The Army formally activated its U.S. Army Public Affairs School last month, representing a milestone toward the goal of continuously upgrading strategic military communications within the Public Affairs branch, the service announced this week.
Headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, the school, known as USAPAS, is charged with training public affairs soldiers and officers who “execute information activities in support of the Army and Joint Force,” according to the school’s mission statement.
Public affairs troops take photos of training, write press releases, sometimes manage social media accounts and relay information to journalists, among other tasks.
“We are creating a home for the men and women of public affairs who are ready to tell the Army story,” Ryan M. Janovic, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon, said in the release. “That home must provide the training, resources and doctrine they need to support warfighters across the force.”
“If you know anything about the Army story, you know it because of the men and women who are a part of Public Affairs,” he continued, noting that the formal activation was years in the making.
The ceremony also marked Col. Kamil Sztalkoper’s transition into the commandant role, taking over from Col. Stacy M. Hopwood, who praised the school’s establishment.
“The education that expands thinking and capability for all of our personnel, and a good, solid, defined path – that is what being a branch brings us,” Hopwood said.
Troops in the public affairs branch have 46-series military occupational specialties, which include visual information equipment operator-maintainers and specialists, officers and others.
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