Advance Your Skills in
Public Affairs

Use your expertise to inform internal and external audiences while safeguarding mission details from our enemies. Brush up on what it takes to tell our story without jeopardizing national security.
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Posting More Isn't Always Better

Case Study
4 min
Learn from West Point the value of understanding the algorithm and your audience to drive a Facebook strategy.

What's New

More than a dozen soldiers, shown in silhouette, stand and look out on a hill.

Comparison of Military Planning Processes

Article
2 min
Airman reads a checklist during the exercise

Crisis Communication Contingency Plan

Template
1 min
U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. John T. Raines III, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, speaks with senior enlisted service members during a town hall meeting at Kalaeloa, Hawaii, Jan. 12, 2025. Raines came to Hawaii to talk to service members about challenges they are facing in the Hawaii National Guard in order to strengthen our military in the Pacific region.

Aligning Stories to Commander's Intent

Article
4 min
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Explore by Subject

All Subjects

Learn From These Lessons

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Airmen assigned to the 275th Cyberspace Operations Squadron work at a computer terminal at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, Middle River, Md., on January 10, 2023.

Get Ahead of Disinformation with Active Monitoring

Case Study
7 min
Learn how the B-2 Bomber Task Force uses active monitoring and proactive messaging to combat disinformation.
An illustration of a Facebook account overlaid with the Facebook logo and other security icons.

Safeguarding Your Social Media Accounts

Case Study
5 min
Review how the Air Force scrambled to handle the simultaneous hack of two Facebook accounts.
A quality assurance representative and a fuel operator with Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH), inspect a sample of fuel during dewatering at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Halawa, Hawaii, April 19, 2023.

Something in the Water: Stay Vigilant

Case Study
5 min
Examine lessons learned from the USAF on how to communicate effectively during a potential crisis.
An illustration of an interview-style podcast in session with the text AFN Radio and stars added.

A Leadership Podcast That Leads by Example

Case Study
3 min
Learn about a successful interview-style format through the podcast, The Leadership List.
World Suicide Prevention Week is a call to service members across the globe to become familiar with the signs of suicide so they can take action in preventing tragic losses of life.

Authenticity Matters When the Stakes Are High

Case Study
4 min
Watch how leaving the camera rolling led to raw and human moments during a video on suicide awareness.
Two airmen show four children how to brush their teeth during an oral health demonstration.

Be Present and Engaged in the Community

Case Study
4 min
Learn how community building through partnership, such as the Adopt-a-School program, gets meaningful results.
Airmen laugh together.

Leave Them Laughing! Humor Makes the Spot Memorable

Case Study
8 min
Learn how comedic techniques create a memorable spot on operational security.
Rear Adm. Edward Cashman Conducts a Radio Interview

Let Your Subjects Do the Talking

Case Study
10 min
Study this technique of letting your subjects get the message out in an informal yet informative tone.
Master Sgt. Jacob Miller, 661st Aeronautical Engineering Support Squadron superintendent of special projects, shares his testimony during Buckley Connects Day at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., Sept. 25, 2020.

Don't Fire & Forget: Issue Management at Its Best

Case Study
5 min
See how CMSAF Bass used thoughtful planning and a comment strategy to get in front of a charged topic.

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Check It Off

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Miami Air and Marine Branch Director Hector Rojas conducts interviews with news crews to explain AMO's response after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. Photo by Ozzy Trevino

Interview Prep for Subject Matter Experts

Checklist
2 min
Use this pre-interview checklist to thoroughly prepare a subject matter expert for any type of interview.
Close up of two hands typing on a laptop keyboard.

508 Compliance Audit: PDF Document

Checklist
3 min
Ensure your PDF is 508 compliant.
USNS City of Bismarck’s Master, Capt. Christopher Jackson conducts an interview with local media aboard the Military Sealift Command USNS City of Bismarck (T-EPF 14) prior to the underway mission of Pacific Partnership 2024-2 at Changi Naval Base, Singapore. Now in its 20th iteration, Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific.

Build Media Relations From the Ground Up

Checklist
2 min
Follow this checklist when establishing or improving media relations.
USAMMDA team gathers for command town hall, awards presentation

Conducting An Efficient Community Meeting

Checklist
2 min
Use this checklist to prepare, execute and assess a community meeting.
United States Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (USNMRTC) Yokosuka Acting Commanding Officer, CAPT. Richard Gilliard discusses the capabilities of the USNMRTC Yokosuka Enterprise with the Honorable Robert P. Storch, Department of Defense Inspector General during a distinguished visitor tour of United States Naval Hospital Yokosuka.

Before, During and After a VIP/DV Visit

Checklist
2 min
Adequately and appropriately prepare for a very important person or distinguished visitor visit.
CMV-22B Osprey Functional Check Flight

During a Crisis: Daily Shift Change Actions

Checklist
2 min
Follow this checklist to ensure a seamless transition between shifts.
2d CEB Course of Action Planning

During a Crisis: Establish and Transition Guide

Checklist
3 min
Use this checklist to hit the ground running upon short-notice deployment to a crisis or emergency.
Military firefighters extinguish an aircraft fire during a training exercise.

During a Crisis: Media Operations Center

Checklist
2 min
Use this checklist to carry out the responsibilities of the Media Operations Center (MOC).
Installation staff, CAT work 24/7 during Hurricane Laura

During a Crisis: Crisis Action Team

Checklist
2 min
Use this checklist to carry out the responsibilities of the Crisis Action Team (CAT).

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Download Templates

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Chaplain (Maj.) Kimberly Hall, installation chaplain, talks with a military spouse in her office at the base chapel at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., March 8. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Jerry Saslav)

Persona Framework

Template
1 min
Customize this template to capture audience personas that fuel content strategy.
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Ethan Conde, 42nd Communication Squadron client system technician works on his computer at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, Feb.19, 2025.

Annex F Development

Template
1 min
Use this template to develop an Annex F to provide additional details and guidance for an operation plan.
Master Sgt. Ieshea Lattimore, 406th Air Expeditionary Wing Staff Agency & A1 superintendent, left, and Master Sgt. Stephanie Williams Personnel Support for Contingency Operations team chief, collect and review in-processing documents from deployers at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, May 18, 2023.

After a Crisis: Team Self Evaluation

Template
3 min
This Excel template helps a team evaluate its crisis performance to better prepare for any future crisis.
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Matt Verdin, the commanding officer of Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, reviews a briefing card prepared by 1st Lt. Iris Robare, the deputy director of Communication Strategy and Operations, with the 31st MEU, during Talisman Sabre 23 at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia, July 26, 2023. The COMMSTRAT officer develops communication plans; communicates with internal, domestic and international audiences; advises commanders and staffs on communication and strategy matters; and oversees the development and official release of written and visual information products. Talisman Sabre demonstrates U.S. commitment to the region: we seek to build enduring, mutually beneficial relationships and invest in training to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christopher R. Lape)

Implementing a Communication Plan

Template
1 min
Use this template to plan the details to implement your communication plan, such as tasks or events and when.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Patrick Bracken (left), 92nd Air Refueling Wing chaplain and Tech. Sgt. Amanda Wilson (right), 92nd ARW religious affairs specialist, look over documents at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington March 2, 2023. Chaplains and religious affairs specialists advise Airmen and give religious and moral support to service members and their families. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Lillian Patterson)

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Template

Template
1 min
Easily create your own standard operating procedure with this Microsoft Word template.
A person checks two monitors – one with audio lines and the other with editing software – with a microphone in front.

Podcast Idea Analysis Worksheet

Template
1 min
Use this template to analyze your audience and research existing markets to validate your next podcast idea.
Illustration of a computer with keyboard displaying a bar graph with silhouettes of people and reports in the background.

Social Media Performance Report

Template
2 min
Use this to write an actionable report to inform leadership on your strategy's analytics for the quarter/year.
Illustration of a social media post and charts.

Social Media Post Assessment Tracker

Template
2 min
Use this template to capture quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate social media posts.
U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South, and Infantería de Marina de Colombia participates in staff planner working group

SWOT Research Analysis Framework

Template
2 min
Use this template to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for a project or initiative.

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Learn How

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Staff Sgt. Andres Orozco, 31st Force Support Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of the Passport Office, enters data while processing a passport request on Aviano Air Base, Italy, Feb. 27, 2020. Orozco is part of a two-person team responsible for processing passports for the 31st Fighter Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Tory Cusimano)

How to Perform a Social Media Audit

How To
8 min
Follow these steps to improve your effectiveness on social media by performing an audit.
Photo of two service members holding and reviewing paper documentation. Yellow strokes outline the border of the papers and a yellow arrow is pointing from the paper to an illustration of a computer with a mouse pointer on an empty data entry field.

How to Create Your Own SOP Document

How To
10 min
Follow these simple steps to author any standard operating procedure or SOP document.
Illustration of reports with a large letter A and B labeled over them. A grid pattern, check marks, line graphs, pie charts and arrows float behind the reports in the background.

Optimize Your Content With A/B Testing

How To
6 min
Follow these steps to user-test your social media content and better reach your public.
Content Creator Sam Eckholm visits Cannon AFB, showcases 27 SOW readiness & relevancy in future conflicts

How To Create a Bulletproof Response

How To
3 min
Learn how to join command message with critical information in a format that reduces out-of-context quotes.
Future operations officer participates in a COVID-19 virtual subject matter expert exchange

How to Read an OPORD

How To
5 min
Walkthrough a sample Operations Order (OPORD) and understand the key takeaways of the situation or mission.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Bradley Debrick, 509th Medical Operations Squadron immunizations technician, works on his computer in the immunizations clinic.

How to Create an After Action Report

How To
5 min
Use this guide to write a report that gives insight into improving processes and tactics for future...
U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Claire Harrison, an adjutant with 3d Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, writes on a white board at a bilateral control center during the field training exercise portion of Resolute Dragon 23 in the Sakishima Islands, Japan, Oct. 19, 2023. RD 23 is an annual bilateral exercise in Japan that strengthens the command, control, and multi-domain maneuver capabilities of Marines in III Marine Expeditionary Force and allied Japan Self-Defense Force personnel. Harrison is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew Morales)

How to Plan a Campaign

How To
5 min
Follow these steps to plan a compelling and engaging campaign.
Staff Sgt. Matthew Shannon, of the individual personnel readiness office with the 911th Force Support Squadron, takes notes during an enlisted performance report bullet writing seminar at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, April 8, 2018. The EPR bullet writing seminar was conducted by Chief Master Sgt. Chin M. Cox, the Office of the Joint Staff Surgeon Senior Enlisted Leader at the Pentagon, with the focus on improving Airmen's writing skills and the impact to their career. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Grace Thomson)

How to Compose an Initial Release

How To
3 min
Use this step-by-step guide to complete an initial release using the Initial Release Template.
A videographer puts a microphone on Army Chief Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley.

How to Facilitate a Successful Media Interview

How To
4 min
Review the necessary steps to ensure your subject matter expert (SME) will have a successful interaction with...

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Sharpen Your Skills

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A Marine experiments with Lighthouse software on Camp Hansen Nov. 8.

Avoid Social Media Sandtraps

Knowledge Check
10 min
Evaluate your social media response skills now so you don't get stuck when the pressure is on.
Media Day During Operation Allies Welcome at Fort McCoy

Test Your Media Operations Knowledge

Knowledge Check
10 min
Prove you're a media operations master by scoring high on this 10 question test.
Chief Religious Program Specialist Angelo Martinez, from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, assigned to the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), participates in water activities with Manuel Ulloa Lujan Elementary School students in the yard of the school during a community relations event, June 20. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

How Should You React In This Scenario?

Knowledge Check
5 min
Test your knowledge of community relations and engagement by answering questions based on tricky scenarios.
MQ-9 Reaper at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

Keep Your Cool When Things Heat Up

Simulation
10 min
Test your crisis communication skills in this simulation of an aircraft crash at an air show.
Airman takes notes during the Rapid Mobility Planning Conference

9 Chances to Get It Write

Knowledge Check
10 min
Test your knowledge of grammar, punctuation and sentence structure. Watch out for "gotchas"!
NAS Pensacola Emergency Manager During Hurricane Preparedness WeekB

Whatever You Do, Don't Panic

Simulation
12 min
Do you know what to do when a crisis hits? Test your skills when a hurricane is heading straight for your...
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Johnson, 435th Air Expeditionary Wing chaplain assistant, takes a selfie with Nigerien children at a village in Agadez, Niger, June 27, 2019. Johnson assisted the 724th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron civil engineer flight with constructing a classroom for the village. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Devin Boyer)

Choose the Right Social Media Platform

Exercise
10 min
Practice your knowledge of social media and identify type, purpose and platform for three scenarios.
U.S. and foreign service members watch on a dirt hill as a floating causeway approaches.

What Does the Commander Actually Want

Exercise
5 min
Practice how well you can deduce commander's intent by reviewing a memo sent to your office.
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Lieutenant General Richard M. Clark, Superintendent, United States Air Force Academy, takes selfies with cadets after the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 30, 2024. Nine-hundred-seventy-four cadets crossed the stage to become the Air Force/Space Force’s newest second lieutenants.

What's Wrong With This Post?

Knowledge Check
5 min
Analyze social media posts and see if you can detect what's wrong.

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Review Policy & Doctrine

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Cyber Yankee prepares DoD, government, and business for potential cyber threats

DoDI 5535.12

Policy & Doctrine
15 min
Reference DoD Instruction 5535.12 DoD Branding and Trademark Licensing Program Implementation (29 April 2020).
Maj. Gen. Denise M. Donnell, New York Air National Guard Commander and Assistant Adjutant General, and Master Sgt. Elliot Butler, 313th Recruiting Squadron C Flight Flight Chief, talk to Air Force delayed entry program members before a ribbon cutting ceremony at the C Flight office in Brooklyn, N.Y., May 24, 2023.

DoDD 5535.09

Policy & Doctrine
5 min
Reference DoD Directive 5535.09 DoD Branding and Trademark Licensing Program (19 December 2007).
Cyber Yankee prepares DoD, government, and business for potential cyber threats

Identity Awareness, Protection and Management Guide

Policy & Doctrine
113 min
Reference the DoD Identity Awareness, Protection and Management Guide (12th Edition, March 2021).
Yeoman 2nd Class Tyree Pierre works at his desk on Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sep. 8, 2022.

DoDI 8170.01

Policy & Doctrine
53 min
Reference DoD Instruction 8170.01 Online Information Management and Electronic Messaging (24 August 2021).
A graphic illustration of a social media post with a photo of two service members working on a plane. A clock, planning and a bullseye symbol are spread across the graphic. An overlaid photo of a Marine typing on a computer keyboard.

DoDI 5400.17

Policy & Doctrine
33 min
Reference the DoDI 5400.17 Official Use of Social Media for Public Affairs Purposes (14 February 2025).
Sailors assigned to Defense Media Activity operate cameras during Vice Adm. John Nowell, Chief of Naval Personnel, and Fleet Master Chief Wes Koshoffer's town hall event

DoD Directive 5105.74

Policy & Doctrine
14 min
Reference the DoD Directive 5105.74 Defense Media Activity (DMA) (Change 1) (August 29, 2017).
La. National Guard monitors Medical Supply Data [Image 11 of 13]

DoD Data Strategy

Policy & Doctrine
21 min
Reference Executive Summary: DoD Data Strategy (30 September 2020).
14&15 July l MC Symposium

DoD Directive 5160.48

Policy & Doctrine
8 min
Reference DoDD 5160.48 Public Affairs & Visual Information (PA & VI) Education & Training (Nov. 20, 2017).
Dr. William Burnett, Technical Director of Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC), and Mr. James Griffith, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director, Source Operations and Management Directorate—along with other NGA personnel—received a detailed overview of CNMOC with a full brief and engagements with subject matter experts. CNMOC directs and oversees more than 2,500 globally-distributed military and civilian personnel who collect, process and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to make better decisions faster than the adversary.

DoD Directive 5105.60

Policy & Doctrine
25 min
Reference the DoD Directive 5105.60 National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) (July 29, 2009).

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