eCrow Newsletter
November 26, 2014
 

IO SYMPOSIUM A BIG SUCCESS: Report from the 3rd Annual PACOM Symposium

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By Arthur N. Tulak, Vice President, Diamondhead Roost

The Diamondhead Roost was pleased to participate once again in the annual Pacific IO Symposium hosted by the AOC. Senior Diamondhead Roost members filled critical roles in planning support to U.S. Pacific Command and AOC National, with planning beginning as soon as the 2013 Symposium had concluded.



This was the third iteration of an increasingly successful symposium that continues to attract quality speakers and Ally partner participation. The symposium theme was "The Role of Information Operations in HA/DR." This was the first known IO Symposium to examine the unique requirements of effective IO in HA/DR operating environments.

The 3rd Annual IO Symposium saw continued growth in attendance with more than 150 military, DoD civilian and contractors, academia, and industry in the audience, topping last year’s record of 145. The majority of the audience was drawn from the Public Affairs, IO and EW cells of U.S. Pacific Command, Special Operations Command Pacific, U.S. Army Pacific, Marine Forces Pacific, Pacific Air Forces, and U.S. Pacific Fleet. Several theater-aligned units also participated, including III MEF, 7th POG, 56th TIOG, 71st TIOG, and the 25th Infantry Division.



This year also saw an tripling of Ally and partner military attendance with 15 officers in an official capacity from nine nations – Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. This was the first appearance for the New Zealand Defence Force, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Republic of China Ministry of Defense. The senior foreign officer presenting was Major General Tsung-Chi "Max" Yu, Deputy Director of the Republic of China Political Warfare Bureau, who gave a presentation on ROC information activities supporting military HA/DR response operations to Hurricane MOROKAT in 2009.

This year’s symposium also included a classified S/FVEY on the third day at the PACAF Conference Center at Hickam AFB. This full day session provided the PACOM J39 the opportunity to take full advantage of the assembled IO and PA talent to tackle priority challenges for PACOM in the information environment.


 
The AOC Pacific IO Symposium series provides IO and PA professionals in Hawaii a low-cost means to carry out an annual professional development, as well as international engagement event with Ally and partner military IO/EW/PSYOP/PA counterparts. The AOC Pacific IO Symposium series is the only professional development / multinational engagement effort that brings together the IO community from DC, the West Coast all the way out to Japan and Korea.