Department of Defense
INSTRUCTION
NUMBER 5160.48
March 21, 2011
Incorporating Change 1, November 20, 2017
ATSD(PA)
SUBJECT: DoD Public Affairs and Visual Information (PA&VI) Education and Training
(E&T)
References: See Enclosure 1
1. PURPOSE. This Instruction:
a. Reissues DoD Directive (DoDD) 5160.48 (Reference (a)) as a DoD Instruction (DoDI) in
accordance with the authority in DoDD 5122.05 (Reference (b)) to establish policy and assign
responsibilities for PA&VI E&T across the DoD.
b. Designates the Defense Information School (DINFOS) in the Defense Media Activity
(DMA) as the principal source of PA&VI E&T common core training in the DoD. The DINFOS
charter is at Enclosure 2.
c. Implements PA&VI E&T guidance in References (b) through (i).
2. APPLICABILITY. This Instruction applies to OSD, the Military Departments, the Office of
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff, the Combatant Commands, the
Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Defense Agencies, the DoD
Field Activities, and all other organizational entities within the DoD (hereafter referred to
collectively as the “DoD Components”).
3. DEFINITIONS. These terms and their definitions are for the purpose of this Instruction.
a. Joint-Service training. Consolidated training for two or more Military Departments,
including the Coast Guard.
b. PA&VI E&T. All joint-Service PA&VI E&T supporting the mission areas of community
relations, media relations, internal information, visual information, and combat camera. Specific
career fields in PA&VI include broadcasting (radio and television), journalism (photo, broadcast,
