As a former Navy Reserve Public Affairs Officer, Angee Linsey is excited to interview Rear Admiral Paula Dunn who is the U.S Navy Vice Chief of Information and leader of the Navy Reserve public affairs force. Together they talk about what makes serving in the Navy Reserves as a communicator cool, and how the skills required to do the job are similar to those in the corporate world.
The Navy Reserve is a career option that interested communications professionals can choose up to the age of 42. In this episode, Admiral Dunn shares stories of the kind of work a PAO does, why it’s a rewarding career, as well as how to apply.
If you are interested in learning more about the application process and how to succeed in this role, RDML Dunn is willing to get you started on the path by emailing her at paula.d.dunn.mil@us.navy.mil.
Rear Admiral Paula Dunn
Rear Admiral Paula Dunn is the U.S. Navy Vice Chief of Information, the top Reserve public affairs officer in the Navy. Serving from the Pentagon, she leads a force of 500 Navy Reserve public affairs officers and enlisted mass communication specialists worldwide. Prior to her current role, she served as a special assistant for public affairs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Throughout her Navy Reserve career, Rear. Adm. Dunn has deployed to lead communications for numerous crises around the world including to the East China Sea following the major earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, to the Republic of Korea after the sinking of ROKN Cheonan from a North Korean torpedo, and to the Kingdom of Bahrain when two U.S. Navy riverine command boats were seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in 2016. She is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom where in 2008 she led public affairs for all joint special operations forces throughout Iraq.
Rear Adm. Dunn holds a B.A. in Communication from the University of Michigan, a M.A. in Communication Arts from the University of Oklahoma, and a M.B.A. from the University of Texas. She is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Joint Forces Staff College and the Navy War College. She is accredited in public relations and military communications (APR+M) from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and has earned two Silver Anvil awards from PRSA; a Thomas Jefferson Award from the Department of Defense, and a Thompson-Ravitz Award for Excellence in Navy Public Affairs.
In her civilian capacity, she has a career in corporate communications. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two dogs Rufus and Charlie who are most definitely the bosses of her.
~~~~~~~
If you don’t already have your Career Action Plan, you can get one here.
Dare to be Deliberate: Level Up Your Communication Career is available here on Amazon
