CHAPTER 16
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE OPERATIONS
The previous 15 chapters of this TRAMAN covered
the three primary functional areas of the Journalist
rating — print journalism, photography and electronic
journalism (radio and television). The fourth area,
public affairs office operations, is considered a separate
entity by many in the rating, yet it often incorporates
elements commonly found in the other divisions. For
instance, when you prepare a command presentation
(explained later), you apply the same knowledge used
to write a video news release (covered in Chapter 14).
As a junior journalist, your first public affairs experi-
ence will be aboard ship (aircraft carrier, destroyer
tender, etc. or at a large shore command. You should be
aware that no two public affairs offices are organized
the same way, because every command has a different
mission, size and public affairs objective. However,
most large public affairs offices are divided into the
following departments: internal information, media
relations, community relations and administration.
Figure 16-1 shows a typical public affairs office
organization chart.
As you learned in Chapter 1, you may work for a
collateral-duty PAO (an officer who has other
assignments that are considered primary duties). In this
situation, the public affairs office “staff” may consist of
you and perhaps a YN3 or civilian secretary.
Conversely, a larger public affairs office ashore may
have a full-time 1650 PAO (usually a commander or a
captain), a JOC or above as LCPO, a JOl or J02 as LPO,
and a combination of J03s and JOSNs. There also may
be one or two civilian assistants to the PAO handling
everything from secretarial duties to media embarks and
community relations.
Regardless of the manning situation in place at your
command, you soon will realize that every public affairs
office brims constantly with activity. Your versatility
will be stretched to its maximum potential as you handle
a myriad of tasks, including (but not limited to) the
following:
l
l
Drafting naval letters
Maintaining office files
Figure 16-1.—Public affairs office organizational chart (large).
16-1
