WASHINGTON -- Marine administrative message 639/13 provides a community outreach plan, which outlines community relations events and guidance to commanders throughout the Marine Corps wide for fiscal 2014.
The Secretary of Defense has authorized community outreach events, but there will be a 45 percent reduction from fiscal 2012 outreach expenditures. The plan was signed at the beginning of October 2013.
“In 2013, community relations were put on hold nearly 100 percent,” Naomi Dorren, the Community Relations Head, Headquarters Marine Corps Public Affairs, said.
The Department of Defense wants to emphasize support to local events that are at no cost to the government, and use authorized expenditures for areas not normally reached.
The Community Outreach Plan allows for maximum public outreach within funding limits, Dorren said.
“This fiscal year, all uniformed services got together in accordance with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, or OSD, to develop a plan for executing all the major events we wanted to happen,” Dorren said.
Aviation related events and outreach will be picked by the OSD through a selection board. Sixteen board-selected AV-8B Harrier jets and MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft demonstrations and flyovers in support of national sporting events are among the planned events.
“This year, we can do community outreach, like Marine Week, it will just be a bit limited,” Dorren said.
Fiscal 2014, community relations events include, Marine Week Seattle and five open-house air shows hosted at Marine Corps Air Stations Miramar, Calif.; Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; Cherry Point, N.C.; Beaufort, S.C.; and Yuma, Ariz.
Marine Corps non-ceremonial and ceremonial support to the community will resume at local commander discretion. For example, the All-Star Jazz Band tour in San Antonio, Texas, scheduled for Feb. 1-15, 2014, is one of the events still planned.
The 31-day tour for the United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own”, locations are still to be determined.
Although limitations still exist, community outreach for fiscal 2014 will be more prevalent than last year.
Further information about Maradmin 639/13 can be found at the following link:
http://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/MessagesDisplay/tabid/13286/Article/155572/guidance-for-fiscal-year-2014-community-outreach-events.aspx