Practical Press Relations For Army Field Forces

Force Structure, Tactics, and Modernization of the Russian Ground Forces The mighty Soviet Army is no more. The feckless Russian Army that stumbled into Chechnya is no more. Today's Russian Army is modern, better manned, better equipped and designed for maneuver combat under nuclear-threatened conditions. This is your source for the tactics, equipment, force structure and theoretical underpinnings of a major Eurasian power. Here's what the experts are saying: "A superb baseline study for understanding how and why the modern Russian Army functions as it does. Essential for specialist and generalist alike." -Colonel (Ret) David M. Glantz, foremost Western author on the Soviet Union in World War II and Editor of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. "Congratulations to Les Grau and Chuck Bartles on filling a gap which has yawned steadily wider since the end of the USSR. Their book addresses evolving Russian views on war, including the blurring of its nature and levels, and the consequent Russian approaches to the Ground Forces' force structuring, manning, equipping, and tactics. Confidence is conferred on the validity of their arguments and conclusions by copious footnoting, mostly from an impressive array of primary sources. It is this firm grounding in Russian military writings, coupled with the authors' understanding of war and the Russian way of thinking about it, that imparts such an authoritative tone to this impressive work." -Charles Dick, former Director of the Combat Studies Research Centre, Senior Fellow at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, author of the 1991 British Army Field Manual, Volume 2, A Treatise on Soviet Operational Art and author of From Victory to Stalemate The Western Front, Summer 1944 and From Defeat to Victory, The Eastern Front, Summer 1944. "Dr. Lester Grau's and Chuck Bartles' professional research on the Russian Armed Forces is widely read throughout the world and especially in Russia. Russia's Armed Forces have changed much since the large-scale reforms of 2008, which brought the Russian Army to the level of the world's other leading armies. The speed of reform combined with limited information about their core mechanisms represented a difficult challenge to the authors. They have done a great job and created a book which could be called an encyclopedia of the modern armed forces of Russia. They used their wisdom and talents to explore vital elements of the Russian military machine: the system of recruitment and training, structure of units of different levels, methods and tactics in defense and offence and even such little-known fields as the Arctic forces and the latest Russian combat robotics." -Dr. Vadim Kozyulin, Professor of Military Science and Project Director, Project on Asian Security, Emerging Technologies and Global Security Project PIR Center, Moscow. "Probably the best book on the Russian Armed Forces published in North America during the past ten years. A must read for all analysts and professionals following Russian affairs. A reliable account of the strong and weak aspects of the Russian Army. Provides the first look on what the Russian Ministry of Defense learned from best Western practices and then applied them on Russian soil." -Ruslan Pukhov, Director of the Moscow-based Centre for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) and member of the Public Council of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense. Author of Brothers Armed: Military Aspects of the Crisis in Ukraine, Russia's New Army, and The Tanks of August.

Over the course of the next six months, the Strategic Studies Institute will examine the impact of the media's technological advances on strategic and operational level planning and policymaking, first in an overseas theater, and subsequently on decisions made at the national level. The first of these two studies recognizes the complexity of executing military operations under the scrutiny of a very responsive, high technology world news media. Given the volatile, unstable, and ambiguous environment in which armed forces can find themselves, the actions of field forces have a greater chance than ever before of affecting subsequent strategic decisions made at higher levels. The pressure on field commanders to "get it right the first time" is demonstrably greater than ever. The author intends that these thoughts provide commanders with an understanding of the high technology and competitive news media environment they can expect to experience and offers specific suggestions for successfully communicating with reporters.

Army public affairs doctrine is consistent and compatible with joint public affairs doctrine and policy, and Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of the Army (DA) public affairs policies. It describes the fundamental principles and concepts that provide information to internal and external national and international key actors and publics-Soldiers, family members, retirees, political leaders, allies, and adversaries. This publication, Field Manual FM 3-61 Public Affairs Operations April 2014, includes public affairs principles, functions, core public affairs tasks, tenets and characteristics for commanders, planners, and other users of Army public affairs. Public affairs professionals use this manual to plan and conduct public affairs training. This publication is based on current force structure and materiel capabilities. It is authoritative but not prescriptive. Public affairs professionals must use their professional knowledge, skills, and judgment when recommending command adaptations to the principles in this publication to meet specific situations. FM 3-61 contains four chapters: Chapter 1 addresses the defined role of Army public affairs activities and how public affairs supports unified land operations and the relationship of public affairs to the mission command warfighting function. It outlines the relationship of public affairs in information synchronization and how public affairs supports operations. It addresses public affairs support to defense support of civil authorities and the role of public affairs in joint operations. Chapter 2 addresses the public affairs architecture and the mission of Army public affairs as a command responsibility and the mandate from the United States (U.S.) Code requiring the Secretary of the Army to designate a career field to communicate to the American public what the Army does. It discusses the commander's responsibility to designate only military personnel or Army civilian employees as official spokespersons and to train all personnel to tell the Army story to help promote public understanding of Army operations and activities. It outlines the three broad, interrelated public affairs functions: public (external) information, command (internal) information, and community engagement. It addresses the Army public affairs core tasks, tenets, and public affairs functions, core tasks, tenets, and public affairs characteristics. Chapter 3 addresses the Army public affairs force and how it is organized to support commanders at all levels of command and in all phases of operations. The chapter outlines the career programs for commissioned officers, noncommissioned officers, enlisted Soldiers, and Army civilians. It addresses the functions and capabilities of all Army public affairs units, organizations and command sections at installations, in garrison and when deployed. Chapter 4 addresses public affairs relationships with the international, U.S., and local publics with which public affairs must interact to support the commander's communication objectives. It addresses the relationship of the commander to public affairs and the public affairs relationship with the command staff and other functional areas. It addresses Army public affairs and its interaction with other government agencies, such as the Department of State, U.S. Information Agency, U.S. ambassadors, and nongovernmental organizations.

United States Army in Vietnam. CMH Pub. 91-13. Draws upon previously unavailable Army and Defense Department records to interpret the part the press played during the Vietnam War. Discusses the roles of the following in the creation of information policy: Military Assistance Command's Office of Information in Saigon; White House; State Department; Defense Department; and the United States Embassy in Saigon.

This absorbing study examines the change in American relations with China after 1949 from hostility to rapproachement, and to full normalization of the ties in 1979. Rosemary Foot goes on to examine the relationship after normalization, a period when the United States has come to view China as less of a challenge but still resistant to certain of the norms of the current international order. The book begins by examining US efforts to build, and then maintain an international and domestic consensus behind its China policy. It then looks at changing US perceptions of the capabilities of the Chinese state. It shows how American positions on Chinese representation at the UN and on the trade embargo were subtly eroded, not least by changes in US domestic public opinion. The author argues that previous explantions of American relations with China have dwelt too single-mindedly on ideas associated with the strategic triangle and that instead we need to embed our understanding of the evolution of American relations with China within a wider structure of relationships at the global and domestic level. Reviews: `A valuable interpretative analysis of US-People's Republic of China relationships...she substantially contributes to post-Soviet era theoretical understanding. Strongly recommended for courses in foreign policy, diplomatic history, and international relations.' Choice `contains much that is valuable to those whose interests are primarily on the other side of the Pacific...The chapter on American public opinion and Chinese policy is also something which is not readily found in existing accounts of China'a post-1949 foreign relations' Times Higher Education Supplement `her analysis remains cautious and astute' The Economist