Photo By Col. Christopher LeCron | Defense Information students hold a meeting in the Joint Information Bureau during...... read more read more
By the 841st Transportation Battalion
FORT MEADE, Md -- On July 18, 2008, thirty-five Defense Information School military students graduated from the Public Affairs Qualification Course (Advanced Distributed Learning) at Ft. Meade, Md.
After an intense, initial non-residence phase that lasted over five months, the final residence phase of the course was the two-week "capstone" at Ft. Meade where students were evaluated on all aspects of military public affairs.
The students were a mix of personnel from all branches of military service to include National Guard officers, Reserve officers, Reserve non-commissioned officers, active duty, and DOD civilians.
The course is a comprehensive training program for new military public affairs officers who have assumed, or will be assuming, public affairs responsibilities within their DOD organizations.
"I aggressively pursued the public affairs slot in my unit and a class reservation at the Public Affairs Qualification Course," stated Maj. Al Hunt, North Carolina Army National Guard. Hunt, class valedictorian, will soon deploy to Iraq and serve as a public affairs officer for his unit.
The final three days of the in-residence class portion are devoted to a practical field training exercise where the students use their public affairs skills in a simulated contingency operation. The course instructors, who all have extensive backgrounds and experience in military public affairs, played the roles of reporters, family members, and enemy forces during the exercise.
Maj. James Sahady, an army National Guard officer and police officer from Boston, led one of two student joint information bureaus during the exercise. "The field exercise was a great training experience. I will be able to hit the ground running as a public affairs officer after this exercise."
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2008 14:56 |
| Story ID: | 21820 |
| Location: | FORT MEADE, US |
| Web Views: | 1,004 |
| Downloads: | 629 |
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