By U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Bryan Franks
Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Arabian Peninsula
TAJI, Iraq – Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics, Emergency Response Unit and national police soldiers graduate from the Public Affairs course, Dec. 23, in Taji, Iraq.
Iraqi participants came from all over Iraq including Tikrit, Baqubah, Muqdadiyah, Samarra, Kirkuk and Taji to learn how to prepare public information, command information and community-relations activities to communicate Iraqi security forces information to both external and internal audiences.
The four-day session took place in December.
"The class went very well and the students were very motivated and active," said a coalition forces soldier. "Everyone performed extremely well in the news release writing and on-camera interviews. I feel this is something they will take back to their units and build on."
Students are advised how to inform and disseminate news to reach audiences; they took part in writing news releases, taking photos and conducting on-camera interviews. Participants learned how to do all of this without jeopardizing missions or inadvertently giving away secrets to enemies. This was covered in more detail during the operational security brief.
"We really enjoy the class, all of the information was very helpful," said an Iraqi student. "Learning how to write press releases and learning not to discuss past, current or future operations or tactics with anyone outside our units will improve our ability to conduct successful missions."
During the operational security brief, students learned how to protect operational secrets from adversaries and identify weaknesses in the security of operational information.
According to the workshop "... Iraqis value the role information operations, including public affairs, which US military doctrine identifies as a central component of successful counterinsurgency strategies."