So you ve got orders to an overseas location. When you travel to another country, you take along more than your suitcase -- you carry your cultural baggage, which is a collection of values, beliefs, concepts and behaviors. Public affairs activities in the United States involve many complex functions based on missions and the socio-political environment. Public affairs programs conducted overseas involve more than a change in geography. There are fundamental differences in overseas command channels and in the way overseas public affairs function. These considerations have to be understood if public affairs tasks are to be effectively accomplished. Understanding these differences, and how to use your military and diplomatic resources, will ensure that you will successfully accomplish your public affairs mission. Photo courtesy of 2.bp.blogspot.com The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 1
Host Nation Considerations Language There are several considerations PAOs should consider when working in an overseas environment. Language can present significant communication challenges to command and PA personnel alike. How does one present the command s position to a population that does not speak the same language? PA plays a significant role not just in working with foreign press to get the organization s position out, but also informing the internal audience what to expect as they move into an area where English is not the standard language. Public affairs professionals will want to ensure translation services of local national employee when they are available. PA s should have local nationals to read and translate key articles in local papers. This will allow PA personnel to monitor public opinion and assess acceptance of the US presence, as well as identify any potential issues which could affect US operations. Public affairs often writes and disseminates press releases, press briefing invitations and some correspondence to local news organizations in the local language to assist other staff elements such as Civil Affairs and Military Information Support Operations in getting US objectives and intent spread to local populations. Culture You may need to explain the various cultural differences to the base population. Not taking this step can result in misunderstandings, which ultimately can affect the mission. Encourage your folks to interact with the locals in those unique places the military places us. You as the PAO may need to provide training on the impact and impressions of those interactions. Without understanding that diverse groups/ cultures interpret messages differently, Americans overseas may find themselves misunderstood or may misunderstand their host country citizens. Both of these sort of misunderstandings can lead to circumstances that affect mission success. We are guests in their country and should conduct ourselves as guests. The stereotype of the ugly American is the result of carelessness and thoughtlessness. When Americans are in another country and don t feel any tension in a mixed-culture group encounter, they may become bored and careless about what they say or how they act. Retaining a level of uncertainty regarding strangers from the host nation is needed to prod the American to remain watchful and cautious about what he says or does. Each and every American -- military or civilian -- overseas is an ambassador. Each of us is being watched and judged and that judgment of just one American has the potential to seemingly apply to all Americans. Those interactions could very well impact U.S. military relations with their host country. If you think light of this, take for example the international incident caused when someone carelessly threw a Quran in a burn barrel in Afghanistan. People rioted and some even lost their lives because someone did not understand the importance of that holy book. To the Afghans, this was not a simple misunderstanding. Religion It s essential to have an understanding of how religion influences the local customs or the political system. We live in a country that advocates separation of church and state, but you may be living in areas where church and state are not separate. You as a guest in that country need to respect that. Political systems A working knowledge of how the political system within the country operates is essential. PAOs and commanders will have official contacts with a variety of local, regional and national-level governmental leaders and citizens. Therefore, they need to understand how populations have politically structured themselves. You may be only familiar with one political system, our American system, as a democratic-republic. There are many systems throughout the world that are aligned with a religion and many freedoms that Americans might hold dear are just not accepted. 2 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Host Nation Considerations (continued) Social values The social values overseas may differ from what we are accustomed to. There may be unwritten rules governing contact among various classes. We may offend people simply by being unaware. Public affairs should help prepare service members to avoid such pitfalls. For example, in our American society, moving from one socioeconomic class to another, such as from a low-income to a high-income class, is a possibility. In other parts of the world upward mobility is quite impossible. Economics Basic knowledge of how countries differ economically is important. This includes practical information such as exchange rates that can help our military and their dependents, a working knowledge of how the country aligns itself with others economically, how the country arranges its economic priorities, such as what amount of the gross national product is spent for defense. It is common for the U.S. to support exercises and operations with international partners by paying for fuel, for example. Public affairs guidance might want to account for this fact on a response to query basis, which would require the PAO to understand why and how much the U.S. is paying for. PAOs should emphasize cooperation and interoperability, rather than the relative sizes of defense budgets, which are beyond the scope of an individual command or PAO to discuss. History Knowledge of history is a key to interpreting current problems and relationships among countries and how the country views itself, its neighbors and the United States. Geography The country s strategic position and the extent to which its neighboring countries may influence it may be instrumental to understanding the country and its vital interests. For example, Turkey is 15th among the global top military spenders and 6th in Europe, accounting for 1.1 per cent of global military spending for the year 2011. The state s unique geo-political condition, where both domestic and foreign security threats remain a genuine concern, has encouraged sustained military spending in contrast to global trends. Law It is important to have a working knowledge of the country's legal system, specifically laws that apply to U.S. military and their family members. It is critical for your internal audience to have an awareness of local host nation laws and the legal implications of the Status of Forces Agreement (JP3-0, III-31). SOFAs define the legal status of U.S. personnel and property in the territory of another nation. The purpose of such an agreement is to set forth rights and responsibilities between the United States and the host government on such matters as criminal and civil jurisdiction, the wearing of the uniform, the carrying of arms, tax and customs relief, entry and exit of personnel and property, and resolving damage claims. Now that we have talked about host nation considerations, let s take a look at where we as PAO can get some guidance. As an example, historically, Turkey and Greece have had a tenuous relationship. In1821 Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire. Since then the two countries have faced each other in four major wars and the two countries have had periods of mutual hostility and reconciliation. Photo courtesy of arcent.army.mil The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 3
Guidance While stationed or deployed overseas, the PAO has several agencies and commands that are an effective source of guidance for public affairs planning considerations specific to the host nation (JP 3-61, pp III-13 III-16). The unified combatant command A unified combatant command or UCC is a command with broad continuing missions under a single commander and composed of significant assigned components of two or more military departments that is established and so designated by the president through secretary of defense and with the advice and assistance of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (JP-1, p. xviii). This type of command generally disseminates guidelines in broad policy matters and provides guidance on some community engagement. UCCs can have either an area of responsibility or AOR or a functional responsibility. An example of a UCC is the United States Africa Command or AFRICOM, with its headquarters at Stuttgart, Germany. Its geographical responsibility is the African continent. On the other hand, the United States Special Operations Command or USSOCOM, headquartered at McDill Air Force Base, Florida, has functional responsibility over special operations component commands of the United States Armed Forces. The military service headquarters Individual service headquarters will provide you most of your PA guidance. They provide service/unique policies, plans and materials such as country books, service specific cultural awareness trainin. A specific example is the U.S. Army in Korea has a policy letter about excessive purchasing of duty-free goods and black marketing. established in 1978 and responsible for planning for the defense of the Republic of Korea. You ll most often deal with combined commands during exercises. Despite just being exercises, keep in mind that any coordination problems and communication barriers will make them quite a challenge. Also, there may be considerable media and political interests in the exercise. So prepare for them as early as possible. Country team (JP 3-61, p. III-13) The country team consists of key members of the U.S. diplomatic mission or embassy and they work directly with their host nation government. Its purpose is to unify the coordination and implementation of U.S. national policy within each foreign country under direction of the ambassador/chief of mission. The U.S. ambassador is responsible for all U.S. activity in a foreign country. The PA staff must coordinate all themes, messages and press releases impacting a host nation through the respective U.S. embassy channels. Public diplomacy officers can provide the PAO advice on host nation sensitivities probably the most important, most often used resource. Other support services include: Newspaper clipping services; translation services; photo processing; audio/visual equipment. While we ve discussed various host nation sensitivities and places you can go for assistance in working with the host nationals, sometimes the most important aspects of the PAO s job is keeping the command s service members and families informed. This doesn't change when overseas, but there are some differences. Combined commands A combined command is a force under a single commander that has sizeable assigned or attached elements of two or more allied nations. An example of a combined command are the operations of the Republic of Korea/U.S. Combined Forces Command. It is an integrated headquarters Photo courtesy of 2.bp.blogspot.com 4 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Difference in PA Programs Overseas Command information factors It is especially important to keep troops informed in an overseas environment. The information needs of your internal audience are different during overseas deployments and exercises than they are when the organization is in a garrison environment. Your information is not just important for awareness and to provide an appreciation for where they are stationed, your command information program is plays a vital role in the command OPSEC program. Service members information needs expand in an overseas environment. When service members find themselves operating in different countries, they are often unaware of the different laws they will have to follow. PAOs must ensure their command information program creates an awareness of local laws and the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement), if one is in effect. Command information programs overseas need to periodically reiterate the Ambassador Factor. Every service member and family member is considered an ambassador for the United States because their behavior can influence the way Americans, as a whole, are perceived. Service members in particular need to understand their interactions with local populations may constitute that populations entire opinion of America -- and that the American people have a right to know what was done on their behalf. Shadow audience When overseas, PAOs also need to remember that their commandinformation programs are public information sources for our adversaries Command information tools You unit newspaper is one obvious command information tool. PAOs may have to coordinate with host nation publishers for contracted printing of their unit newspapers. Other tools at your disposal to get your information out to your audience include: Stars and Stripes newspaper American Forces Radio and Television Service(AFRTS) Orientation programs Public information factors It will be up to your office to train unit personnel to refer media queries to you, the PAO. An excellent means of providing that training is to ask to be a guest speaker at commander s calls. In that training, you could pass out troop cards and teach folks how to use them. There are many ways to develop a troop card. Keep in mind to include your command s priorities. Another helpful section would be to include dos and don ts when dealing with the media. Then explain what an effective response is and include some command messages. As the PAO, you can t be everywhere at the same time, so solicit some help from the unit. One way of doing this is assigning unit collateral duty PAs or unit PA representatives or UPARs. UPARs can submit stories and take pictures of the folks within their units. They can let you know when a big event is taking place or when a key award is being presented. This not only takes a bit of a load off from you, but it gives a more diversified spread of recognition throughout your unit. UPARs have direct line of authority, which means you can speak directly to each other and you don t need to go up the chain to receive permission to speak to a UPAR nor does a UPAR need to go up their chain to acquire permission to speak to you. One of the pitfalls of overseas media you need to keep in mind and share with your unit is the possibility of the media to slant the stories they write. While unbiased reporting is stressed in the U.S., this is not necessarily the case overseas. Media tend to take a stance and advocate that stance through their reports. In many countries, the media is owned by the government. This negates any possibility of criticism of national policy or programs in the media in those countries. North Korea tops the Committee to Protect Journalists as the most censored country in the world. For example, media under the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1990s was characterized by strict media laws, including the The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 5
Difference in PA Programs Overseas (continued) banning of television, which was seen as morally corrupt and music, banned under Sharia law. The Taliban instigated the destruction of television sets in 1998. People caught with a television were subject to imprisonment or flogging. Most media operated from other countries, except for the Taliban-free areas in Northern Afghanistan, which had its own television service, Badakhshan Television, broadcasting news and films for around 5,000 viewers for three hours a day. Television was shut down in 1996, and print media were forbidden to publish commentary, photos or readers letters. The only radio station broadcast religious programs and propaganda, and aired no music. Around 70 percent of the population listened to its broadcasts. In 2000, the government launched The Islamic Emirate, an English-language newspaper designed to counteract information produced by the enemies of Islam. Only Russia, Czech Republic and Serbia had news bureaus based in Kabul due to instability. The Kabul TV centre was converted into a military barracks, and journalists were not permitted to work with foreign media. The media environment remained bleak until the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001. While many of those restrictions were lifted after the U.S. invasion in 2001, Afghan journalists still undergo self-censorship, and penalties are still in place for defaming individuals and running material contrary to the principles of Islam. Another challenge overseas is that of assessment. How will you assess the effectiveness of a public information campaign if the local media slants its coverage? There is no perfect solution to this, it is a consideration that has to be taken into account, but one source that can help you is the U.S. embassy. Coordination with the U.S. embassy is essential. As you have learned in previous classes, the Department of State, through U.S. Embassies, has the lead for communicating U.S. positions, goals and messages throughout the world. Before engaging press and publics through a public information campaign, PAOs must ensure they have nested their messages and efforts with embassy public information efforts. Since they monitor local and regional press already, embassy PIOs can help when it comes to assessing the effectiveness of a public information campaign. Community engagement factors Although in the U.S. the PA is the office of primary responsibility (OPR) for community engagement, in a deployed location the responsibility falls to the Civil Affairs Office. On the other hand, the PA provides specialized skills in planning and developing relationships for commanders seeking to successfully interact within local communities while conducting operations. The PA should be involved in the planning, preparation, and execution of engagements within the local, host nation communities to support the CMO plan. PA planners should look for creative ways to employ community engagement capabilities (JP 3-61, III-13). Community engagement efforts vary from country to country. The authority to conduct formal programs varies. Your overseas community engagement may involve much more than just your installation and the community immediately adjacent. It may extend to such national programs as "People-to-People," which is a student ambassador cultural exchange program. Another program is Project Handclasp which is a U.S. Navy program that accepts and transports educational, humanitarian and goodwill material donated by America's private sector on a space-available basis aboard U.S. Navy ships for distribution to foreign nation recipients. Coordination with embassy Where community engagement has been retained primarily as a public affairs function, it is particularly important to coordinate with the embassy public affairs staff throughout the planning and execution stages. The cultural and political environment can make all the difference between a rousing public affairs success and a raging failure. Embassy personnel have intimate knowledge of both the cultural and political factors of the host nation and are in the best position to evaluate the probable local and national response to your program. 6 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
Difference in PA Programs Overseas (continued) Local national employees Your installation's local-national employees will be your most direct link with the overseas off-base community. They will certainly be your best indicator of local national understanding and appreciation of American policies and actions. So we have talked about host nations considerations, possible sources of guidance for PAOs and PA efforts and how they can differ in overseas programs. Now, let s see what you remember. Photo courtesy of usarmy.vo.llnwd.net The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 7
Conclusion As a PAO in an overseas location, get out and experience all that you can. Take the opportunity to broaden your scope about the host nation you are stationed within. But as you take in all these new experiences, ensure that you are aware of the nuances and differences in their culture. Get to better understand your host nation hosts. And as you learn, share that information with your unit personnel so that you all can be better American ambassadors. 8 The Center of Excellence for Visual Information and Public Affairs
References and Additional Resources JP 1 (2013) Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States, 25 March 2013 JP 3-0 (2011) Joint Operations (Executive Overview) JP 3-61 (2010) Public Affairs JP 3-57 (2008) Civil Military Operations The Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 9