The Dept. of Defense said on Oct. 20 that its newly consolidated communications apparatus, known as the Defense Media Activity, has been activated.
The DMA, which will open a new headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 2011, encompasses outlets like Armed Forces Radio, Defenslink.mil, Army/Air Force Hometown News Service, and Stars and Stripes.
Robert Hastings at the Pentagon Oct. 21.
Photo: DoD |
A ceremony at the Pentagon yesterday marked the beginning of the DMA, which includes more than 2,000 military and civilian staffers and a budget of about $225M.
Robert Hastings, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs who oversees the DMA, called the new entity a “transformational change in public affairs” that will improve the DoD’s internal communications. “It is one of the most exciting things to happen to DoD public affairs in a long time,” he said. “It’s our opportunity to change the way we deliver news and information to our internal audience.”
The creation of the DMA was the result of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s 2005 report to put various Pentagon news agencies under a single command.
Although it is billed as an internal communications agency for armed forces personnel, some of its disseminated news is consumed by the public.
The DoD said in a news release that activating jointly will have key advantages. For example, teams of reporters, photographers, videographers and TV producers will deploy to an area and send command information products back. Experts at the DMA can package the reports for distribution by any media, the DOD said. |