CAP Aircraft Searching for Steve Fossett

[JohnKachenmeister]

OK, Fox News just interviewed a female CAP major on the Greta Sustren show.  The Major was good, knowledgeable, and wearing a flight suit with charts and stuff under her arm.  But... I didn't know anybody still had the old round corporate seal patch anymore.

And Fox is reporting a very brief, weak transponder contact and negative on the ELT signal.  The C-130 has FLIR and will continue searching until midnight.  The plane was in good shape and had been flown by Bob Hoover earlier in the day.

[JC004]

...
But... I didn't know anybody still had the old round corporate seal patch anymore.
...

Probably because they shouldn't be wearing them... 

[flyguy06]

also what's the Mission Information Officer doing giving out information like the target areas? 

Whats wrong with that? Dude you arent a  top secret military mission. I would think you would want as many people as possible to know wher ethey search areas are.

[flyguy06]

Folks, just a reminder that anyone with the answers to Kach's questions, should probably not answer them here. 

Huh? Why not?

[brasda91]

I know its exciting to see CAP talked about in the news like this, but until the mission is wrapped up can we save the 'Oooh Looky Looky we're on the news' talk for afterwards.

A man's life is on the line here and it seems like we're more concerned with the PR value of the situation than the man himself.

I don't think anybody is more concerned with the PR value than his life.  But you have to take into account that several members of this board are so far from the search, that we will not be apart of the search.  So, what's the problem with dicsussing PR.  We may discover some positive points in regards to PR and might even discover some things not to do for PR.  I think it is ok for those who will not be participating, using the event to learn valuable PR techniques.

[k9gwb]

Is it just me, or do I see the same thing happening again?  I watch Fox News almost daily and they have not mentioned CAP at all, despite the fact that there are 12 aircraft looking for Fosset (including an Air National Guard C-130), and numerous ground teams.               

Well, you must not watch during the day, because Fox News was on the story all afternoon, and for the first couple of hours, every Breaking News logo was accompanied by "Civil Air Patrol Searching for Steve Fossett" or words to that effect.  And the female anchor (can't remember her name) interviewed Maj Ryan, the PAO, by phone at least a couple of hours before the 1600 news conference.  Fox News gave Civil Air Patrol front-and-center credit throughout the afternoon (they even said at one point that Civil Air Patrol and "other law enforcement agencies" were searching for the missing pilot").

There may have been some changes later, but then, as others have mentioned, Greta Van Susteren interviewed Maj Ryan on her show tonight, too. 

It's certainly an unfortunate way to get public attention, but it's also an opportunity for our families and friends to see that this is what we do...

[Eagle400]

OK, Fox News just interviewed a female CAP major on the Greta Sustren show.  The Major was good, knowledgeable, and wearing a flight suit with charts and stuff under her arm.  But... I didn't know anybody still had the old round corporate seal patch anymore.

She's also wearing loop earrings with a military style uniform.   

Honestly, that's just as bad as this:

[A.Member]

...several members of this board are so far from the search, that we will not be apart of the search.  So, what's the problem with dicsussing PR. 

Because it's flat out tacky and shows lack of good judgement.

There is a time and a place...this is neither.  It's rather sad that this should have to be explained.

[brasda91]

...several members of this board are so far from the search, that we will not be apart of the search.  So, what's the problem with dicsussing PR. 

Because it's flat out tacky and shows lack of good judgement.

There is a time and a place...this is neither.  It's rather sad that this should have to be explained.

I don't think it's tacky or shows a lack of good judgement.  And I definately don't need an explaination.  I know my Wing will not be activated, I'm not sitting here talking on CAPTalk instead of out searching.  I hope Steve is found alive and well and we have a positive outcome.  But since I can't help, the only thing we can do is use this as a learning experience regarding PR in order to learn what to do or not to do for PR on the next mission.

[A.Member]

I don't think it's tacky or shows a lack of good judgement.  And I definately don't need an explaination.  I know my Wing will not be activated, I'm not sitting here talking on CAPTalk instead of out searching.  I hope Steve is found alive and well and we have a positive outcome.  But since I can't help, the only thing we can do is use this as a learning experience regarding PR in order to learn what to do or not to do for PR on the next mission.

Opinions differ.  At the very least those discussions should not occur in the same thread, especially while the search is ongoing.  That is, indeed, tacky and shows a lack of judgement. 

[floridacyclist]

Does anyone know about how the chain of command is set up here? Are we the lead agency on this? I'm sure we're looking at a near-full-scale ICS implementation, I think this would be very relevant for our ICS 300 class this weekend.

As far as the PR stuff, I was in the FEMA PIO course when the VA Tech shootings hapened. We went to CNN and analyzed how the various PIOs and talking heads were handling the situation. Analyzing how the job of PIO is being handled is one thing..talking about what this news coverage means for our upcoming open house is quite another. Talking about how we can get good PR out of this seems...well a little creepy. I don't think some of us are ready to start looking for that silver lining yet.

[SDF_Specialist]

OK, Fox News just interviewed a female CAP major on the Greta Sustren show.  The Major was good, knowledgeable, and wearing a flight suit with charts and stuff under her arm.  But... I didn't know anybody still had the old round corporate seal patch anymore.

She's also wearing loop earrings with a military style uniform.   

Honestly, that's just as bad as this:

That looks like the white shirt, but I can't tell. God I hope it's not CAP. If so, find that guy quick.

[AlphaSigOU]

That was a RealAirForce® Lt Col who committed the faux pas.

[SDF_Specialist]

That was a RealAirForce LtCol who committed the faux pas.

I still say find that guy. You gotta wonder where your advisors are when you need them to prevent a uniform boo-boo like this.

[JC004]

He looks like he's wearing the TPU.   

[JohnKachenmeister]

Folks, just a reminder that anyone with the answers to Kach's questions, should probably not answer them here. 

Huh? Why not?

Because the media might read this, and the answers to some of my questions may not be approved for release by the IC or the IO.  We're on the team, but the forum is public.

[JohnKachenmeister]

...several members of this board are so far from the search, that we will not be apart of the search.  So, what's the problem with dicsussing PR. 

Because it's flat out tacky and shows lack of good judgement.

There is a time and a place...this is neither.  It's rather sad that this should have to be explained.

I disagree.  Mission PR is an important part of the overall mission.  Leads can come in from the public when they know that there is a search or an operation underway.  That's why there is a separate qualification for Mission IO separate from the standard Public Affairs track.

[0]

also what's the Mission Information Officer doing giving out information like the target areas? 

Whats wrong with that? Dude you arent a  top secret military mission. I would think you would want as many people as possible to know wher ethey search areas are.

Um, let's see OPSEC for one.  And two we don't want people who aren't associated with the rescue mission in the area.  If we have every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the area trying to help that could put a hamper on trying to find him safely. 

[flyguy06]

also what's the Mission Information Officer doing giving out information like the target areas? 

Whats wrong with that? Dude you arent a  top secret military mission. I would think you would want as many people as possible to know wher ethey search areas are.

Um, let's see OPSEC for one.  And two we don't want people who aren't associated with the rescue mission in the area.  If we have every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the area trying to help that could put a hamper on trying to find him safely. 

OPSEC? Ok, thisis how I define OPSEC. When I was in Iraq and we were going to raid a certain village or area. We generally didnt tell anyone except those who needed to know. Thats OPSEC. OPSEC is not revealing the time or place soldier are leaving to go home. There is no security threat or security related info here.

[flyguy06]

I will say that while I am not really involved in ES I have a strong interest in it