More than 220 Naval War College (NWC) students participated in intense media training during a two-week Capstone exercise completing their Joint Military Operations (JMO) 10-month master's degree program.

The students were mid-level officers from five uniformed services -- U.S. Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Army and Coast Guard -- government agencies such as Homeland Security, as well as international officers from counties such as Indonesia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Senegal. The media training took place June 1-9 in Newport, R.I.

JMO's mission is to educate officers in all facets of military planning and prepare them to immediately and effectively serve on maritime staffs as skilled planning experts in high-tempo fast-moving operational environments. The Capstone exercise simulates a potential real-world scenario against a near-peer enemy with students role playing the Joint Task Force (JTF) staff.

The training was led by the U.S. Naval War College's Public Affairs Reserve unit, augmented by reserve officers and Mass Communication Specialists from U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Navy Public Affairs Support Element East, the Navy Office of Community Outreach and U.S. 6th and 7th Fleets.

During the media training component, students role played JTF spokespeople during simulated press briefings and one-on-one interviews with reporters challenging them to communicate mission objectives and key messages and respond to tough questioning without compromising sensitive and classified military strategy and tactics.

"I had a very limited knowledge of joint military operations prior to starting the curriculum," said Lt. Cmdr. Kory Peterson, a JMO student. "The mock press conferences didn't disappoint. It was very much a free for all of journalists vying for attention and asking questions. Wading through the minefield was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be. It was a lesson in learning; challenging, but a lot of fun."

Most JMO graduates will go on to assignments where the concepts studied throughout the course will be applied to real-world national and regional security interests, including serving as a subject matter experts for the press. The media training is the first step in preparing them to effectively and concisely communicate important messages and operational updates through the media to targeted audiences.

"The media portion of Capstone was extremely effective in simulating the complex interaction that often takes place when you bring civilian media operations into a military environment," said NWC student Lt. Lisa Mattrella. "I was nervous coming in here because I never dealt with the media in any type of interaction," added Mattrella. "It was a great experience and the feedback given was outstanding."

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