Strategic Communication and Marine Corps Veteran Organizations

Share the Courage

Marines in Afghanistan are my Marines in Afghanistan are my number one priority. number one priority.

Marines in Afghanistan are my Marines in Afghanistan are my number one priority. number one priority.

Strategic Communication • Off ramp OEF – the Nation will make hard decisions

about National Security, in an era of fiscal austerity. • Americans must have a clear understanding of why the

Corps is so critical to our national security.• Build trust, credibility, and relationships with

Americans and others.– Through the filter of the media.Through the filter of the media.– Through the lens of the Congress.Through the lens of the Congress.– Directly in face-to-face dialogue.Directly in face-to-face dialogue.– Directly through social media.Directly through social media.

Global Information Environment – the News Cycle is Relentless

• 24/7, hyper-competitive media environment.– Speed over accuracy.– From broadcast network news to multichannel 24 hour

cable news networks.– Rise of the Blogger and micro-niches.

• “Social Media” went from amusement to vital business practice.

• Local/tactical actions can quickly become nat’l/int’l challenges.• Messages “intended” for U.S. audiences regularly reach

disparate int’l audiences.• Legacy media = mass audience broadcast.

• New media = micro audience discourse.

So, what does this all mean?

Marines must maneuver in the Information Battlespace

26TH MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP)TRAP)

26TH MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP)TRAP)

~133 nm

Timeline:2333B 21 Mar: USAF F-15E goes down, pilot and WSO eject safely0050B: 22 Mar: 2xAV-8Bs launch USS Kearsarge (KSG)0055B: JFACC approvesTRAP0120B: MEU KC-130J launch Sigonella IOT refuel TRAP aircraft0120B: AV-8Bs overhead downed pilots with F-16 in comm with F-15 pilot.0130B: (quick reaction force) QRF 2xCH53E ready for launch with 46 Marines0133B: AV-8Bs drop 2xGBU-12 ISO F-15 pilot0133B: 2xMV-22s launch KSG0151B: QRF (CH-53E) launch KSG0219B: MV-22s overhead F-15 Pilot0238B: MV-22 lands LZ recovers F-15 Pilot0300B: MV-22s recover KSG with F-15 PilotWSO reported in-hands of opposition forces at safe house

26 MEU TRAP Package•BLT 3/8 RECON PLT•2xAV8Bs•2xMV-22Bs•2xCH-53Es•1xKC130J

No help from the Joint community

March 20, 2011) ABOARD USS KEARSARGE, at sea ñ A Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unitís AV-8B Harrier jump jet returns to USS Kearsarge for fuel and ammunition resupply while conducting air strikes in support of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, March 20, 2011. Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973.† UNSCR 1973 authorizes all necessary measures to protect civilians in Libya under threat of attack by Qadhafi regime forces.† JTF Odyssey Dawn is commanded by U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, III. (Official Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Michael S. Lockett)

USS Kearsarge Sailor directs USMC aircraft launch.GULF OF ADEN (Dec. 27, 2010) Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Mark Hernandez signals an MV-22 Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 266 (Reinforced), 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU), to take off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3). Kearsarge is the command ship of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Scott Pittman/Released)

Marines from Light Armored Reconnaissance Platoon and Combined Anti-Armored Team, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, plan their route during a Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel Course held by Special Operations Training Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., May 26, 2010. Two one-week courses were held to teach Marines TRAP using aircraft and ground vehicles. The course is one of many 26th MEU Marines are participating in before their deployment in the fall. (Official USMC Photo by Staff Sgt. Danielle M. Bacon/ Released).

A Marine from Weapons Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/8, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, provides security after exiting an MV-22 Osprey during a Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel Course held by Special Operations Training Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., May 19, 2010. Marines from Weapons Company, BLT 3/8, 26th MEU, recovered an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Two one-week courses were held to teach Marines TRAP using aircraft and ground vehicles. The course is one of many 26th MEU Marines are participating in before their deployment in the fall. (Official USMC Photo by Staff Sgt. Danielle M. Bacon/ Released).

Operations Update:3 MAD Flights arrive CONUSCBRN teams in Sendai, Yamagata, AtsugiHAST at Matsushima19 Expectant mothers arrived Okinawa from Mainland JapanSortie totals to date: 153 FW / 140 RW

NEXT 24-48:Continue developing C2, HA, CBRN capabilities5 MAD flights scheduled to CONUS

Operation Tomodachi UpdateAs of 2200Z 22 Mar

Operation Tomodachi UpdateAs of 2200Z 22 Mar

USMC FORCES:III MEF HQ – JTF 505 (MAD-Op Pacific Passage)3d MARDIV HQ – JFLCC (HA/DR)VMGR-152 (9x KC-130), HMM-265 (8x CH-46)31st MEU MODLOC IVO NE HonshuTotal USMC: 2553 pax (includes 31st MEU)

100nm

SAR

FHA

Debris

50nm

15nm

Yamagata

Sendai

Yokota

Misawa

Atsugi

Marine Corps Trademark Licensing Office

Jessica O’HaverProgram ManagerComm: 703-692-1872 DSN: 224-1872Jessica.ohaver@usmc.mil

TattoosMerchandiseLiterature

Celebrations

1) Commandant's Planning Guidance: This document remains

RELEVANT!!!! The Commandant continues to show the CPG to every school group he addresses (EWS, CSC, SAW, MCWAR, NDU, AWC, NWC etc...).

There is nothing in the CPG that is outdated. There is no better document for the strategic view.

In the CPG, the Commandant outlines the Future Security Environment, the Role of the Marine Corps and the Commandant's four priorities about which all senior leaders should be able to speak.

2) Future Security Environment - CMC outlines the FSE to many audiences (It is covered on pg 5 of the CPG and pg 2 of the 2011 Posture Statement). CMC believes that all domains (land, sea, air, space, cyber) converge in the littorals...where the MEU operates. Leaders should capitalize on this for their talking points. The continued 3.0 MEU presence world-wide ensures a crisis response force for their mission. Engagement will be important as well to dealing with the FSE as we move towards collective approaches with other nations to solve common security challenges/threats. In that sense, Marines are equally skilled as being trainers, mentors and advisors as they are at being fighters. Marines will conduct more theater security cooperation, security force assistance and partner capacity building missions now and into the post OEF world.

3) Role of the Marine Corps: If there is one part of the CPG that CMC thinks everyone should read, it is the Role of the Marine Corps (Pg 5 of the CPG; PG 2 of the Posture Statement). He has even said if someone reads only the blue box on page five of the CPG and dies, then they will know what the Marine Corps does.

The Marine Corps is America's Expeditionary Force in Readiness - a balanced air-ground-logistics team. We are forward-deployed and forward-engaged: shaping, training, deterring, and responding to all manner of crises and contingencies. We create options and decision space for our Nation's leaders. Alert and ready, we respond to today's crisis, with today's force...TODAY. Responsive and scalable, we team with other services, allies and interagency partners. We enable and participate in joint and combined operations of any magnitude. A middleweight force, we are light enough to get there quickly, but heavy enough to carry the day upon arrival, and capable of operating independent of local infrastructure. We operate throughout the spectrum of threats -irregular, hybrid, conventional - or the shady areas where they overlap. Marines are ready to respond whenever the Nation calls...wherever the President may direct.

~When speaking of the role of the Marine Corps, the Commandant also talks about LANES and DOMAINS...Our lane is crisis response...Our domain encompasses every domain. Whereas each service focuses on one or two specific domains, we reach all of them.

4) Navy Support Matters: Know our position on Navy support(Amphib shipping, NSFS, MPS, Partnering with the Navy, Assured Access, Seabasing) and be able to articulate them verbatim. All these topics are on pages 10-12 of the posture statement.5) ACV/JSF: The continued development of these platforms is crucial to the manner in which we conduct operations in austere, expeditionary environments. The official USMC position on ACV and JSF are in the posture statement (pg 8-10). MEU COs should adhere to that position and stick to the message.6) Lighten the MAGTF Initiatives: These are essential to our integration with the Navy and amphibs. MEU COs need to be well-versed on all issues in terms of what we are looking at to do lighten the MAGTF as it relates to amphib ops/integration.

Our Opportunity

• Sound policy.• Great performance.• Effective communication.• “Share the Courage”• What is the value of our

Corps to the Nation?• bryan.salas@usmc.mil