Military-to-Military Multinational Operations
Commander, Task Force (CTF) 72, CTF 74, Patrol Squadron (VP) 47, VP-16, and Submarine Squadron (CSS) 15 Exercise Media Campaign alongside the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF)
Kevin Flinn, Public Affairs Officer and Team Lead
Overview
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During Exercise Sea Dragon 2019, I led and supported public affairs coverage and distribution efforts that documented a multinational anti-submarine warfare exercise involving U.S., Australian, and Republic of Korea forces in Guam and the broader Indo-Pacific. The work combined operational journalism, imagery, and targeted distribution to shape the exercise narrative around allied cooperation, maritime security, interoperability, and readiness.
Exercise Sea Dragon was a multinational anti-submarine warfare exercise designed to strengthen joint proficiency, lethality, and interoperability among participating forces. In support of that mission, public affairs had to do more than capture images and publish stories. The job was to frame the exercise clearly for internal leadership, military audiences, local communities, and broader public audiences in a way that reinforced the operational value of the training and the diplomatic value of partner integration in the Indo-Pacific. The snapshot of resulting coverage shows publication pickup across official Navy channels, military outlets, local Guam media, national outlets, international outlets, and social media.
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Senior military leadership and command stakeholders
U.S. and allied service members and their families
Defense and maritime readerships
Guam and regional local communities
National and international news audiences
Observers of Indo-Pacific security and allied defense cooperation
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My approach centered on pairing credible operational reporting with broad distribution. That meant producing coverage that could perform in two directions at once: first, as clear official reporting for command and service-level channels; and second, as media-ready material capable of being picked up, cited, or amplified by outside publications and platforms. The messaging emphasized four themes: stronger allied relationships, maritime security, safe sea lanes, and improved anti-submarine warfare interoperability and lethality. Those themes were reflected directly in the leadership report following the exercise.
Clients
Select coverage and pickup
The exercise generated official and external coverage that helped extend the story across multiple audiences. Examples include:
Coverage and downstream pickup spanned Navy channels, military trade outlets, local Guam media, Tier 1 national media, international outlets, and various social platforms.
Figure 1 — Naval Technology placement for the kick off to Exercise Sea Dragon
Methodologies
Operational journalism • Photojournalism • Media distribution • Message framing • Cross-channel amplification • Performance reportingTools
DVIDS / DVIDS 360 • Navy.mil distribution channels • Photography and multimedia capture tools • Command media reporting workflowsProcess Model
Process Model
🔗RPIE
RPIE is the official Defense Information School (DINFOS) communication planning process.
Research, planning, implementation, and evaluation (RPIE) are the core pieces of the communication planning process. the RPIE process is built into all military planning processes from the Joint Planning Process to the Military Decision Making Process.
IMPLEMENTATION
IMPLEMENTATION
Reporting and content production
Coverage focused on turning a complex operational exercise into accessible, publishable journalism. That included documenting aircraft, crews, partner participation, and exercise milestones in a way that served both official reporting requirements and broader audience understanding. The coverage snapshot shows multiple official Navy story placements and a substantial library of Navy imagery associated with the exercise.Distribution
Distribution extended well beyond owned military channels. The coverage snapshot shows exposure across:Official Navy channelsMilitary outlets, including military-focused trade and defense publicationsLocal Guam mediaNational mediaInternational mediaSocial media platforms
Distribution reporting
Following the exercise, I compiled and submitted a post-exercise public affairs report to command leadership documenting production volume, external release volume, narrative framing, and aggregate distribution results. The report connected communications outcomes back to mission themes, including allied relations, maritime security, safe sea lanes, and anti-submarine warfare proficiency.
Media Snapshot
The following links reflect publication placements across military, local, national, and international outlets, as well as social media. Beyond Navy.mil and local Guam news coverage, national Tier 1 pickup included The Washington Post, Fox News, and the Chicago Tribune, while Tier 1 international pickup included the Daily Mail and The Telegraph. If any links have expired, archived versions may still be accessible through the Wayback Machine.
NAVY.MIL
2.https://www.cpf.navy.mil/news.aspx/110641
3.https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=108379
MILITARY
3.https://www.naval-technology.com/news/us-australia-anti-submarine-warfare/
4.http://alert5.com/2019/01/14/australia-and-u-s-to-kick-off-exercise-sea-dragon-in-guam-today/
LOCAL
4.http://gm5-lkweb.newscyclecloud.com/news/20190123/vp-16-participates-in-exercise-sea-dragon
5.http://guam.stripes.com/spotlight/vp-47-flight-operations-during-exercise-sea-dragon
NATIONAL
3.https://www.fox23.com/news/world/recent-developments-surrounding-the-south-china-sea-4/904001637
4.https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-bc-as--south-china-sea-watch-20190114-story.html
6.https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/14/recent-developments-surrounding-the-south-china-se/
INTERNATIONAL
3.https://chinapost.nownews.com/20190114-494048
5.https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3616688
SOCIAL MEDIA
1. https://www.flickr.com/photos/us-pacific-command/46768052181
2. https://twitter.com/USPacificFleet/status/1084890571628437504
3. https://www.facebook.com/54808967401/posts/10156977930347402/
4. https://www.facebook.com/61575637587/posts/10158347902147588/
5. https://www.facebook.com/135146179829936/posts/2277923105552222/
Impact
ꗝ Created ➜
1,662 media products
✣ Released ➜
61 external products
☍ Impressions ➜
1.11 global impressions
Distribution
Coverage distributed across official, military, local, national, international, and social channels
Outcomes
(Evaluation in RPIE)
Exercise Sea Dragon 2019 shows how strong journalism and disciplined distribution can extend the life and value of operational coverage. The work did not stop at documenting an exercise. It translated multinational training into a broader public narrative about allied readiness, regional stability, and joint maritime capability. The result was a communications effort that supported command visibility, informed leadership, and expanded the reach of a single exercise across military, public, and international audiences.

