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WHO WE ARE
The American Forces Information Service - AFIS - is the principal
internal information organization within DoD.
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PRINCIPLES of DoD INTERNAL INFORMATION
A well-informed military
is an effective and committed military.
The American military
is made up of citizen soldiers, sailors, airmen, and
marines. To fulfill their role as American citizens,
the men and women of the Armed Forces need the same
access to news and information as their fellow citizens.
A free flow of general
and military information will be made available without
censorship or propaganda, to the men and women of
the Armed Forces and their dependents.
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AFIS works directly for the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Public Affairs (ASD-PA).
Internal information provides the men and women of the Armed
Forces, their families and DoD civilians with the information
they need about DoD:
- Goals
- Missions
- Policies
- Programs
- Standards
OUR INTERNAL INFORMATION
MISSION
Provide high-quality news, information, and entertainment to
US forces.
Train all public affairs, broadcast and visual information professionals
- military and DoD civilians.
Provide U.S. military commanders with communications management,
distribution, and technical services to support their internal
information objectives.
OUR MISSION GOAL
Promote and sustain individual and unit military readiness, quality
of life, and morale throughout the Department of Defense.
OUR WORLDWIDE MISSION
RESPONSIBILITY
Every military theater of operations - including contingency
mission areas
All military installations - U.S. and overseas
All naval ships - including ships afloat
All US embassies with military detachments.
OUR ORGANIZATION
AFRTS
The Armed Forces Radio and Television
Service (AFRTS) provides radio and television programs to
almost 1 million servicemen and women overseas, aboard ships at
sea, and their family members. As a major means of keeping U.S.
troops and their families informed and entertained when they are
far from home, AFRTS distributes these programs to stations and
outlets by satellite, and on video and audio tape through the
mail. Affiliate stations locally produce their own command information
programming. AFRTS' programming represents what is seen and heard
in the United States and is presented without censorship, propagandizing
or manipulation.
The programming hub is located at the AFRTS Broadcast Center
at March Air Reserve Base, Calif. It obtains programs from commercial
networks and syndicators and sends them out worldwide. AFRTS has
outlets in 150-plus countries that range in size and capability
from a large radio and TV facility as found in U.S. major metropolitan
areas, to small, unmanned repeater stations. AFRTS also oversees
operations of the Television-Audio Support Activity.
INFORMATION OPERATIONS
The Information Operations Directorate is the central AFIS activity
for planning and coordinating the development of DoD-wide internal
media products that directly communicate the policies, programs,
and activities of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the
DoD Internal Information Program. Internal media products encompass
all electronic, broadcast, photographic, and print communication
formats produced and distributed throughout DoD by the AFIS.
The Information Operations Directorate also publishes and distributes
DoD internal information print media products worldwide and on
the Internet. Products include an Internet news and feature service.
DEFENSE VISUAL INFORMATION
The Defense Visual
Information Directorate develops policy and oversees DoD visual
information functions and the Joint Combat Camera Program. The
directorate also operates the Joint Combat Camera Center, DoD's
central reception and distribution point for still and motion
imagery of current U.S. Military operations. The directorate is
responsible for the Defense Visual Information Center, a state-of-the-art
facility which preserves and provides access to the visual information
records of the U.S. Military, including films, videos, multimedia
collections, and still photographs. Finally, the directorate is
responsible for the Joint Visual Information Services Distribution
Activity, which serves as DoD's central storage and distribution
facility for visual information products such as instructional
videotapes and CD-ROMs.
POLICY AND ALLIANCES
The Policy and Alliances oversees policy for all DoD newspapers,
pamphlets and periodicals. It is the DoD contact with Congress,
the public and government agencies for print and media issues.
The directorate operates a news monitoring service that publishes
DoD-related articles from civilian news sources. The directorate
also fosters and forges cooperative efforts among the military
services.
STARS & STRIPES
Stars & Stripes newspapers are printed at six sites overseas
and provide a free flow of information to U.S. Military personnel,
DoD civilians and their families serving overseas. In 1996, AFIS
was directed to consolidate the newspapers and to consolidate
common functions in the U.S. That consolidation is well under
way and should be completed in FY99.
TRAINING
The Training Directorate oversees planning, development, consolidation,
execution, and evaluation of education and training programs of
the Defense Information School
and other sources to meet joint-service training requirements
in the career fields of public affairs and visual information.
TELEVISION-AUDIO SUPPORT ACTIVITY
The Television-Audio Support
Activity, located in Sacramento, Calif., provides engineering,
design, logistics and procurement support to DoD for commercially
available, audiovisual and broadcast equipment and systems. This
includes support to the Foreign Military Sales program via language
lab procurement and installation.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
This directorate manages the AFIS internal support infrastructure
including manpower, personnel, administration, logistics, facilities,
and budget and finance.
INFORMATION RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
The directorate manages information technology operations in
support of AFIS mission requirements.
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Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public
Affairs (OSD-PA)
The ASD(PA)
is a principal staff advisor and assistant to the Secretary
and Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Internal information is one of three major public affairs
roles assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Public Affairs (OSD-PA) for policy and program
direction. The other two roles - media relations and community
relations - keep the American people, Congress, and the
media informed about DoD activities.
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