Evaluating the Professional Status of the U.S. Army's Public Affairs Program
Abstract
The U.S. Army public affairs program fulfills the Army's requirement to account to the public for how resources and lives are used to achieve national security objectives. The modern communicator's role has transformed from conveying information from an organization to specific audiences into advocating between organizational leaders and interested publics. U.S. Army doctrine, in large part, has adapted to this change in public communication roles. However, cultural practices often resist empowering public affairs officers to provide a modern communication capability to commanders that is competitive with hostile messaging efforts in the contemporary operating environment. This study evaluates the state of professionalism in the U.S. Army's public affairs program through a review of scholarly literature, public relations industry research and research reports written by military officers over the last three decades. This study reports that the current model of employing public affairs does not meet the requirements of a formalized profession, leaving commanders without a capability that can be fully competitive with hostile actors, nor that is equivalent to basic capabilities of industry public relations. This thesis recommends four steps that senior U.S. Army service and public affairs leaders can implement in a short timeline to begin the process of modernizing public affairs into a capability that provides commanders with a strategically-focused, communication leadership capability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 14, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1110163
Entities
People
- Charles M. Spears
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College