Daily Koan
― Robert M. Pirsig
PAOs, and the reporters we facilitate, tend to operate in rather austere environments and finding the right equipment for these environments is a full time job in and of itself (seriously, there are 2 guys at Ft. Meade, MD doing it for just the U.S. Army). During the beginning days of major operations we are often cut off from reliable electricity and internet in deserts, mountains, oceans, jungles, and lord-only-knows wherever else we get sent. While we have systems such as DVIDS to help us get the story out, such systems are bulky and can be cumbersome when weight and speed are a factor. Alan Arnette isn’t a Soldier (never has been to my knowledge) but he is a bit of a kindred spirit in that he has blogged, photographed, reported, and generally communicated literally from the top of the world. I’ve always followed his story because I believe in his cause but also because I was amazed at how he was able to reliably communicate from places that are virtual black holes. He shares the secrets of how he did if from the tops of the worlds tallest mountains in this post from his site. While the military and professional news outlets have their own equipment and ways of doing business this seems like a great primer for anyone planning to freelance in those parts of the world that few dare to tread.
At the core of the Public Affairs Specialist job is communication. We communicate with the American and International public to help make sense of seemingly senseless things. We act as a voice to explain what the troops are doing and provide the context for those actions. When I was in Iraq at the height of the war, this was difficult because of the sheer volume of interest…in Afghanistan, the reverse is true. It seems that much of the outside world has lost interest in what happens here. There are still teary-eyed memorial ceremonies for the fallen or bold-typed headlines when a massive bomb goes off in a major city like Kabul but for the most part the names of the places here are still as foreign to most Americans as they were 10 years ago. Iraq is over, Afghanistan is not. It seems that by-and-large this war is forgotten by the people at home. To a certain extent I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible. It is my job to inform the American Public but increasingly it seems that no one is listening.
