and radio stations, ship’s newspaper, tours program, and so  forth. Having  a  collateral  duty  PAO  as  your  boss  means you  most  likely  will  be  in  charge  of  the  day-to-day responsibilities of the office. This situation will vary, depending on how much time the PAO can devote to the office. In some instances, you will receive requests from individuals outside of the division to volunteer their time to  write  stories  or  help  with  television  or  radio production.  There  is  nothing  wrong  with  this  practice, provided  you  carefully  screen  each  volunteer. Additionally, do not assign volunteers work that would normally be handled by your staff. Volunteers are just that—they tend to come and go at will and are not always reliable. MANNING Adequate manning is a constant public affairs office concern  aboard  ship.  The  old  Defense  Information School (DINFOS) adage, “You’re a sailor first and a journalist second,” holds true today. Fire party, special sea and anchor, DC/3M and general quarters assign- ments  will  drain  you  of  personnel  at  the  most inopportune   moments,   as   will   working   parties, compartment/head  cleaning  duties  and  other  tasks affiliated  with  life  aboard  a  ship. A  vigorous  cross-training  program  will  help  offset this problem. As discussed earlier,  versatility,  not specialization, is your staff goal, especially at sea. If JO2 Renalin,  the  X-1  division  damage  control  petty  officer and the current evening news anchor, is called away on a priority assignment, you can use JO3 O’Forth or JO2 Katt, the former news anchors, to fill in. SPECIAL PROJECTS There are several projects that a public affairs office manager at sea will tackle, including, but not limited to, the   following:   ship   commissioning,   homecomings, decommissioning,   handling   civilian   embarks,   the SECNAV Guest Cruise Program and tours. Commissionings The commissioning ceremony is one of the most time honored ceremonies in the U.S. Navy. It is the ceremonial transition of a ship from its building and outfitting stage to becoming an operational Navy unit. If you are assigned to a ship’s precommissioning unit,  you  and  the  PAO  will  work  closely  with  the prospective CO of the ship and possibly regional PAOs in preparing the commissioning plan, with CHINFO acting  as  the  overall  coordinator.  A  sample  ship’s commissioning plan is shown in Appendix V of this manual. Remember  that  at  least  six  weeks  before  the ceremony, you and/or the PAO must keep CHINFO and the  Commander,  Naval  Sea  Systems  Command (COMNAVSEASYSCOM) informed of the status of the ceremony. This is done by completing CHINFO Report 5720-3  (Special  Ceremonies  Report).  The  following pieces of information must be included in the report: l l l l l l l l l l l b l Date of the ceremony Location  of  the  ceremony Name  and  telephone  number  of  the  project officer Estimated local starting time of the ceremony Estimated  local  completion  time  of  the  ceremony Name,  rank  and/or  title  of  the  principal  speaker Nearest  air  facility Indication as to whether the list of military and civilian   dignitaries   who   have   accepted invitations  to  attend  the  ceremony  has  been forwarded  to  CHINFO  (if  not,  provide  the estimated  submission  date) Indication of whether a copy of the complete program has been forwarded to CHINFO (if not, provide  the  estimated  submission  date) Indication of whether the remarks of the principal speaker have been forwarded to CHINFO (if not, provide  the  estimated  submission  date) Indication  of  whether  press  kits  have  been forwarded  to  CHINFO  (if  not,  provide  the estimated  submission  date) Names   of   congressional   members   and/or delegations which have been invited Name  of  sponsor Heavy  media  attention  should  be  expected  at  the commissioning   ceremony.   Your   press   kits   should include  the  following  information: l  Commissioning  press  release 1-42