NFTCTC - Put the Camera Down: Preparing the Public Affairs Officer for a JRTC Rotation

This article is intended for all units conducting home station training to prepare themselves for a combat training center (CTC) rotation. The author discusses a recurring trend at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) and the challenges that the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) face. Fig 1. Shows the results of misplaced PAO home station training. A Soldier during a recent JRTC rotation covers the camera lens of a credentialed, American Media on the Battlefield (MoB) Role-player. Public affairs officers and sections at the Brigade Combat Team (BCT) level are struggling with media interaction training due to its removal from AR 350-1 training requirements, reduced section size, and command emphasis on command information content acquisition instead of communication planning and training.