Name the two types of AARs.

• A. Internal and External
• B. Formal and Informal
• C. Quick and Detailed
• D. In-house and Outsource

Answer: (B)

After Action Reviews come in two practical forms: formal and informal. A formal AAR is planned and documented—it has a scheduled time, a designated facilitator, clear participants, a structured discussion, and an official written report that captures findings and recommendations for future improvement. An informal AAR is casual and spontaneous—a quick debrief right after the event, focusing on immediate lessons learned without formal notes or a published document. This distinction matters because it guides how thoroughly issues are examined and how widely they are shared. Internal or external, quick or detailed, and in-house or outsource describe different aspects (who participates, how deep the review goes, or who runs it) but don’t define the fundamental form of the debrief like formal versus informal.