Staff Group 19A Engages in First Ever Bloggers Roundtable

On 15 October 2009, Majors from CGSC Staff Group 19A conducted the first ever bloggers round table. The theme of the teleconference was the following; “The experiences of combat veterans and the activities of the U.S. Army Command and General staff College”. The forum served two distinct purposes:

- for U.S. Army officers to engage and interact with the community through an interactive media forum

- for U.S. Army officers to learn valuable lessons in media relations and coherently field questions

The bloggers round table forum is an innovative way for the community and the armed forces to engage in relevant discussion on a variety of topics. Questions brought up during this forum ranged from ROE in Iraq, the different operational environment of Iraq with that in Afghanistan, to the current strategy being utilized in Afghanistan. Bloggers included such participants as professional blogger, Mr. Colin Clark from dodbuzz.com, to Mrs. Dbie Morrison from mysideofthepudle.blogspot.com, a conservative mother with an interest in the U.S. military.

I sensed that participants welcomed the debate and answers given as these were not rehearsed products, rather honest opinions and views from combat veteran junior officers. Engagements such as these are simple to put together and serve as strategic communication combat multipliers, as you can reach a wide audience and are enabled to convey and discuss experiences from the ground level. Transparency is also achieved as the forum in not restricted and all manner of questions are encouraged.

The officers that participated also personally benefited from the media engagement as well. It provided for a non-threatening environment that afforded us the opportunity to learn how to clearly convey one’s message and how to effectively deliver responses. I learned it’s best to write questions down and have a mental strategy as to how best tackle questions. The strategy can involve other members jotting down key points for your use or relaying themes with personal experiences at the tactical and operational level. Another key lesson learned is staying on point within the question being asked with clear and succinct answers instead of long vague responses.

In conclusion, the bloggers round table is an effective forum to engage the public in open discussion. It’s easy to set up and the debate lives on afterwards as bloggers post discussion topics and thoughts on their journals online. Once posted online, this creates more discussion and engages more people as they in turn post comments on the authors’ blogs.

MAJ Sebastian Pastor

US Army, EN

CGSC SG19A