Public Affairs Branch

Public Affairs is a term for the formal offices of the branches of the United States Department of Defense whose purpose is to deal with the media and community issues. The term is also used for numerous media relations offices that are created by the U.S. military for more specific limited purposes. Public affairs offices are staffed by a combination of officers, enlisted personnel, civilian officials and contract professionals.

Public Affairs offices play a key role in contingency and deployed operations.

The typical Public Affairs office is led by an officer who is in charge of planning, budgeting for, executing and evaluating the effectiveness of public affairs programs, and provides public affairs advice, counsel and support for commanders and senior staff members.

The Public Affairs Officer (PAO) is responsible for developing a working relationship with reporters and other media representatives, maintaining a robust community relations program, keeping contact with other government agencies, and keeping internal and external publics informed on issues that may affect them. Known as "PAO's" for short, they are expected to coordinate with the appropriate agencies prior to contacting and releasing information to the media on conditions that might result in favorable or unfavorable public reaction, including releases and public statements involving local, regional and national news.

PAOs are responsible for preparing information relative to unit participation in military operations, world events, and environmental matters through news releases, special activities, photographs, radio and television, and other informational material. They also review materials such as speeches, news articles, and radio and television shows for security policy review and integration with the objectives of the military, and determine appropriate topics.

PAOs oversee the production of base newspapers, magazines, and internal information produced by enlisted Public Affairs specialists [at include coordinating media visits (if possible) and writing stories to share with fellow deployed personnel as well as audiences back home, both military and civilian, and produce speeches and act as ghost writers for commanders, often completely developing a commander's public persona.

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