Communication in any organization is key, but the military can be a completely different spectrum compared to the civilian sector.
As we have mentioned in this blog, military
communication can be seen as marketing, but you are not trying to gain a profit
in this line of work. Your goal as a military communicator is to communicate
with your internal and external audiences.
Military communicators must provide command information
to both the military community and the public. This essentially keeps us all on
the same page so that information is constantly flowing from the top brass to the
lowest enlisted member; from the families to the news media.
There are three main goals of command information:
1. It keeps the audience informed about what is going
on in the organization and the organization’s goals
2. Informs the internal audience on significant events
and developments affecting them and the organization
3. Increases the troops and family members’
effectiveness as ambassadors of the agency
But what makes up the internal audience that you are
trying to improve communications with? Glad you asked?
An internal audience in the military are the U.S.
military members, Department of Defense civilians, and any local national
employees.
External audience members that you will be concerned with
include the news media and the general public. Think of your external audience
only being concerned with public information – information that does not specifically
pertain to the military community and its constituents.
For example, the U.S. Coast Guard was recently heavily
involved in the Baltimore bridge collapse response efforts. Coast Guard public
affairs specialists interact directly with the news media to provide joint information
on the status of their efforts to combat the disaster. This information is
specially geared toward the public because it is informing them on the Coast
Guard’s efforts in relation to the disaster. It is not Coast Guard-specific
information that only a member or their families need to know.
The command information that you as military communications
will handle is a vital piece of information that must be transmitted thoroughly
to your internal audience. Command information is communication by a military organization
directed to an internal audience. It is NOT directed to your external audience.
Just remember that command information is internal communication,
while public information is external communication.
The primary goal of external or public information is
to educate the American and international publics through the mass media.
Aside from your management and leadership tactics
(which we will dive into later in this blog), there are other ways military
communicators can help evaluate the effectiveness of their communication. These
ways include simple lessons learned, analytics for online products, and
face-to-face conversations.
The primary goal of internal information is not just
to provide timely and accurate information to the military members and their
community – it actually also has to do with the mood of the troops.
Keeping military members and their families will only help
improve moral. Thus, the members will have a better attitude with their work –
which can lead to completing a mission in a timely and effective manner.
The Freedom of Information Act is something you will become
familiar with if you have not entered the military yet to become a communicator.
This act requests that information should be approached with the spirit to
release, not withhold.
At the Defense Information School in Fort Meade,
Maryland, you will learn what it means to be a military communicator. You will
see that there are three things a military communicator must have before
releasing information: ability, competence, and authority.
After examining external communications, you may also
be asking yourself, why does the general public have a right to understand and
know about unclassified military matters? Well, the answer is because the
American people are tax payers, which supports the military and its members. The
American people are entitled to know just where their tax dollars are being
spent.
As a military communicator, you also need to know what
is considered critical information at your local unit so that you can protect
it when developing your products. You will hear the term “OPSEC” a lot as a
military communicator – essentially meaning it is classified information.
Information about the activities, intentions, capabilities
or limitations of the U.S. military or their allies that could degrade mission effectiveness
is called critical information.
This can all tie into effective management and
leadership at your local unit as a military communicator. You must also see
that a manager and a leader are two completely different entities. People often
get them misconstrued.
The sooner you understand the difference
between a manager and a leader, the better your careers will be – regardless
if you are a military member or a civilian.
A leader can almost be viewed as a vehicle that drives
an organization into the future. In the military, think of your higher-up enlisted
counterparts or officers – members who have worked in the organization a lot
longer than you have and who should have the experience and knowledge needed to
lead you into the future.
A manager, on the other hand, helps produce the
products the organization promises to make. This can be also viewed as a
higher-ranking enlisted member in your public affairs office. Or, once you
graduate from the Defense Information School and arrive at your new unit, it
could be someone of the same rank as you – only because they have more
experience than you in the role.
A leader can inspire you to tell a story in the military,
but they can also lead you and your entire organization toward the next steps.
Hone into your leaders once you join the military. Not only will they help you
tell stories, they may also generate stories themselves by the actions and
deeds they do. Leaders in the military may also help you be recognized for your
hard work as a military communicator. There typically are not many military
communicators across each branch of service, so you will stick out to high-ranking
officers.
Becoming a manager and a leader does not happen overnight.
It takes time. It takes doing. It takes living and learning. No matter if you
make a full 20-plus year career in the military or do one contract and get out –
you can learn the foundations of being a leader in this career field and use it
further along your career and your life to be a light to others.
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