Abstract
| There are approximately 272
million people living in the United States today (U.S. Census Bureau, 1999).
Of those, nearly 2.4 million people serve in the armed forces. As
the population in America rises, many military installations will face
the urban sprawl of the civilian communities pushing up against installation
borders. The major complaint that civilians outside military installations
have is the noise pollution created by military vehicles and operations,
such as aircraft training and bombing sorties, and tank maneuvers with
live-fire demonstrations (Noisecamp Seminar, 1999).
This paper studies possible solutions to this problem by applying elaboration likelihood theory. It is posits that the level of noise complaints can be kept static, even as the population around the installations grows simply by creating, through strong messages and credible sources, a heightened awareness of the military's necessity. To do so, installation commanders could host town hall meetings on the installations affected so the public could get a look at what their military does in their community. Also, PAOs could invite the local community members to tour the base and meet with military members. It is suggested that installations should solicit support through local news media outlets. Media buy-in is not guaranteed, although they could be enticed to cover PA efforts through a variety of means, including inviting them to live with the troops during major exercises held during sweep periods. The public affairs offices would create news releases regarding major exercises, deployments, or changes in flight patterns or times when the civilian populations could expect loud noises. |