Keeping servicemembers, Department of Defense civilians, family members and retirees informed is key to their adaptation to both the military and individual's changing roles and missions (Naval Media Center, 2000).  Each of the military services produces 30-minute, long-form news programs.  Utilizing Lazarsfeld and Stanton's (1944) uses and gratification theory of mass communication, this study will determine why individual viewers watch these programs and also examine the difference between internal audiences stationed throughout the world and in the United States.  Results of a pilot study find that stateside viewers are more likely to engage in ritualized/habitual viewing behaviors when watching the newscasts and have a primary motivation of escape.  Overseas viewers are generally more goal-driven in their viewing behaviors, and their dominant motivations to watch are for information and moral support.