Spaatz commander mentors PA students

  • Published
  • By Carl Bergquist
  • Air University Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --  Using his personal experiences as a guide, the commander of Air University's Spaatz Center for Officer Education and commandant of the Air War College presented ideas Tuesday on how to be a better public affairs representative to students of the Public Affairs Senior Leadership Enrichment Course. 

The course is sponsored by the Public Affairs Center of Excellence and the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs office and is five days of training to increase the effectiveness of Air Force public affairs members. 

Maj. Gen. Maury Forsyth said he participated in the course because senior leaders should want to pass along their experiences to future leaders of the Air Force so they can learn from them. 

"My presentation is titled, 'One Commander's Perspective,' and I by no means have the answers, but I do have experiences," he said. "It is becoming more and more important that we ensure a balance in the media, and I mean everything from blogs to TV to the written press." 

The general told the students that since the Vietnam War and the debut of the Cable News Network, the media has increasingly gained the ability to "cause an issue to become the center of gravity." He said in his mind, the subject of public affairs is not as much about the media itself as it is about engaging the media. 

"My initial uneducated perception of the media was that when I read someone had done something stupid, I would say to myself, 'Holy cow, did that guy really do that?' That is, until they started writing about me." General Forsyth said, "It was a perception that everything written about someone else was true, and everything written about me was false." 

The general told course attendees it was essential their relationship with the media be built on absolute trust. 

"As a senior leader, I depend on my PAs to get me past how I should engage the media," he said. "In the end, it is all about trust, and you can help your leaders gain that trust. Often we spend too much time concentrating on what not to do instead of what to do." 

General Forsyth said frequently the media sees Air Force Public Affairs as being on one end of an issue, and the media being on the other end. He said there will always be people who are going to think that there is what military PAs say, then there is the truth. However, being more transparent with the media will help PAs gain trust. 

General Forsyth said what senior leaders say to the media can often lead to a difference in how the Air Force does business, and it is the job of public affairs personnel to think about the "what-ifs" when helping leadership convey the proper message. He said PAs need to know the mission as well as their bosses, and if they are that knowledgeable, the proper word will get to the media. 

He said sometimes leadership doesn't want to let PA in because they don't want PA to know too much. The general said, in his mind, that is a mistake. 

"I'm one who thinks PA can't know too much," he said. "PA needs to know what's going on and know the mission cold so they know the right thing to say because they have to take the high ground and always tell the truth. Telling the truth doesn't imply that they have to tell secrets too. 

In some final advice to the class, General Forsyth said as PAs they must never give up, and they shouldn't let their bosses give up either. 

"There is a natural tendency when reading something bad to say, 'That's it. I'm not going to give the press anything else.' That's not a good idea," he said. "The enemy is not going to give up, and they will always have a voice to the media. It is best to find a better way to get your message out, and it never hurts to watch the tactics of others and learn from them."