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CAP Public Information Officer: High Profile Missions

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CAP Public Information Officer: High Profile Missions Julie DeBardelaben Deputy Director, Public Affairs Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters jdebardelaben_at_capnhq.gov – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: CAP Public Information Officer: High Profile Missions


1
CAP Public Information OfficerHigh Profile
Missions
  • Julie DeBardelaben
  • Deputy Director, Public Affairs
  • Civil Air Patrol
  • National Headquarters
  • jdebardelaben_at_capnhq.gov
  • (877) 227-9142, ext. 250
  • Capt. Phil Norris
  • Assistant Director of Public Affairs
  • Southeast Region, CAP
  • norris.phil_at_gmail.com
  • (601) 325-6800

2
High-Profile vs. Regular Missions vs. Public
Affairs
  • A High-Profile Mission requires different rules
    than a regular mission or the normal public
    affairs duties of a PAO.
  • The stakes are higher during high-profile
    missions, and only properly trained PIOs are
    involved in these missions.

3
Regular Missions
  • Regular missions involve the search for a lost
    aircraft, the search for a missing person or the
    investigation of an ELT signal reported from an
    aircraft.
  • Regular missions normally involve a local
    incident staff, an aircrew, a ground team and the
    appropriate wing command staff.

4
Public Affairs
  • Public affairs is the function familiar to
    most PAOs.
  • It is a relationship-building process in which
    local units reach out to the community to educate
    the public on CAPs three primary missions.

5
High-Profile Mission Protocol
  • CAP NHQ/PA has developed a high-profile missions
    policy in response to Hurricane Katrina, flooding
    in the Midwest and several other missions that
    required more diligence from the standpoint of
    public affairs. Having this in place aided in the
    approach to public affairs during Deepwater
    Horizon.

6
CAPs High-Profile Missions Policy
  • A high-profile Air Force-assigned mission (AFAM)
    is defined as a mission that will potentially
    trigger significant media interest at the
    regional or national level. A mission may be
    treated as high-profile as deemed appropriate by
    the CAP National Operations Center, NHQ/PA, wing
    commanders or the mission approval authority
    (1st, 11th or 13th Air Force, CAP-USAF, etc.). 

7
High-Profile Missions Policy
  • ICs or PIOs who are unsure whether a mission
    would be considered high-profile, or who simply
    need assistance, should contact the NOC or NHQ/PA
    for guidance.
  • News releases for high-profile AFAMs must be
    approved by NHQ/PA and the NOC. This clearance is
    not required for routine missions or training
    missions.

8
High-Profile Missions Policy
  • Media relations for high-profile events
    including developing a public awareness plan,
    developing talking points, identifying whether
    and when to hold press conferences, scheduling
    one-on-one interviews with selected spokesmen and
    developing and disseminating news releases and
    media kits will be accomplished in partnership
    with NHQ/PA.

9
High-Profile Missions Policy
  • NHQ/PA provides approvals to proceed with these
    public affairs initiatives to the IC and IO.
  • NHQ/PA will establish and maintain, as deemed
    appropriate, a page on www.gocivilairpatrol.com
    where photos and news releases of high-profile
    missions will be posted on an ongoing basis.

10
Deepwater Horizon
  • On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon
    semi-submersible mobile off-shore drilling unit,
    located approximately 41 miles from the Louisiana
    coast, exploded.
  • Eleven workers were killed and 17 others were
    injured.
  • The explosion caused a large fire on the oil rig.
  • This resulted in the dumping of approximately
    62,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

11
Deepwater Horizon
  • Organizations involved initially in the oil rig
    crisis
  • U.S. Coast Guard.
  • BP Oil Co.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
    Department of Energy, Geological Survey, Bureau
    of Ocean Energy Management and coastal state
    emergency organizations.

12
Deepwater Horizon
  • Initial potentially damaging effects of the oil
    spill
  • Damage to coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi,
    Alabama, Florida and Texas.
  • Impact on Gulf Coast economies and fishing
    industry (tourism, real estate values, etc.).
  • Long-term damage to marine life in Gulf.
  • Impact on the future of the oil industry in Gulf.

13
Deepwater Horizon
  • Civil Air Patrol was tasked with oil spill
    response support in early May 2010
  • Initial CAP Incident Command established at
    Mobile Civic Center as one of the Incident
    Command Posts along the Gulf.
  • Col. James Rushing, Southeast Region commander,
    was appointed senior officer in charge for CAP.

14
Deepwater Horizon
  • Maj. John Neil, Alabama Wing Director of
    Operations, and Capt. Jan Hulsey, from the
    National Operations Center, set up the initial
    Incident Command Post for CAP.
  • NHQ/PA got involved from the start and began
    gathering resources and discussing PA guidelines
    with Col. Rushing, CAP NHQ staff, 1st Air Force
    and the incident commander.

15
Deepwater Horizon
  • The decision was made by Col. Rushing and Lt.
    Col. Joel Katz of the Southeast Region, after
    consulting with NHQ/PA, that one CAP member
    should be tasked as the overall Pubic Information
    Officer (PIO) for the mission.
  • Capt. Phil Norris, Southeast Region assistant
    director of public affairs, was chosen as the
    Deepwater Horizon Mission PIO.

16
Deepwater Horizon
  • Capt. Norriss CAP PA credentials
  • Master Rating in Public Affairs.
  • 5 years experience as CAP PAO/PIO.
  • Attended 2007 and 2008 PAO Academies.
  • Several National PA Awards.
  • Coordinated national media relations for the
    Dennis Steinbock mission in 2007.
  • Former Mississippi Wing PAO.

17
Deepwater Horizon
  • Norris initial tasking was to serve as a
    central point of contact for all information
    released relating to the CAP mission in the oil
    spill response.
  • This required him to be in the approval chain
    for all press releases that dealt with the oil
    spill response.

18
Deepwater Horizon
  • Major concerns from the standpoint of PA
  • Protecting sensitive information related to the
    mission.
  • Keeping CAP members involved in the mission from
    using unauthorized channels to publish
    information about the mission (social media,
    e-mail, local stories, etc.).
  • Not violating the trust the Unified Command
    placed in CAP to protect sensitive information.

19
Deepwater Horizon
  • Major concerns from the standpoint of PA (cont.)
  • Working with the Incident Command Structure and
    Joint Information Center (JIC) on a large- scale
    mission where CAP was not the lead agency.
  • Staying in our lanes when sending out CAP press
    releases.
  • Telling the CAP story in a timely fashion and
    obtaining necessary approvals.

20
Deepwater Horizon
  • Major PA goals for this mission
  • Maintain information integrity and operations
    security.
  • Tell the CAP story to a national audience (aiding
    recruiting efforts).
  • Recognize members who contributed to the success
    of the mission (aiding retention efforts).
  • Establish CAP as a key emergency services player
    in future large-scale missions.
  • Demonstrate CAPs value to stakeholders.

21
Deepwater Horizon
  • Initial steps to execute PA mission
  • PIO and NHQ/PA discussed how coordination would
    be carried out and chain of command.
  • Educated key mission players, including all wing
    and region PAOs and national PA team leader, on
    protocol for mission.
  • PIO and NHQ/PA communicated with key players in
    the JIC, 1st Air Force and NOC to learn what we
    could and couldnt publish.

22
Deepwater Horizon
  • Initial Steps to execute PA mission (cont.)
  • NHQ/PA and PIO partnered with wing PAOs to
    encourage publicizing CAPs involvement in the
    mission on the local level.
  • Established rules for national press releases,
    local press releases and interviews.
  • Established high-profile mission page on national
    website with updates and articles.

23
Deepwater Horizon
  • Subsequent steps in executing PA mission
  • Focused on getting a national press release out
    as soon as possible to build national interest in
    the CAP story.
  • Contacted selected national media outlets to
    promote interest in the CAP story.
  • Contacted local media outlets to build interest
    in CAP (tasked wing PAOs with this).

24
Deepwater Horizon
  • Subsequent steps in executing PA mission (cont.)
  • As soon as national media interest was trickling
    in, established protocol to get approval for
    media flights and media interviews with key
    personnel.
  • Continued to send out press releases to national
    media to maintain interest in CAPs story.
  • Developed communication plans for each media
    event.

25
Deepwater Horizon
  • Our Successes

26
Deepwater Horizon
  • Our successes
  • We provided a media flight to CBS Evening News,
    which featured CAP on national news (more than 5
    million viewers).
  • We provided a media flight to WALB-TV from
    Albany, Ga., which aired a 3-minute feature on
    CAP.
  • Newspath flew with us and aired a story shown on
    80 CBS channels.

27
Our Successes
  • Our successes (cont.)
  • National news releases picked up online,
    including Aero-News Network and General Aviation.
  • Air Space/Smithsonian and AOPA Pilot magazines
    both writing feature stories including coverage
    of CAPs contributions.
  • We told the CAP story to several local media
    outlets (at least 12 print stories/video
    reports).

28
Deepwater Horizon
  • Our successes (cont.)
  • Received media information requests from Popular
    Mechanics, Fox News and Inside Edition.
  • Established CAP PA as a professional organization
    capable of handling high-profile missions.
  • Educated large contingent of CAP PAOs on proper
    conduct for a high-profile mission.

29
Deepwater Horizon
  • Our successes (cont.)
  • Demonstrated to 1st Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard,
    Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department
    of Homeland Security and other key emergency
    services organizations the value of CAPs
    volunteer membership.
  • DHS developed PowerPoint presentation, which
    featured CAP, to show local communities.

30
Deepwater Horizon
  • Lessons learned
  • Involve PA early on in high-profile missions.
  • The Incident Command Structure works.
  • NHQ/PA and mission PIO partnership is critical to
    PA success.
  • Get all affected PAs involved in the process.
  • Communication is critical to mission success.
  • Be willing to be flexible rules change at times.

31
Deepwater Horizon
  • Lessons learned (cont.)
  • Establish good relationships with JIC, Air Force,
    CAP volunteer leadership, CAP subordinate unit
    PAOs, PA team leader and local and national
    media.
  • Be patient and make sure your message is
    scrutinized before publishing.
  • Properly brief CAP members before interaction
    with media representatives.

32
Deepwater Horizon
  • Summary
  • The Deepwater Horizon mission was a large
    success for CAP PA. We established CAP as a
    national asset in the minds of the national
    media, stakeholders and the general public. For
    the mission PIO, the coordination and support
    from NHQ/PA was absolutely critical in achieving
    great successes during the Deepwater Horizon
    mission.

33
Partnering with NHQ/PA for High-Profile Missions
  • Planning
  • Develop and/or refine crisis plan or public
    relations plan.
  • Identify a spokesperson.
  • Anticipate media needs and questions.
  • Make recommendations on all media coverage.
  • Coordinate national leadership participation.
  • Provide talking points and media kits.

34
Partnering with NHQ/PA for High-Profile Missions
  • Media queries and responses
  • Respond to media inquiries.
  • Research, interview and write news releases.
  • Disseminate news releases nationwide.
  • Develop radio and TV announcements.
  • Set up interviews.
  • Set up press conferences.

35
Partnering with NHQ/PA for High-Profile Missions
  • Issues management
  • Develop proactive media messages.
  • Prepare a daily issues management report that
    tracks key issues and recommends courses of
    action.

36
Partnering with NHQ/PA for High-Profile Missions
  • Logistics
  • Publish daily updates online.
  • Provide media contact lists.
  • Provide a daily report of media coverage.
  • Provide a copy of  WMIRS reports to members
    involved in missions, issued daily by NHQs
    National Operations Center.
  • Prepare an after-action report.

37
Parterning with NHQ/PA for High Profile Missions
  • Creative Services
  • Coordinate with NHQ Creative Services to
    establish and maintain a website.
  • Coordinate with NHQ Creative Services to secure
    and publish photographs online.
  • Coordinate with NHQ Creative Services to record,
    edit and distribute videos/DVDs.
  •  
  •  

38
Deepwater Horizon
  • Summary (cont.)
  • The support of Col. Rushing, Southeast Region
    commander, the various incident commanders, the
    National Operations Center, 1st Air Force, the
    mission base staff, aircrews and the wing PAOs
    was essential in getting a positive CAP story out
    to a national audience. This will pay tremendous
    dividends to CAP for years to come. Thanks to all
    who supported the PA mission.

39
Deepwater Horizon
  • Thanks to
  • Julie DeBardelaben, NHQ/PA
  • Steve Cox, NHQ/PA
  • NHQ/PA Staff Writer and Photographer
  • Maj. Al Pabon, National PA Team Leader
  • National Operations Center Personnel
  • Col. James Rushing
  • Incident Commanders
  • Mission Base Staff
  • CAP Aircrews
  • Col. Becky Tilton, MSWG PAO
  • Maj. Pat Mitcham, ALWG PAO
  • Maj. Doug Jessmer, FLWG PAO
  • Maj. Paige Joyner, GAWG PAO
  • Lt. Kimberly Bennett, TNWG PAO

40
High-Profile Missions
  • Future High-Profile Mission PA involvement
  • Plans are under way to create different
    qualification levels for CAP public information
    officers. Specific qualification requirements
    will be in place for PIOs before they will be
    allowed to participate in high-profile missions.

41
PIO Requirements The Future
  • Future High-Profile Mission PA involvement
    (cont.)
  • Three levels of training based on the Department
    of Homeland Securitys National Incident
    Management System (NIMS) requirements.
  • NIMS has five levels, but the top two are for
    federal-level PIOs serving on missions of
    national consequence roles CAP would not fill.
  • CAP will have PIOs Level 5 to 3.

42
PIO Requirements Level 5
  • Current requirements
  • Operational Risk Management Basic and
    Intermediate Training.
  • Complete Technician Rating in PAO Specialty
    Track.
  • FEMAs G-289 or an equivalent CAP PIO Course.
  • Demonstrate Writing Technique Writing a good
    news release.
  • Current PIOs will be rolled in at this level
    automatically and will be expected to complete
    the above before renewing their qualifications.

43
PIO Requirements Level 4
  • Complete Senior Rating in PAO Specialty Track.
  • Demonstrate additional proficiency in writing,
    photography and presentation preparation.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of AP style.
  • Demonstrate ability to prepare for and conduct a
    press conference.
  • Complete FEMA G-290 and G-291 or equivalent CAP
    PIO courses.
  • Complete two missions as a Level 4 supervised
    trainee.
  • Current PIOs meeting these requirements can be
    qualified immediately by their wing commander or
    a designee.

44
PIO Requirements Level 3
  • FEMAs E-388 or equivalent CAP PIO Course.
  • Two missions as a Level 3 Supervised Trainee.
  • Complete ICS 400.
  • Complete Master Rating in PAO Specialty Track.
  • Current PIOs meeting these requirements can be
    qualified immediately by their region commander
    or a designee.

45
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