Book of the Month - November 2009

COMMAND ATTENTION

Promoting Your Organization the Marine Corps Way

Reviewed by Capt Al Eskalis

>> Editor’s note: Captain Eskalis is the commanding officer of Marine Detachment, Fort Meade, Md., and has previously served as an academic director at DOD’s Defense Information School. Attaining the rank of gunnery sergeant prior to his commission, Eskalis has served more than 21 years in the Marine Corps public affairs community.

Ever since its inception, the Marine Corps has garnered the reputation of possessing a publicity machine like no other organization. The adage “America doesn’t need a Marine Corps, America wants a Marine Corps” speaks volumes of the sacred place the Corps holds in our society. Just think of the instant recognition of the Corps’ dress blue uniforms and automatic inference to our honorable and storied war­fighting legacy by our countrymen who might never have served in the organization.

This legendary notoriety is far from coincidental. In “Command Attention,” retired Colonel Keith Oliver reveals the trade secrets behind the Corps’ highly effective public affairs campaign. Leveraging his 30 years of experience across the spectrum of public affairs, the renowned Marine Corps public affairs officer delivers a how-to guide that is as relevant to Marine leaders and their PAOs as it is for corporate America.

For Marine Corps public affairs practitioners, this is an unprecedented hip pocket guide for “telling the Marine Corps story” to the citizenry we serve. In 200 pages of personal narratives, illustrations and clippings, Oliver provides a valuable user’s guide to the myriad of techniques in internal information, community relations and media coverage. Still, “Command At­tention” spans well beyond the scope of traditional public affairs tenets and addresses, leveraging venues ranging from social media to military bands. This guide­book is an essential addition to the personal reference libraries of Marine Corps public affairs professionals at all levels.

Yet “Command Attention” is much more than a trade manual. Oliver’s personal accounts of the responsibility the Corps’ com­manders have to share the story of their Marines with our nation is perhaps the greatest value to Marine leaders, whether in recruiting and supporting establishments or in the operating forces.

The book gives practical guidance and real-world examples of effectively employ­ing public affairs assets as well as counsel to those leaders who are “alone and un­afraid” without the assistance of PAOs in their units. This is the ideal guide for com­manders and senior enlisted leaders who want to ensure the courage, sacrifice and hard work of their Marines does not go unrecognized.

Ultimately, “Command Attention” is the blueprint for promoting any organization at the grassroots level—arguably the most effective method of putting any institute in the public spotlight. You will not find a dissertation on strategic communication or an exposition on the global information environment in “Command Attention,” but rather a personal, practical manual to building relationships and leveraging assets that will bring the story of your organization into the living rooms and dining areas of hometown America.

COMMAND ATTENTION: Promoting Your Organization the Marine Corps Way
By Col Keith Oliver, USMC (Ret).
Published by U.S. Naval Institute Press.
200 pages. Stock #1591146453.
$23.36 MCA Members. $25.95 Regular Price.

Marines stationed in Peking and Tient­sin, China, and Iceland wore the “Mongolian p***-cutter” made of lamb’s wool or, reputedly, cat’s fur.(Courtesy of the National Museum of the Marine Corps)

Petty Officer First Class Adrian Trollip, a Seabee builder assigned to NMCB-5, home-based at Port Hueneme, Calif., helps construct the MEB-Afghani­stan combat operations center at Camp Leatherneck.
(Photo by Cpl Aaron Rooks)

Marine veteran Wesley I. Slagle sent us this 1922 photograph of his father, John W. Slagle, taken while he was serving in the Dominican Republic with the Marine Corps Expeditionary Force during the “Banana Wars.” John Slagle also served in USS Utah and USS St. Louis.
(Photo courtesy of Marine