JORDAN - The United States is committed to the security of Jordan and to partnering closely with the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) to meet common security challenges. This commitment was evident during a recent week-long gathering of members of the JAF, 158 Military Engagement Team and Public Affairs soldiers from ARCENT, who came together to discuss procedures and techniques, while sharing their public affairs knowledge and experiences.
Sgt. Zachary Mott from ARCENT started the engagement with topics such as defining the narrative, developing a plan and knowing your audience. Building one’s knowledge about those three things provides the public affairs (PA) specialist the ability to develop the right message for the right audience.
Other topics included taking pictures that resonate with a viewer, by Sgt. Christopher Lindborg, also from ARCENT. Using his own photographs, he introduced such techniques as the rule of thirds, leading lines, silhouetting and shadowing. He discussed in depth concerning the use of aperture settings and shutter speeds to create the proper effects when taking photographs of groups and moving objects. Using these techniques can help the viewer/reader understand the content of the narrative through the actual lens of the events taking place in the story.
Lt. Col. Senan Al Maayhah, the JAF’s Director of Information Operations, praised the session with his American counterparts. He described how strategic information operations and public affairs soldiers can convey messages to the Jordan public, adding that the methods and techniques described above can provide the public with a picture of the threats Jordan as a country faces and how the JAF is fully capable of confronting those threats. He crafts the public affairs messaging of how the JAF patrols Jordan’s borders against illegal smuggling, protects the population from violent extremist organizations and defends the country against threating state actors.
Jordanian and American Soldiers worked together building up to a culminating event – a mock press conference. Jordanian and American soldiers showed what they had worked on together for the week.
During the mock press conference JAF and US Military alike took turns fielding questions from each other. One group acted as the media, the other group being the public affairs professionals. Through the questioning and answering that occurred during the mock press conference everyone learned the ability to think quickly on their feet to answer questions even when they were not prepared for the questions. The joint briefing simulated possible crisis situations ranging from ballistic missile threats, illegal smuggling across borders, and protecting the population from violent extremist organization.
At the conclusion of the engagement between the Jordanian and American military personnel, Lt. Col. Al Maayhah commented “I value the friendship and relationship between Jordan and America,” emphasizing that Jordan remains a pillar of regional security and continues to make critical contributions to the global coalition.
Public affairs strategic messaging establishes the narrative that continues to expose the threats to Jordan. Furthermore, the JAF and its American partners are stronger when working together, and they will continue to coordinate on public messaging strategies. The collaborative environment demonstrates the ability to control the information environment, enabling the Jordanians and Americans to speak with one voice together. This reinforced Lt. Col. Al Maayhah’s statement that “the US is one of the main supporters of ours and these engagements make my soldiers’ job easier.”