SWJED
12-30-2008, 11:54 PM
Public Affairs and Information Operations (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2008/12/public-affairs-and-information-1/)
By The Armorer - Cross-posted at Argghhh! and Small Wars Journal Blog
Public Affairs and Information Operations are seemingly competing and complementary missions and agendas, complicated by regulatory language created in a much different strategic communications environment, overlain with a frisson of the biases of persons of sensitive politics - from both ends of the spectrum.
The "Flies in Amber (http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/12/flies_in_amber.html)" and "Dueling Information Operations (http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/12/dueling_informa.html)" posts, regarding the decision of CJT-101 to aggressively get ahead of a story out of Afghanistan have produced some discussion on the issue of Public Affairs and Information Operations. I for one have been pleased to see the change that started appearing when CJTF-82 was running the show has been continued, and arguably accelerated under Colonel O'Hara's CJTF-101 PAO section. I just wish they would write the stuff so as to be more readable and less stilted.
I invited Jack Holt, of the OSD Public Affairs office offer up his *personal* view on the subject as an insider. As that was done as a comment to a post, I decided to make it a post - and to post Cannoneer #4's response to Jack's comment, as a favor to my 60-odd Twitterers and those who follow the blog via Facebook and RSS readers, to see if we can't generate some more discussion on the topic...
By The Armorer - Cross-posted at Argghhh! and Small Wars Journal Blog
Public Affairs and Information Operations are seemingly competing and complementary missions and agendas, complicated by regulatory language created in a much different strategic communications environment, overlain with a frisson of the biases of persons of sensitive politics - from both ends of the spectrum.
The "Flies in Amber (http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/12/flies_in_amber.html)" and "Dueling Information Operations (http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/12/dueling_informa.html)" posts, regarding the decision of CJT-101 to aggressively get ahead of a story out of Afghanistan have produced some discussion on the issue of Public Affairs and Information Operations. I for one have been pleased to see the change that started appearing when CJTF-82 was running the show has been continued, and arguably accelerated under Colonel O'Hara's CJTF-101 PAO section. I just wish they would write the stuff so as to be more readable and less stilted.
I invited Jack Holt, of the OSD Public Affairs office offer up his *personal* view on the subject as an insider. As that was done as a comment to a post, I decided to make it a post - and to post Cannoneer #4's response to Jack's comment, as a favor to my 60-odd Twitterers and those who follow the blog via Facebook and RSS readers, to see if we can't generate some more discussion on the topic...