![]() ![]() The ability to communicate the Army message far and wide depends largely on the PA practitioner's ability to take compelling photos, shoot relevant video footage and write meaningful stories. The public affairs mission, as stated in Army Regulation 360-1: "The PA fulfills the Army's obligation to keep the American people and the Army informed and helps to establish the conditions that lead to confidence in America's Army and its readiness to conduct full-spectrum operations." To expand public affairs specialists' ability to transmit their stories, photos and videos to as large an audience as possible, they make those stories available to the media, which possess a significantly larger audience than any single public affairs specialist. Public affairs professionals shape the Army image, craft the Army message and tell the Army story. Tools of public affairs specialists include cameras - both still and video - and another, less obvious tool - relationships with the media (local, national, international and adversarial). However simple and self-explanatory, every job has tools associated with its execution. President Abraham Lincoln once said: "Public opinion is everything. There were no homecoming parades, not even a thank you." It was a terrible time for then military and for veterans especially. There was this lash out, illogical and unreasonable, as if they asked to be over there so they could go and kill Vietnamese and be baby killers. "When the veterans got home, they couldn't wear their uniforms going back into the neighborhoods because they would be spit on," Kurtis said. The result was the loss of the American people's support for the Vietnam War as well as Soldiers. The minute you lose the trust of the media, you're dead, because they'll never trust you again. ![]() said, 'This is going to be a long struggle and we're not going to win it.' And LBJ said, 'Well, if I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the war.' But what he was really saying is that it's much worse than we were being told. got into the country and began seeing this contradiction between what was happening at the MACV, where the word was in press conferences in Saigon, and what was actually happening in the field.So Tet comes along in '68 and Walter Cronkite happened to be there.Cronkite. "The relationship between the military and the media really started going bad in '65-66," he said. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, CBS television journalist Bill Kurtis recounted his experiences covering the Vietnam War. At a 2009 military history symposium at the U.S. ![]() Historically, the absence of established public affairs functions has had dismal consequences. The goal is to make procurement, lifecycle management, maintenance and disposition of camera equipment easier and more cost efficient. The Tactical Digital Media program, managed by Project Manager Mission Command at APG, seeks to correct this deficiency by standardizing the acquisition kits for these career fields. (May 16, 2017) - Given the value that public affairs, combat camera and military information support operations bring to tactical and strategic situations - a value that can be traced through history, especially those instances when effective use of these assets was decidedly absent - the struggles of leaders and Soldiers in these career fields to equip their Soldiers is a potential mission hindrance.
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