Rear Adm. John F. Meier, Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic (CNAL) spoke at the 2021 Mass Communication Specialist (MC) Symposium as a special guest speaker, June 3.
The MC Symposium is a three-day event for MCs to grow professionally by learning the techniques of their peers and industry counterparts. Meier emphasized how the work that MCs and Public Affairs Officers perform on a daily basis is critical to the message that the U.S. Navy is always ready, lethal, and prepared to fight.
“We tell stories to prevent wars of the future,” Meier said. “One aspect of the Mass Communication and Public Affairs role is the up-and-out communication: the fact that our Navy is ready and forward-deployed. We’re lethal. That is the strategic message to our potential adversaries.”
On the most basic level, an MC’s job consists of the development of multimedia content including videos, still images, digital graphics, web products, news stories, and press releases.
“We live in an information-intensive world,” Meier began. “Public affairs competes in an information-space for attention, so the challenge then becomes: how well do you do in that space so that you can get that message to the right people?”
MCs are stationed worldwide with the mission to tell the Navy’s story while supporting their commander’s vision. Often, a commander wants to communicate naval power projection through material aspects such as ships, aircraft, and firepower. While that is important, Meier believes that Public Affairs is also a means to recognize the Sailors themselves.
“It’s about the people,” Meier affirmed. “All the technology we have is amazing – and we get lots of pictures of that – but if you serve on a command with me, I want those pictures to be about the people that are operating and maintaining that gear. I believe that is the secret to our great Navy.”
CNAL is responsible for six nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, 54 aircraft squadrons, 1,200 aircraft, and 43,000 personnel including officers, enlisted, and civilians on the East Coast. Approximately 188 of those personnel are MCs.
The first MC Symposium took place in 2019. The symposium is planned to continue annually to keep MCs informed in an ever-improving, ever-changing working landscape.