MOS Highlight: 46CMF - Public Affairs

Compared to other units, we’re a very small group, comprised only of 4,000 active, guard, or reserve soldiers. Many know us as photographers, but that’s an oversimplification of what we are.

We are Army Public Affairs. Everyone sees us, but few understand what it is we do. For this reason, I want to explain.

First off, we are not combat camera. That is a whole different career field with a different mission, although we do work with them on a semi-regular basis depending on the duty station. There are 3 MOSs in CMF46: a 46Q Public Affairs NCO, a 46R Broadcast NCO, and a 46A Public Affairs Officer.

Our main function is to communicate the commander’s intentions, whether it be through imagery acquisition, media embeds, or some other method. We highlight the things the military is doing every day. You wouldn’t see us as at a promotion ceremony for an E3, but you would at a Brigade Change of Command. We serve as members of the Commander’s Special Staff, an entity that, due to the nature of its mission, must have a very close relationship with the commanding officer of the unit.

We are the barrier between the outside news media and your unit. We see what you do and highlight it, but it’s always helpful if you let us know when you want to have something covered in the news.

Do you have a training event coming up? If so, contact your PAO to see if they can arrange press coverage. We strive to cover every major event an organization does, but there are so few of us in each unit that sometimes events occur uncovered by us. In my unit, I am the only enlisted PAO. It’s just me and my OIC for a unit of 3,000 soldiers. We spend hours combing through operations and ranking them by importance to begin highlighting the event. We then receive guidance from our commander on precisely what he/she wants highlighted. Once we have that, we embed ourselves within the unit to cover the event.

You, as a leader, can be a great asset to the PAO shop. Reach out to them and explain what you do and ask how you can help them. We try to stay on top of everything, but sometimes, things slip through the cracks. Feed them CONOPs, OPORDs, and any related information to build their communications plan or invite media to the site. When a 2LT approaches me about an upcoming event, it speaks volumes about their dedication and allows me to better plan coverage.

The main takeaway is: the next time you are planning something outside of the normal, let Public Affairs Officers know. We are here to show the world the awesome things that you do.