Organizational learning in the Marine Corps: an academic-military training partnership

This field report describes a communication intervention conducted with the U.S. Marine Corps Tactics and Operations Group (MCTOG). The project was designed to build capacity and organizational knowledge (and knowing) through a two-part workshop series. The workshop's purpose was to investigate how academic training in organizational communication could support military members in elevating their teaching and learning practices within their institution. A total of 20 members from MCTOG participated in the workshops between 2019 and 2022. The project demonstrated how co-constructed communication workshops can help members of highly bureaucratic organizations address organizational challenges. By reframing knowledge as a communicative process and leveraging communication research and concepts, the report demonstrates how academic training may enable adaptive learning and collaboration. We conclude with four recommendations related to tensions, timing, strategic recruitment, and subject matter framing that may help other academic trainers and translational communication scholars design interventions aimed at enhancing organizational knowledge.