Crisis Communication: A Commanders Guide to Effective Crisis Communication

This research paper is a review of Air Force crisis communication training for commanders. As the primary spokesperson for their organization, commanders must know how to communicate during a crisis. This leads to the research question. How does the Air Force prepare commanders to communicate during a crisis and are they using effective crisis communication techniques. The methodology is a review of crisis and crisis communication literature to develop a working definition of a crisis and crisis communication. The Air Force‘s Media Training program and training techniques are also reviewed to identify and describe effective crisis techniques. The crisis communication training program or a civilian crisis communication firm, Wilson Group Communications, is also reviewed. This comparison will provide information to help determine the effectiveness of the Air Force training program compared to a civilian organization. The comparisons identified common crisis communication techniques and provide information for a commanders guide.