The media cameras and spotlight focused on nearly 200 United States and international military captains and majors, who are students attached to Marine Corps University’s Command and Staff College from Jan. 9 – 15, during an exercise called "Pacific Challenge IV."

Almost anyone can watch a news media interview, but when the spotlight is on them and the cameras are rolling during many, without proper training, will crumble under the pressure. And when it comes to the military, one discombobulated service member in an interview can cause a media hailstorm that could cause a black eye or security risk to that branch of service.

The Command and Staff College has added media/press conference training to its Leadership and Warfighting courses.

For the last two years, during a small-scale exercise called 9-innings, the leadership at Command and Staff College saw the importance of having their mid-grade officers (students) in front of the media and how much crucial knowledge and confidence they learn from it. This year, the students were put through a large-scale media drill during an exercise called "Pacific Challenge IV."

In the exercise, during two weeks of the 10-week course, students played a part of a mock military operation to defeat Indolesian [sic] aggression and to restore the sovereignty of Singapore and freedom of navigation to South China Sea.

One of the main missions of the exercise is to develop student’s planning skills across the full range of functional areas and entire Marine Corps planning process. This is in order to prepare them for dealing with increasingly complex problems across a wider range of military operations with little direct instruction by CSC faculty.

"As a field grade officer, there are real opportunities to be in front of the media, who may or may not understand what the Marines do for our country," said Maj. Karl Tinson, a CSC student. "This training is amazing. It shows us how to talk to the media and trains us to portray the Marine Corps and our mission in a positive light."

The newly added large scale media/ press conference training has three sections. First, students are briefed by an actual military public affairs officer. Next, one-by-one, they stand behind a podium, acting as an official in the III Marine Expeditionary Force, and respond to multiple questions from actual reporters, or personnel with a media or broadcasting background, who didn’t hold anything back. Finally, the students meet with their PAO and watch themselves on video. PAO representatives critique the students on their performance, indicating what they need to work on and highlighting their shining moments.

"This course is all about influence, ethics and good decision making," said Lt. Col. Wayne R. Beyer, leadership department head, Command and Staff College. "After their run in with the media, we want the students to learn to be on the offense, have confidence and know that public affairs is valuable. In the end, if they can positively convey their message, then we have accomplished our mission. I’m so glad that we can do this and I would like to thank public affairs representatives, Combat Camera and members of the Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning because it is definitely a combined effort."