ASY's Allison Barber

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld presented ASY's Allison Barber with the
Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in December 2006 Photo Credit: Cherie Thurlby

Allison Barber is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Liaison
and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Internal Communications.

In this role, Barber is responsible for the Department's communication to the men and women of the military,
worldwide, for community relations programs that link citizens to members of the Armed Forces at home and
abroad and for the internal operations of the department.

Since 2001, she has led the evolution of the DoD internal communications enterprise into a dynamic mix
of old and new mediums utilized to target specific information to the diverse worldwide military audience
and the domestic general public.

Under Barber's leadership, over the last three years the Department of Defense has launched the Pentagon
Channel, the America Supports You program, the DOD New Media Operation and the Department’s new
Speakers Bureau Program called Why We Serve. She also manages the Secretary's Joint Civilian Orientation
program, and oversees policies and initiatives that provide communities, as well as other organizations,
with opportunities to better understand Defense activities and strengthen support of America's Armed Forces.

As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Internal Communications, Barber identified the missing capability
to communicate military news and information directly to the military audience. Two years ago, she led
her team to create the Pentagon Channel, a full time broadcast and webcast channel created by the military
for the military, followed in 2006 with the Pentagon Channel podcast and videocast. Both the webcast and
podcast have set records in viewership numbers and penetration. Breaking all tradition, networks will now
accept feeds from the Pentagon Channel.

The most recent success is a partnership with Discovery Military Channel. She also runs the newly formed
New Media team which focuses on utilizing emerging technology to communicate with both the military
audience and the general public.

In response to questions from deployed forces about levels of support from the home front, Barber created
the award-winning America Supports You program to help the American people find ways to support the
military and their families and communicate that support directly to the troops.

In less than two years, the program now includes 225 grassroots organizations that conduct diverse
initiatives that support the military; 25 corporate partners that leverage its properties to build the
America Supports You brand and provide real benefits to the military; and enjoys the support of all major
broadcast networks.

Most recently, Barber and her team launched the Why We Serve program. The program is comprised of
returning military members who are sent on a speaker’s circuit across the country where they tell their
personal experiences from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In addition to these new programs, Allison oversees the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. Begun in 1948,
this program educates business and community leaders about the U.S. military by bringing the leaders to
U.S. military bases worldwide.

The operational components of Ms. Barber's organization are American Forces Radio and Television, the
Pentagon Channel, the American Forces Press Service, the Department's Internet Web Operations and
New Media, the Defense Media Center, and Stars and Stripes newspaper.

American Forces Radio and Television (AFRTS) broadcasts news, information and entertainment programming
to more than 800,000 deployed military and their families worldwide. The Defense Media Center procures
and broadcasts programming for AFRTS and is the contracting office for the broadcast requirements.

American Forces Press Service produces news and feature articles on all aspects of military life, with
articles posted on www.defenselink.mil, the Defense Department homepage. Web operations also include
www.defendamerica.mil, with complete coverage of the war on terrorism; and America Supports You,
which connects the general public and corporate America to the military through a variety of grassroots
initiatives. Stars and Stripes is a first amendment newspaper that is distributed to troops overseas and is available
to anyone via the Internet.

Barber was recognized as the "Communicator of the Year" for 2006 by the National Association of
Government Communicators.

Allison Barber at ASY Summit

Barber is an Army wife whose husband was activated to serve
in Iraq in 2004.

Prior Experience
Barber comes to her position with extensive experience in
public relations, marketing and advertising.

Previously, she was President of Sodenta Public Relations,
and President of the Washington D.C. office of PlowShare,
which is a Connecticut-based advertising agency. Additionally,
she was a Public RelationsDirector for the American Red Cross.

From 1986 to 1991, Barber was a grade school teacher at
Merrillville Public School in Indiana, and served as Vice President
of the Teachers Association.

Education
Ms. Barber holds a BS in Elementary Education from Tennessee
Temple University and a MS in Elementary Education from Indiana
University.

Allison Barber at ASY Summi
Photo Credit: Carmen L. Burgess