Strategic communication planning and its requirements have evolved considerably over the past 20 years as a reflection of the needs of our changing world; people, technology and the requirement for military and civilian actors to work together. Nowhere has this change been more pronounced than with the development of international humanitarian intervention missions that necessarily involve military and international aid actors working in mutual dependence in areas of natural and man-made crises. Using the 2007-2011 period of the combined war and humanitarian intervention mission in Afghanistan, this study develops the requirements for a strategic communication plan for the humanitarian aspects of that mission with implications for practical reach to all long-term crises. It establishes the real from the ideal practices by the international community (military, humanitarian aid, international bodies) and, based on recommendations from the expert literature, presents a strategic communication planning format that guides both the practitioner and theoretician.