I made this photograph to illustrate the idea of communication...not just military communication but any kind of modern communication.  Even when they are far from civilization, soldiers have access to many of the same kinds of systems and technologies civilians have.  Rather than a local service provider, however, they typically use specialized military radios like the PRC163 made by L3Harris and a "ruggedized" computer like this one from Getac.

The stock photography industry has changed dramatically in the recent past, we're still producing authentic images that realistically show military missions and missionaries in action...and we seem to be the only stock photo business doing so.  It's harder than it looks, too, because we need to own all the tactical gear, the computer, the SATCOM antenna system, and the other "battle rattle."  To comply with DoD regulations, the man in the photo is a veteran and not currently in the US armed forces.  He's wearing genuine uniform and protective gear.  And since we make our photographs in secure private locations, we use this 13,000 acre facility for tactical scenarios.  

DoD Finally Enforces Regs

Well, it looks like DoD is finally doing something about enforcing their advertising regulations. The regulations have been discussed in other posts and have been around for years but generally ignored because they weren't promoted or enforced. A new person has taken over the job at the Pentagon and she seems to actually be contacting advertisers and getting compliance. One on-line educational institution that advertises heavily in ARMY TIMES and the other Military Times publications often had two or three large ads in each issue, each ad identifying a person in the ad (generally an actor) as a member of the US Army or other branch -- a flagrant violation of the regs. Those ads suddenly got a new look a few weeks ago -- the actors are still there, but the IDs and the uniforms are gone. About time!

DoD Regs on Advertising Photography -- Part One

Ad agencies, public-relations firms, and anybody using photographs to promote products or services in the US should be aware of the requirements of the Department of Defense concerning advertising. These regulations are, DoD tells me, essentially laws and violating them could result in a problem with government attorneys. That doesn't seem to happen very often, though, because DoD seldom seems interested in enforcing the regs, at least at the present time.

If you're an advertiser, DoD does not permit you to suggest in any way that the US government endorses your product or service. In practical terms, that means that you are not allowed to show a photo with a person or object that are clearly part of the US armed forces. You can show an F-15 aircraft, for example, because many nations use the F-15 -- but you can't show USAF markings on the aircraft in the photo. All that's required to comply with the regs is to Photoshop out the markings. The same sort of thing applies to "bumper" markings on vehicles, branch and unit insignia on uniforms, and anything else in a photo that is unique to the US armed forces.

Another part of the regs relates to the people appearing in the photos. According to DoD, they are not supposed to be on active duty. That's not easy to establish just by looking at a photo, most of the time, but DoD prefers advertising photos use actors wearing "sterile" uniforms -- clothing without any patches or insignia at all.

But magazines and other publications are full of ads that violate these regulations. The reason seems to be that enforcement is a very low priority and that violaters will never hear from DoD's lawyers. More on that in another post.

I'll write about this again. It's a big topic and if DoD ever gets serious about enforcing the rules, a lot of advertisers will need to change the way they illustrate their ads.