff first. A good CG will lean on their staff to understand their options and advise them on the best course of action. If you have a plan that you want to execute that will ultimately require their approval to execute, get the staff on board first. You may not even start with the principal staff members – work through their staffs and get your ideas to percolate up to the CG. This approach has the added benefit of helping you identify problems your good idea fairy didn’t think of from myriad perspectives.
Reach Out For Help
Even if you don’t need help, you should talk to your main contact at USARC (probably the Public Information Officer) at least once every two months to talk business. They love hearing from you, really. I guarantee you can’t do everything that is required by AR 360-1, and the nature of the Army Reserve may leave you in a situation where you don’t have the Soldiers and skills you need to do everything. Get help. You may be a social media guru, but your photography skills could use some polishing. Understand what your weaknesses are and don’t avoid them. And when you get a chance, work with some of the best. Anyone who wants to know how to take a photo should work with MSG Sauret or MSG Burrell. MSG Rescinetti and SGT Yao are film experts. MAJ Garfinkel has forgotten more about social media than I will ever know. They are not the only ones who can help, and talking with others about their programs will only help you refine your skills. Always learn and look for ways to get better. Case in point, I’m a decent writer and editor, but I wasn’t the only person who looked at this document before it was published.
Bring Energy to the Job
If this seems like a lot to do, that’s because it is. If you thought being a PAO was a chill job where you could hang out and have fun, you will be a lousy PAO. It can be rewarding and fun, but that only happens when you put the effort in every day. There are those in our field who are sluggish and apathetic. I and the other senior leaders of Army Reserve Public Affairs will help to ensure they go nowhere. They will not compete for the best jobs, they will not learn on their assignments, and they will have limited post-service options when it comes time to hang up their boots. Put in the work and do not be one of them. One of my mentors, who was the SOUTHCOM PAO when Guantanamo Bay was established as a military prison said it best, “If you are a bad officer, you will be a bad PAO.” Work hard, plan, learn, show you are a good officer, and I guarantee you success in your career as a PAO.
Most of All, Have Fun
There are plenty of military leaders who are fundamentally unhappy people. You have the best job in the Army, so enjoy it. Relish in your successes, champion the great things your Soldiers do, and get everyone involved so that commanders from subordinate units are happy when you come through their unit’s door. It may be tough work, but at the end of the day, you can make a difference as a PAO.
Photo Credit: Army Enterprise Brand Portal
