Abstract
Introduction
&
Problem Statement
Military Public Affairs (PA) and civilian Public Relations (PR) are often misconstrued as being one in the same. Although they have been benchmarking off each other for generations, their missions are different. PA is the discipline of communication that informs and educates, while the definition of PR is a source of contention among scholars. The only consistently identifiable and legally mandated dividing line between PA and other aspects of the informational instrument is the design or intent of the communication (MCWP 3-33.3). There is simply no way of anticipating the “who, what, when, where and whys” of the next crisis. The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast PR and PA in order to identify techniques from both fields that can be integrated into a unified planning model to benefit military public affairs. A model for effective integrated public affairs cross-functionality was developed and explained.