Robert T. Hastings, Jr.

Robert T. Hastings, Jr. is an American Public Relations professional who has served as an executive in several aerospace & defense corporations and as a political appointee in the Administration of President George W. Bush where he was the senior public affairs official and principle spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense in 2008-2009.

Hastings was appointed Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in March 2008 and subsequently nominated by President Bush to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

Department of Defense Public Affairs
Hastings served as principal staff advisor and assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England for strategic communication, public information, internal information, and community relations as well as information training and audiovisual support to DoD activities, leading a worldwide public affairs community of nearly 4000 military and civilian personnel.

During his tenure with the Pentagon, Hastings was a driving force in the development of the Department’s Strategic Communications concept of operations. Working with the Service Public Affairs Chiefs and Combatant Command Public Affairs Directors, he fostered cohesion and partnership among the diverse elements of the Defense public affairs community. He also established the Defense Media Activity, a significant reorganization of DoD Public Affairs which consolidated more than 2000 military and civilian Public Affairs personnel into a single command responsible for the military’s worldwide internal information activities.

Corporate Public Relations Career
Robert Hastings has worked as the senior corporate communications officer at several US aerospace and defense companies to include BAE Systems North America, Northrop Grumman Information Systems and Bell Helicopter. He has also been active with the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), holding a number of appointed and elected roles to include the National Capital Chapter Board of Directors, Co-chair of the 2010 International Conference, and professional advisor to the Public Relations Student Society of America. In 2010 he was awarded PRSA's Lloyd B. Dennis Distinguished Leadership Award.

Awards and recognition

 * Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, 2009
 * Distinguished Alumni of the University of Maryland University College, 2010
 * Lloyd B. Dennis Distinguished Leadership Award from the Public Relations Society of America, 2010
 * Co-Chair, PRSA 2010 International Conference
 * Silver Anvil Award of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of America
 * Gold Quill Award for Excellence in Communications Management from the International Association of Business Communicators