text: Responsibilities and Supporting Tools
  Personal and Special Staff Elements
  2-21. Personal and special staff elements facilitate personnel recovery activities for the commander. The
  personal staff normally includes the senior enlisted advisor, the inspector general, the staff judge advocate,
  the public affairs officer, the chaplain, a political advisor, a cultural advisor, and a surgeon. This group
  expands and contracts based on the needs and desires of the commander. The responsibility of this group is
  to advise the commander and serve as a conduit of information to and from other staff elements. Other
  important informal members of this group are interpreters (those who transfer the spoken word of one
  language into another) and translators (those who render the written words of one language into another)
  who accompany the commander and staff members overseas. Interpreters and translators can be key
  members of the recovery force in a rescue operation.
  2-22. The special staff elements provide guidance to the entire staff. They are special in that they are
  important enough not to be subsumed into the activities of the functional or integrating staff cells. The
  special staff elements at division headquarters and above—the provost marshal; knowledge management
  officer; operational researcher; red team officer; staff weather officer; chemical, biological, radiological,
  and nuclear (known as CBRN) officer; engineer; and personnel recovery officer—interface with the rest of
  the staff in all operations. This grouping also includes the command and functional liaison teams providing
  a window on other commands. Command liaison represents the interests of the chain of command and
  associated organizations (such as multinational, HN, DOS, and civilian organization partners). Functional
  liaison teams support the virtual and physical systems on which the command depends, such as
  intelligence, infrastructure, and life support.
  The Personnel Recovery Officer’s Responsibilities
  2-23. All echelons of command above battalion level have trained personnel recovery officers. At company
  level and below, the commander or leader may not recognize a specific personnel recovery role; however,
  leaders exercise this role as a part of their larger leadership role. At battalion level, a member of the training
  and operations staff section typically serves as the point of contact (POC) for personnel recovery. The
  brigade level is the lowest command echelon in which a staff officer serves in a recognized personnel
  recovery role. While there is no fixed number of these staff officers, most battalion and brigade-sized
  units—especially those in areas with an increased risk of isolation—identify an officer, warrant officer, or
  noncommissioned officer as a personnel recovery officer. At echelons above brigade headquarters, the
  personnel recovery officer coordinates the personnel recovery efforts and staffs the PRCS. The staffing,
  grade requirement, and number of these officers constantly changes; however, commanders often augment
  PRCSs based on the situation. These elements serve as POCs and fusion points for personnel recovery
  matters at their respective commands. Responsibilities for personnel recovery officers fall into the
  following four broad categories:
  * Advisor to the commander.
  * POC for personnel recovery efforts to the staff and others.
  * Staff coordinator of personnel recovery activities across the command.
  * Trainer.
  Advisor
  2-24. The personnel recovery officer is proficient in joint and Army doctrine and an expert in personnel
  recovery. As such, commanders at every level seek counsel from this officer when confronted with an
  isolating event. The personnel recovery officer provides personnel recovery expertise to the commander in
  response to an isolating event.
  Point of Contact
  2-25. A personnel recovery officer—as an additional duty for a multifunctional staff officer at battalion or
  brigade, or in a required and authorized position at large-unit headquarters—answers inquiries about the
  doctrine and TTP for personnel recovery efforts within the command. Questions and comments may come
  from within the headquarters, outside staff entities, or other commanders. Depending on the situation, this
  may include contacts where a commander or staff members from lower or higher in the chain of command