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FORT POLK, La. (January 23, 2009) - The U.S.
Army Central public affairs office hosted a multi-lateral public
affairs information exchange with military representatives from
Kazakhstan and Tajikistan at the Joint Readiness Training Center at
Fort Polk, La., Jan. 12 - 17.
The purpose of the exchange was to give the Kazakhs and Tajiks a
better understanding of how public affairs operations function at
the brigade level in the U.S. Army, said Maj. Tom Alexander Jr.,
the plans officer for USARCENT.
During the five-day exchange, four Kazakh officers from
Kazakhstan Brigade (KAZBRIG) and three public affairs professionals
from Tajikistan attended classes on U.S. Army public affairs
functions and observed U.S. Soldiers receiving cultural sensitivity
training in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.
They also visited the public affairs section of a brigade Tactical
Operations Center and saw how public affairs operations are
integrated into the overall command structure.
Lt. Col. Mark Derber, branch chief, Central Asia and South Asia
and Kazakhstan country desk officer, Civil Military Affairs,
USARCENT said the exchange furthered the goal of the mutual
objective of enhancing Kazakh interoperability with U.S. and NATO
forces.
"Not many people know Kazakhstan served alongside the Coalition
in Iraq from 2003 until October 2008," Derber said. "Through their
experience of ten rotations in Iraq, they have seen firsthand that
the media is an integral component of today's battlefield, and
achieving interoperability requires the development of their public
affairs capabilities," he added.
Derber said eventually the Kazakhs have expressed interest in
seeing a public affairs component added to Exercise Steppe Eagle,
which is an annual NATO certification exercise conducted every
September in Kazakhstan.
"This exchange was very useful for us because the role of public
affairs is very important in peace keeping operations. This week
the Kazakh officers learned more about public affairs standards in
the United States, and they have seen real training and have
obtained a lot of good, valuable information on the public affairs
field," said Kanat Yertayev, a liaison with the Office of Military
Cooperation for the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan.
Maj. Scott Jackels, the Tajikistan country desk officer, Civil
Affairs USARCENT, said the exchange also furthered the Tajiks
understanding of public affairs in the U.S. Army.
"Tajikistan wants to know how the United States gets the Army
story out to the public because the nation is very interested in
showing its people the good its military is doing. For example,
Tajikistan has the highest rate of drug interdiction coming out of
Afghanistan. Right now their posture is, 'we're doing these great
things with our military: how do we share this with the people?' "
Jackels said.
"This past week I learned a lot about the way public affairs is
organized in the American army," said Capt. Faridun Mahmadaliev,
spokesperson for the Minister of Defense in Tajikistan. "What I'd
like to learn more about next is how public affairs capabilities
are organized at the Department of Defense level. I've learned
about the brigade and battalion level; now I'd like to see how it
is coordinated at the upper level," he added.
The information exchange concluded with an after action review,
where the representatives from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and
USARCENT public affairs personnel discussed the future development
of public affairs programs with the two nations.
"We anticipate many more opportunities for future information
exchange events that will continue to enhance and develop the
effectiveness and capabilities of public affairs operations in our
partner nation's militaries in Central Asia," said Alexander.
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