From rfinder1 at charter.net Sat Oct 3 12:27:09 2015 From: rfinder1 at charter.net (Ken) Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 13:27:09 -0400 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> Message-ID: <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO From awoodgate at austin.rr.com Sat Oct 3 13:16:41 2015 From: awoodgate at austin.rr.com (Arthur Woodgate) Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 13:16:41 -0500 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> Message-ID: <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> Ken, Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view it in that light. Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From jcarlson at flwg.us Sat Oct 3 15:00:45 2015 From: jcarlson at flwg.us (Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ) Date: Sat, 03 Oct 2015 16:00:45 -0400 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> Message-ID: <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> Speak for yourself Arthur! What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was all that was available. While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some valid points and should not be completely discounted. As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. Howl away, Ken! Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Ken, Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view it in that light. Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From ssolomon at cap.gov Sat Oct 3 15:54:31 2015 From: ssolomon at cap.gov (Lt. Col. Steven Solomon, National PA Manager) Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 13:54:31 -0700 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> Message-ID: <3D1571D0-045A-4FD2-BFCE-086921435D53@cap.gov> Ken is a former CAP PAO who continues to bring up solutions for problems that don't exist. The National PA Team has twice distributed a package this hurricane season with news release templates. Lt Col Steven Solomon, CAP National Public Affairs Manager (C) 240.505.6279 Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com > On Oct 3, 2015, at 1:00 PM, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: > > Speak for yourself Arthur! > > What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't > believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources > are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many > geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. > To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember > my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my > first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to > get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was > all that was available. > > While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some > valid points and should not be completely discounted. > > As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP > PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality > is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public > affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It > is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand > images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and > gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that > CAP could borrow from ARC. > > What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a > bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is > only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by > members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs > Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the > action is these days. > > If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his > fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll > ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to > read it, use the delete key. > > Howl away, Ken! > > Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP > Public Affairs Officer > > > -----Original Message----- > From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org > [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur > Woodgate > Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM > To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' > Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public > Relations > > Ken, > > Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what > you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view > it in that light. > > Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP > SWR Director of Public Affairs > > -----Original Message----- > From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org > [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken > Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM > To: CAP Public Affairs Officers > Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public > Relations > > IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & > successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do > nationally, regionally, and locally. > > From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media > release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation > phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent > uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be > standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media > coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees > them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local > type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations > presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. > > Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU > are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is > missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that > nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding > CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. > photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). > Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases > to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for > getting the word out about CAP! > > Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services > internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases > (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific > type incidents, as well as general type media releases on > CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO > Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field > PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even > sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. > > A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news > search engine "American Red Cross". > > Ken > Former PAO > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao > > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: ssolomon at cap.gov > CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From ssolomon at cap.gov Sat Oct 3 16:06:23 2015 From: ssolomon at cap.gov (Lt. Col. Steven Solomon, National PA Manager) Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 14:06:23 -0700 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <3D1571D0-045A-4FD2-BFCE-086921435D53@cap.gov> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <3D1571D0-045A-4FD2-BFCE-086921435D53@cap.gov> Message-ID: <90636C1D-56F4-4622-8559-9C3870DCA484@cap.gov> And Jeff, the CAP PA Facebook group is official now! Lt Col Steven Solomon, CAP National Public Affairs Manager (C) 240.505.6279 Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com > On Oct 3, 2015, at 1:54 PM, Lt. Col. Steven Solomon, National PA Manager wrote: > > Ken is a former CAP PAO who continues to bring up solutions for problems that don't exist. The National PA Team has twice distributed a package this hurricane season with news release templates. > > Lt Col Steven Solomon, CAP > National Public Affairs Manager > (C) 240.505.6279 > Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary > http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com > >> On Oct 3, 2015, at 1:00 PM, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: >> >> Speak for yourself Arthur! >> >> What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't >> believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources >> are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many >> geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. >> To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember >> my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my >> first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to >> get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was >> all that was available. >> >> While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some >> valid points and should not be completely discounted. >> >> As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP >> PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality >> is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public >> affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It >> is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand >> images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and >> gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that >> CAP could borrow from ARC. >> >> What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a >> bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is >> only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by >> members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs >> Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the >> action is these days. >> >> If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his >> fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll >> ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to >> read it, use the delete key. >> >> Howl away, Ken! >> >> Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP >> Public Affairs Officer >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org >> [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur >> Woodgate >> Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM >> To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' >> Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public >> Relations >> >> Ken, >> >> Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what >> you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view >> it in that light. >> >> Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP >> SWR Director of Public Affairs >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org >> [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken >> Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM >> To: CAP Public Affairs Officers >> Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public >> Relations >> >> IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & >> successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do >> nationally, regionally, and locally. >> >> From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media >> release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation >> phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent >> uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be >> standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media >> coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees >> them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local >> type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations >> presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. >> >> Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU >> are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is >> missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that >> nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding >> CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. >> photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). >> Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases >> to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for >> getting the word out about CAP! >> >> Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services >> internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases >> (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific >> type incidents, as well as general type media releases on >> CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO >> Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field >> PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even >> sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. >> >> A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news >> search engine "American Red Cross". >> >> Ken >> Former PAO >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list >> CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org >> http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list >> CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org >> http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Subscribed Email Address: ssolomon at cap.gov >> CAP-PAO mailing list >> CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org >> http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From jcarlson at flwg.us Sat Oct 3 18:52:31 2015 From: jcarlson at flwg.us (Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ) Date: Sat, 03 Oct 2015 19:52:31 -0400 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <3D1571D0-045A-4FD2-BFCE-086921435D53@cap.gov> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <3D1571D0-045A-4FD2-BFCE-086921435D53@cap.gov> Message-ID: <005a01d0fe36$943dc6b0$bcb95410$@flwg.us> Well... sort of Steven. I am guessing the hurricane templates came after Ken resigned his PA duty. I only saw them when they were distributed by NHQ to region level as drafts. I passed the info to wing level, but from my concurrent position at group and squadron level, I never saw them distributed past wing level. I don't think the information was distributed as widely as you would have yourself believe. (You would be wise to really digest these preceding sentences as they speak volumes of CAP public affairs program.) I agree that some of Ken's comments come from an uninformed person, but he has touched on other relevant issues between his two email messages. I do find your dismissive attitude to be all too familiar. Authentic leaders give value to the voice of those who follow. The value may not be in what is said as much as why it is said. >From my perspective, Ken represents the failure of leadership from a harvest of a prior season's planting. It seems Ken did not have the benefit of someone to guide him through the initial hurdles and allow him to taste success as a PAO. I don't think he is alone. In fact, I would go out on a limb to suggest that a majority of members assigned to a PAO duty position in one of CAP's 1500+ units develop similar frustrations. They may not be as vocal and instead quietly go away to other things. I surmise that is your preference for how you would like Ken to behave. Will this season's crop bring a better harvest of PAOs? It would be madness to think a vastly different outcome would be produced by the same input. I fear the program is still producing too many dysfunctional PAOs. Ken may be awkward in his attempt to enact change, but at least he cares enough to try. That is deserving of more respect than has been displayed so far by a couple of field officers who hold high-level leadership positions in CAP public affairs. The reality is that competent "authentic" leadership is needed at all levels of the CAP PA program. With the current focus remaining solely on PR skills, I do not feel NHQ/PA is doing enough to foster an environment that is conducive to developing effective leadership at lower levels. Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: Lt. Col. Steven Solomon, National PA Manager [mailto:ssolomon at cap.gov] Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 4:55 PM To: jcarlson at flwg.us; CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Ken is a former CAP PAO who continues to bring up solutions for problems that don't exist. The National PA Team has twice distributed a package this hurricane season with news release templates. Lt Col Steven Solomon, CAP National Public Affairs Manager (C) 240.505.6279 Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com > On Oct 3, 2015, at 1:00 PM, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: > > Speak for yourself Arthur! > > What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I > don't believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what > resources are available to support the local PAO. They really do > exist. For many geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. > To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I > remember my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely > unsupported. During my first couple of years of duty, I had to > organize my own CAP PAO workshops to get training; PAOs came from all > over the wing to participate because it was all that was available. > > While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on > some valid points and should not be completely discounted. > > As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP > PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The > reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as > ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much > larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of > the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and > puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, > there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. > > What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a > bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice > is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been > received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official > CAP Public Affairs Facebook group > https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. > > If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep > his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only > satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this > direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. > > Howl away, Ken! > > Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP > Public Affairs Officer > > > -----Original Message----- > From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org > [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur > Woodgate > Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM > To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' > Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol > Public Relations > > Ken, > > Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, > what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most > of us view it in that light. > > Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP > SWR Director of Public Affairs > > -----Original Message----- > From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org > [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken > Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM > To: CAP Public Affairs Officers > Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public > Relations > > IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a > consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything > they do nationally, regionally, and locally. > > From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go > media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation > phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent > uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be > standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media > coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees > them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local > type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public > relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. > > Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, > BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization > identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization > perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very > little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. > photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). > Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing > releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many > opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! > > Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency > services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media > releases > (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for > specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on > CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO > Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist > field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, > perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. > > A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google > news search engine "American Red Cross". > > Ken > Former PAO > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao > > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: ssolomon at cap.gov CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From rfinder1 at charter.net Sat Oct 3 19:31:52 2015 From: rfinder1 at charter.net (Ken) Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 20:31:52 -0400 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <3D1571D0-045A-4FD2-BFCE-086921435D53@cap.gov> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <3D1571D0-045A-4FD2-BFCE-086921435D53@cap.gov> Message-ID: <56107378.9030304@charter.net> Steve if it went to the squadron level I'm not aware that we got it. However, just taking a quick look at Google News, I can't find one pre DR story this year anywhere on the east coast that talks about how CAP stands ready to support DR operations, especially with aerial photography. (Than goes into what CAP did in the past on the east coast to support the type of mission). Perhaps your package deals with when we are actually called and not some PR prior to being called. I can only say that we are all volunteers and your mileage will vary on what can actually get accomplished by the various levels, but it does really get down to the squadron level where most of us have the direct contact with the news media. Anyways, there's no personal vendetta by me but facts are facts and you can't change history! BTW thanks for what you do for CAP! Ken Former PAO On 10/3/2015 4:54 PM, Lt. Col. Steven Solomon, National PA Manager wrote: > Ken is a former CAP PAO who continues to bring up solutions for problems that don't exist. The National PA Team has twice distributed a package this hurricane season with news release templates. > > Lt Col Steven Solomon, CAP > National Public Affairs Manager > (C) 240.505.6279 > Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary > http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com > From rfinder1 at charter.net Sat Oct 3 19:41:24 2015 From: rfinder1 at charter.net (Ken) Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 20:41:24 -0400 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> Message-ID: <561075B4.4020104@charter.net> Thank you very much for the explanation about the Red Cross. I do recognize that their brand/image is extremely strong and surely I would think that since every chapter basically is autonomous to the National Red Cross, they have a lot of latitude in what they can do, BUT because of the need to fund raise do need to have a paid professional involved with public relations/fund raising since they wouldn't exit without the general public and the private sector contributing! I think CAP can learn a lot by observing the way the Red Cross goes about doing its' PR work! (You could probably provide good insight to National on how they ARC is so successful). Thanks again!!! Ken Former PAO On 10/3/2015 4:00 PM, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: > snip..snip.. > As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP > PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality > is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public > affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It > is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand > images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and > gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that > CAP could borrow from ARC. > > What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a > bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is > only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by > members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs > Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the > action is these days. > > If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his > fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll > ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to > read it, use the delete key. > > Howl away, Ken! > > Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP > Public Affairs Officer > > > From jcarlson at flwg.us Sat Oct 3 21:32:36 2015 From: jcarlson at flwg.us (Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ) Date: Sat, 03 Oct 2015 22:32:36 -0400 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <561075B4.4020104@charter.net> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <561075B4.4020104@charter.net> Message-ID: <006701d0fe4c$f1693d40$d43bb7c0$@flwg.us> Ken, NHQ has its own insight to ARC. CAP's National Public Affairs Manager, Lt Col Steven Solomon, is also a Red Cross Public Affairs team member. The ARC organization has its own struggles. Finding the right balance between a consistent message controlled by higher headquarters and meeting the needs of the community served by the local chapter is very difficult. Recent changes at ARC have resulted in manpower reduction. The consolidation of management has eliminated much of the local autonomy that you imagine to be in place. As the responsibility moves further up the chain, it gets more removed from the local level. The resulting messages becomes more homogenized. In this instance, Civil Air Patrol has greater autonomy than Red Cross. The local CAP unit can manage its own public affairs program and produce stories locally. Many Red Cross chapters are now required to run their stories through approval at a regional and sometimes national level. Most Red Cross regions have paid staff to handle marketing, public relations/communications. A lot of states have more than one region. In contrast, there is a half of a handful of paid staff at CAP/NHQ that must handle the internal and external PA duties for CAP NHQ. They are an extremely talented staff in their public relations duties, though I find them to be overwhelmed with the task of leading 1500+ volunteer PAOs. The CAP PA program needs to become more effective with growing the skills of its personnel and to develop members who understand the PR process and have leadership skills needed to fill the positions at Group, Wing, Region and national levels. I congratulate you for your sincere interest to see the CAP PA program thrive. I am sorry that your initial taste of the program left a sour note. There are many talented people who are trying to improve the effectiveness of CAP PA, it is a work in progress. The current CAP environment does not openly embrace criticism and so your critical remarks may seem to fall on deaf ears. I say a little prayer each night for an environment of improved open-communication. It has been my great fortune to view the CAP PA program from a region, wing, group and squadron level. I have been inspired by champions and driven to despair in finding human resources that have fallen through the cracks or left to wither on the vine. I wish I could easily share with you all that I have learned so that you could have a better understanding of the challenges faced by the CAP PA program. You must make your own journey. Regardless of your current duty position, you can contribute to the success of the CAP PA program. The pipeline needs a constant supply of content. Photos, video clips, bits of information, interview excerpts, information of coming events, the list is endless. It is more than one person can successfully handle. You can assist your unit PAO by helping to gather this content or assist in other ways. You can make a difference once you find how your skill set best fits the need that is present in your unit. Think global, act local. Please feel free to contact me if you have a question about what you can do to help. Regards, Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Florida Wing Group 5 HQ Public Affairs Officer (C) 941.228.4254 Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary gocivilairpatrol.com flwg.us/FL370.aspx -----Original Message----- From: Ken [mailto:rfinder1 at charter.net] Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 8:41 PM To: jcarlson at flwg.us; CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Thank you very much for the explanation about the Red Cross. I do recognize that their brand/image is extremely strong and surely I would think that since every chapter basically is autonomous to the National Red Cross, they have a lot of latitude in what they can do, BUT because of the need to fund raise do need to have a paid professional involved with public relations/fund raising since they wouldn't exit without the general public and the private sector contributing! I think CAP can learn a lot by observing the way the Red Cross goes about doing its' PR work! (You could probably provide good insight to National on how they ARC is so successful). Thanks again!!! Ken Former PAO On 10/3/2015 4:00 PM, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: > snip..snip.. > As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP > PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The > reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as > ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much > larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of > the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and > puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, > there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. > > What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a > bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice > is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been > received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official > CAP Public Affairs Facebook group > https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. > > If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep > his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only > satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this > direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. > > Howl away, Ken! > > Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP > Public Affairs Officer > > > From awoodgate at austin.rr.com Sun Oct 4 07:56:44 2015 From: awoodgate at austin.rr.com (Arthur Woodgate) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 07:56:44 -0500 Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> Message-ID: <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> No one can speak for anyone else but oneself, Jeff! Not all wings do or can present to the public a clear idea of what it is that CAP does. Nor can regions, for that matter. However, one should never underestimate the power of past activities presented in a good light. In SWR, I gather the best from the wings to put together the region's quarterly publication: The Fly By http://swrcap.com/public-affairs/ - You might want to consider a similar effort for your group, and suggest it up the chain for SER (where an empty page greets the visitor to its website). For some reason, FLWG seems to have archived newsletters only up to Nov. 2009, relying on the occasional online entry for the rest. The importance of presenting all information in one place cannot be emphasized enough. At any rate, at the same SWR link above, I offer all PAOs (especially in the region) some basic tools they can use to get started and improve their work. Including support for marketing, that is essential for the National CC's priority #1 (Recruiting and Retention). Individually my assistant and I work with wing PAOs who, in turn, work with the PAOs in their wing, because PA cannot thrive in a vacuum. When requested, I also work with lower-echelons PAOs and even cadets. PA is, and always has been, a team effort. Notice that the operative word is "work." That said, Ken chose to blame NHQ, and this made it sound a lot like sour grapes. CAP is a regulatory organization, and we guide ourselves by the published regulations, manuals and pamphlets (that I'll call collectively "regulations") that tell us what to do (and we promise to follow, as the oath of membership states). If we think that any of it is wrong, then the procedure is to send a request for change to NHQ, where cooler heads will decide on the value of implementing such change. In all cases, though, what is published and what is changed is based on the personal experience of those who rose to the top and continue to reach out to those who are practicing the specialty in the field with vigor and success. The idea is to create an organization that can fine-tune the regulations to make it more effective in Fla. Wing, Texas Wing, Calif. Wing, Hawaii Wing or any other CAP wing. Bottom line, the job of publishing, preserving and making available to the public the many CAP success stories is in the hands of the squadron, group, wing and region where it happens. This is not a trivial task, it is implemented by volunteers, and some volunteers are more effective than others. Regards Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 3:01 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Speak for yourself Arthur! What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was all that was available. While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some valid points and should not be completely discounted. As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. Howl away, Ken! Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Ken, Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view it in that light. Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From rfinder1 at charter.net Sun Oct 4 10:07:24 2015 From: rfinder1 at charter.net (Ken) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 11:07:24 -0400 Subject: [PAO] PAO SUI/CI Recommended Changes Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> Message-ID: <561140AC.8010008@charter.net> To the group: I may be talking in the wind so to speak but here it goes: My specific heartburn is the SUI evaluates ONLY the planning aspect of squadron PAO and requires very specific formats to be followed in order to "pass" (yet doesn't really give any good examples at the squadron level). It fails to evaluate/mention what was ACTUALLY accomplished by the unit PAO during that evaluation/inspection period. In my military career as enlisted and officer my experience has been that squadrons implement plans from wings & groups very rarely do they have a responsibility to write their own plans. In some military units I was assigned to our units were considered to be at the group level, so we did write an annex to one of the wings/military installations' plans and actually did have our own plan. We were actually sent to a week long course on how to write the plan and there was very specific formats (the entire plan was outlined on what to place in each paragraph/sub paragraph) for the entire plan that were utilized. Again over IMHO planning (both overall PAO goals & contingency plans) is a wing function in CAP and should not be a squadron function. Tactically at the squadron we should be implementing the wing guidance and a report mechanism should be in place to the appropriate wing/group PAO can easily monitor what the squadrons under his/her supervision are doing. Interestingly the Wing CI PAO checklist doesn't appear to place any emphasis on supervision/mentoring at the wing level to subordinate units. (e.g. doesn't ask the Wing PAO to produce copies of each squadron's PAO plan or contingency plan). Volunteers have limited time, there's a vast difference from doing nothing in a position to do something -- there seems to be some reference that I didn't do anything, as I said before best TV news coverage in the wing, numerous published stories, etc. consistently for five years!! At the squadron PAO level if one is sending out news media releases/stories (that are getting published), getting TV & radio coverage than the job is getting done. Successful action is more important than spending time writing about potential action! When approximately 95% of the PAO function at the squadron level in a region gets a marginal because one is only looking at "planning" versus actual action/results there's a problem. Surely National "wins" in the end because volunteers have to clear those SUI discrepancies otherwise the CAP inspection machine will go crazy (on such minor administrative things)!!! So change the SUI to a more reasonable/valid evaluation. IMHO here's an example of the squadron checklist: 1. Does the squadron have a web site and/or face book page? 2. Is the website/face book page up to date (at least one posting every 20 to 30 days)? 3. Does the squadron publish/get published internally/externally stories about all of its' activities? 4. Does the squadron publish/get published internally/externally stories about its' members CAP accomplishments? 5. Does the squadron publish/get published internally/externally stories of general interest about CAP (as requested by National/Wing headquarters)? 6. How long has the squadron PAO been in the position? 7. Has the squadron PAO received orientation/training from the group/wing PAO? All of this activity can easily be kept on a simple log that shows activity/accomplishment date, activity description, news release (to whom) and/or internal, and results (either hot keyed but preferably downloaded/scanned into an electronic file or cross referenced to squadron website/face book page(s)). All of this could easily be sent to the inspector so the PAO would not have to spend time at the squadron with the inspector. IMHO it is very difficult to measure results because as an example the number of website/face book hits/likes etc could actually be CAP members and not the external public. IMHO Here's a recommendation on the wing checklist: 1. Has the wing PAO developed a comprehensive overall plan & contingency plan that meets region/national requirements? 2. Has the plans been communicated to all subordinate units in the wing? 3. Does the Wing PAO effectively supervise/advise subordinate units? (e.g. reviews monthly/quarterly reports, visits subordinate units websites, etc). 4. Does the Wing PAO effectively train/mentor subordinate units PAO's (e.g. give examples of training e.g. emails, website, telephone conference calls (memos for record). 5. How long has the wing PAO in the job? 6. What is his/her qualifications for the position and what training/advise/mentoring was received from higher headquarters? IMHO If one can simplify the squadron inspection process to one of action/results, I would strongly consider returning to the PAO function. However again, I'm not going to frustrate myself if there's no changes, since as a volunteer I do have choices on how to spend my available time! Really got to wonder how many more have decided to do the same thing!!! Ken Former PAO On 10/4/2015 8:56 AM, Arthur Woodgate wrote: > snip..snip..snip. > That said, Ken chose to blame NHQ, and this made it sound a lot like sour > grapes. CAP is a regulatory organization, and we guide ourselves by the > published regulations, manuals and pamphlets (that I'll call collectively > "regulations") that tell us what to do (and we promise to follow, as the > oath of membership states). If we think that any of it is wrong, then the > procedure is to send a request for change to NHQ, where cooler heads will > decide on the value of implementing such change. In all cases, though, what > is published and what is changed is based on the personal experience of > those who rose to the top and continue to reach out to those who are > practicing the specialty in the field with vigor and success. > > The idea is to create an organization that can fine-tune the regulations to > make it more effective in Fla. Wing, Texas Wing, Calif. Wing, Hawaii Wing or > any other CAP wing. Bottom line, the job of publishing, preserving and > making available to the public the many CAP success stories is in the hands > of the squadron, group, wing and region where it happens. This is not a > trivial task, it is implemented by volunteers, and some volunteers are more > effective than others. > > Regards > > Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP > SWR Director of Public Affairs > > From lockit3 at att.net Sun Oct 4 11:17:27 2015 From: lockit3 at att.net (lockit3) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 12:17:27 -0400 Subject: [PAO] [Bulk] Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> Message-ID: <03f401d0fec0$2a787e20$7f697a60$@att.net> Gentleman, I have watched the banter since Ken's initial email. I was going to simply watch the exchange and try to learn from the educational points made during the discussion. However, with the exception of a very few valuable insights into how another organization has set up their PA program, all I am really seeing is the equivalent of a bunch of kids on the playground who got embarrassed and now have to save face by being the bigger bully. To begin with, Ken obviously got his feelings hurt when he did not get the rating he thought he should have gotten on his SUI. He took it personally because he put a lot of work and time into preparation. From his initial contact, I know he got less than satisfactory because he did not use the 4 step planning process. Something he either was not aware of, or did not know where to find. Then he went on to state what he saw as short comings to the P.A. program. Now I do not know whether he resigned because of what he saw as a lack of support, or because of the attitude of the S.U.I. team. (not all of them have P.R. skills, nor do they all see their role as one of mentorship.) In any case because of this he resigned, something I personally would not have done, but everyone handles things differently. Having said all of this, we should probably take the personalities out of this and move this onto the "Official" national Facebook group. As, I feel we could ALL benefit from the discussion and the solutions that would inevitably come from it. Including the all-knowing and infallible superiors who have seen fit to reply back to Ken. As fodder to start that discussion, I will offer this, the attitude that Ken's ignorance of resources available to him is all his fault, shows that because it is in CAP P201 we think it happens that way. The Pamphlet states that we will serve under a mentor for 6 months, presumably to learn about such things and what resources are available and where they are located. I assure you this does not happen at least as often as it does. When I joined Civil Air Patrol, there was no P.A. O. assigned in my squadron and had not been for quite some time. Further, I had no one at the group level to help. Had I been hit with an S.U.I. shortly after taking the position, it would have been ugly. So would it be possible for everyone who is supposed to be mentors here to quit getting upset because a shortcoming may have been pointed out and start acting like mentors instead. Thank you, Wayne Hooks Florida Wing -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 8:57 AM To: jcarlson at flwg.us; 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: [Bulk] Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations No one can speak for anyone else but oneself, Jeff! Not all wings do or can present to the public a clear idea of what it is that CAP does. Nor can regions, for that matter. However, one should never underestimate the power of past activities presented in a good light. In SWR, I gather the best from the wings to put together the region's quarterly publication: The Fly By http://swrcap.com/public-affairs/ - You might want to consider a similar effort for your group, and suggest it up the chain for SER (where an empty page greets the visitor to its website). For some reason, FLWG seems to have archived newsletters only up to Nov. 2009, relying on the occasional online entry for the rest. The importance of presenting all information in one place cannot be emphasized enough. At any rate, at the same SWR link above, I offer all PAOs (especially in the region) some basic tools they can use to get started and improve their work. Including support for marketing, that is essential for the National CC's priority #1 (Recruiting and Retention). Individually my assistant and I work with wing PAOs who, in turn, work with the PAOs in their wing, because PA cannot thrive in a vacuum. When requested, I also work with lower-echelons PAOs and even cadets. PA is, and always has been, a team effort. Notice that the operative word is "work." That said, Ken chose to blame NHQ, and this made it sound a lot like sour grapes. CAP is a regulatory organization, and we guide ourselves by the published regulations, manuals and pamphlets (that I'll call collectively "regulations") that tell us what to do (and we promise to follow, as the oath of membership states). If we think that any of it is wrong, then the procedure is to send a request for change to NHQ, where cooler heads will decide on the value of implementing such change. In all cases, though, what is published and what is changed is based on the personal experience of those who rose to the top and continue to reach out to those who are practicing the specialty in the field with vigor and success. The idea is to create an organization that can fine-tune the regulations to make it more effective in Fla. Wing, Texas Wing, Calif. Wing, Hawaii Wing or any other CAP wing. Bottom line, the job of publishing, preserving and making available to the public the many CAP success stories is in the hands of the squadron, group, wing and region where it happens. This is not a trivial task, it is implemented by volunteers, and some volunteers are more effective than others. Regards Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 3:01 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Speak for yourself Arthur! What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was all that was available. While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some valid points and should not be completely discounted. As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. Howl away, Ken! Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Ken, Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view it in that light. Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: lockit3 at att.net CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From jcarlson at flwg.us Sun Oct 4 11:47:13 2015 From: jcarlson at flwg.us (Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ) Date: Sun, 04 Oct 2015 12:47:13 -0400 Subject: [PAO] CAP PA and the SWR Message-ID: <003e01d0fec4$584cfcf0$08e6f6d0$@flwg.us> Colonel Woodgate, I would be one of the first to agree that CAP SWR has benefited from strong PA leadership and would well serve as evidence for my argument that key positions within the PA hierarchy need to be filled by a member with advanced leadership abilities, not just PA experience. By my estimation, you have done well to promote PA activity especially in your home wing of Texas. There are some talented PAOs in Texas and I am certain it is because of the environment you have fostered. Your longevity has also held influence. Across the nation, the majority of PAOs have eighteen months or less time in duty. Many have never been properly engaged in the duty and simply fill the purpose of compliance. Upper echelon positions are typically filled based on PA experience rather than leadership skills. Newsletters can be an effective option. They are an old-school style of PR that require a tremendous amount of effort for one person. I think they are only practical when you have an effective system for gathering submissions from other authors. I think specialty newsletters such as the legislative day brochure should be a well-worn tool in every unit's PA kit. Your track record for consistency in publishing a newsletter is truly remarkable, though I have often wondered why a move into social media has been slow to develop in your area. As you mentioned, SER has not had a traditional newsletter for many years. Instead they opted for a syndicated Online News feed. Every PAO in the region is eligible to be assigned a logon with the ability to upload their story. The articles are reviewed before being published online. The news feed can be inserted into a local unit website and the stories can be filtered based on the unit. You can view the region level feed here http://sercap.us/default.aspx. Here is the same news feed at wing level http://flwg.us/default.aspx. Here is the same news feed filtered for Group level. http://units.flwg.us/FL370.aspx The system allows editors to determine which stories are displayed at what level. Not all local stories need to be published on a region or even wing level. The system is a work in progress and has not yet been adopted by all SER wings. FLWG's old-style newsletter stopped several years back with the untimely death of the member who was its champion, Capt. Eileen Tonkinson. FLWG has adopted the SER Online News feed and, more recently, a magazine format called "Wingspan" was added. These magazines have become popular in recent years, partly because of the income potential. At this point in time, I could not point you to the archive of past issues. It is a challenge to lead volunteers. It is even more so from a remote location. It definitely helps to have a relationship between leader and follower. In reality, it is impossible for NHQ/PA to directly lead squadron volunteers. That is the purpose of the hierarchy. However, I do hold the leaders at the top accountable for creating an appropriate environment that lower levels work within. I find the ivory tower approach to be counterproductive and is a primary reason that I have become critical of current PA leadership's approach with some initiatives. As far as the regulations, you are correct that they reflect the attitudes, and sometimes egos, of those who have risen to a position that can influence what is included in the guidance. The downside is that these individuals represent only a small fraction of members. While I am certain the intentions are good, the choices made are not always the most effective for leading a large diverse team of volunteers. It appears to be wishful thinking and, in some cases, an attempt to clone oneself. Regulations in professional development should not erect barriers that hinder progress for the majority of candidates. They should encourage continual progress along a pathway of development. Any hurdle that is inserted should be accompanied by support mechanisms to assist the member in meeting the requirement. When it comes to regulations, the current national commander was right on target when he said that "we are our own worst enemy". Speaking of cloning oneself. How are you developing your successor? Will SWR public affairs be the same when you are no longer at the helm? Why? Why not? I believe questions about continuity are important, especially when a level of success has been achieved. I am constantly monitoring for candidates that would benefit from the leadership experience. I would happily step aside, even temporarily, if it helped to expand the available pool of qualified PA leaders. Keep up the good work, Colonel! The example serves the CAP PA program well. Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: Arthur Woodgate [mailto:awoodgate at austin.rr.com] Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 8:57 AM To: jcarlson at flwg.us; 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: RE: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations No one can speak for anyone else but oneself, Jeff! Not all wings do or can present to the public a clear idea of what it is that CAP does. Nor can regions, for that matter. However, one should never underestimate the power of past activities presented in a good light. In SWR, I gather the best from the wings to put together the region's quarterly publication: The Fly By http://swrcap.com/public-affairs/ - You might want to consider a similar effort for your group, and suggest it up the chain for SER (where an empty page greets the visitor to its website). For some reason, FLWG seems to have archived newsletters only up to Nov. 2009, relying on the occasional online entry for the rest. The importance of presenting all information in one place cannot be emphasized enough. At any rate, at the same SWR link above, I offer all PAOs (especially in the region) some basic tools they can use to get started and improve their work. Including support for marketing, that is essential for the National CC's priority #1 (Recruiting and Retention). Individually my assistant and I work with wing PAOs who, in turn, work with the PAOs in their wing, because PA cannot thrive in a vacuum. When requested, I also work with lower-echelons PAOs and even cadets. PA is, and always has been, a team effort. Notice that the operative word is "work." That said, Ken chose to blame NHQ, and this made it sound a lot like sour grapes. CAP is a regulatory organization, and we guide ourselves by the published regulations, manuals and pamphlets (that I'll call collectively "regulations") that tell us what to do (and we promise to follow, as the oath of membership states). If we think that any of it is wrong, then the procedure is to send a request for change to NHQ, where cooler heads will decide on the value of implementing such change. In all cases, though, what is published and what is changed is based on the personal experience of those who rose to the top and continue to reach out to those who are practicing the specialty in the field with vigor and success. The idea is to create an organization that can fine-tune the regulations to make it more effective in Fla. Wing, Texas Wing, Calif. Wing, Hawaii Wing or any other CAP wing. Bottom line, the job of publishing, preserving and making available to the public the many CAP success stories is in the hands of the squadron, group, wing and region where it happens. This is not a trivial task, it is implemented by volunteers, and some volunteers are more effective than others. Regards Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 3:01 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Speak for yourself Arthur! What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was all that was available. While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some valid points and should not be completely discounted. As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. Howl away, Ken! Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Ken, Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view it in that light. Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From awoodgate at austin.rr.com Sun Oct 4 12:43:59 2015 From: awoodgate at austin.rr.com (Arthur Woodgate) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 12:43:59 -0500 Subject: [PAO] [Bulk] Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <03f401d0fec0$2a787e20$7f697a60$@att.net> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> <03f401d0fec0$2a787e20$7f697a60$@att.net> Message-ID: <000901d0fecc$409d52a0$c1d7f7e0$@austin.rr.com> Wayne, Indeed, mentoring and training are essential to becoming a productive and happy PAO. The problem is that the amount of information available at the NHQ website can be overwhelming. This is why mentoring is a must. And there are not enough mentors in CAP. There used to be a time when the PA specialty was an "easy Master" and as a result there are many holding a Master PA rating who never really wanted to be PAOs. Some have held the job but done nothing, mostly because doing nothing was safe. I tell all my students the same thing, "PAOs are like fish. We die through the mouth." The day that CAP gets real PAOs who are also PIOs, have experience at both, and can mentor, CAP will be a much friendlier place for us. On the other hand, I developed many cadet PAOs, some of whom have now graduated from service academies, or got scholarships to the likes of Embry Riddle and got commissioned upon graduation, or plain got a Journalism major. Every now and then, I hear from them. I hope you're a good mentor. Kind regards, Arthur Woodgate SWR DPA -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of lockit3 Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 11:17 AM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers'; jcarlson at flwg.us Subject: Re: [PAO] [Bulk] Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Gentleman, I have watched the banter since Ken's initial email. I was going to simply watch the exchange and try to learn from the educational points made during the discussion. However, with the exception of a very few valuable insights into how another organization has set up their PA program, all I am really seeing is the equivalent of a bunch of kids on the playground who got embarrassed and now have to save face by being the bigger bully. To begin with, Ken obviously got his feelings hurt when he did not get the rating he thought he should have gotten on his SUI. He took it personally because he put a lot of work and time into preparation. From his initial contact, I know he got less than satisfactory because he did not use the 4 step planning process. Something he either was not aware of, or did not know where to find. Then he went on to state what he saw as short comings to the P.A. program. Now I do not know whether he resigned because of what he saw as a lack of support, or because of the attitude of the S.U.I. team. (not all of them have P.R. skills, nor do they all see their role as one of mentorship.) In any case because of this he resigned, something I personally would not have done, but everyone handles things differently. Having said all of this, we should probably take the personalities out of this and move this onto the "Official" national Facebook group. As, I feel we could ALL benefit from the discussion and the solutions that would inevitably come from it. Including the all-knowing and infallible superiors who have seen fit to reply back to Ken. As fodder to start that discussion, I will offer this, the attitude that Ken's ignorance of resources available to him is all his fault, shows that because it is in CAP P201 we think it happens that way. The Pamphlet states that we will serve under a mentor for 6 months, presumably to learn about such things and what resources are available and where they are located. I assure you this does not happen at least as often as it does. When I joined Civil Air Patrol, there was no P.A. O. assigned in my squadron and had not been for quite some time. Further, I had no one at the group level to help. Had I been hit with an S.U.I. shortly after taking the position, it would have been ugly. So would it be possible for everyone who is supposed to be mentors here to quit getting upset because a shortcoming may have been pointed out and start acting like mentors instead. Thank you, Wayne Hooks Florida Wing -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 8:57 AM To: jcarlson at flwg.us; 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: [Bulk] Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations No one can speak for anyone else but oneself, Jeff! Not all wings do or can present to the public a clear idea of what it is that CAP does. Nor can regions, for that matter. However, one should never underestimate the power of past activities presented in a good light. In SWR, I gather the best from the wings to put together the region's quarterly publication: The Fly By http://swrcap.com/public-affairs/ - You might want to consider a similar effort for your group, and suggest it up the chain for SER (where an empty page greets the visitor to its website). For some reason, FLWG seems to have archived newsletters only up to Nov. 2009, relying on the occasional online entry for the rest. The importance of presenting all information in one place cannot be emphasized enough. At any rate, at the same SWR link above, I offer all PAOs (especially in the region) some basic tools they can use to get started and improve their work. Including support for marketing, that is essential for the National CC's priority #1 (Recruiting and Retention). Individually my assistant and I work with wing PAOs who, in turn, work with the PAOs in their wing, because PA cannot thrive in a vacuum. When requested, I also work with lower-echelons PAOs and even cadets. PA is, and always has been, a team effort. Notice that the operative word is "work." That said, Ken chose to blame NHQ, and this made it sound a lot like sour grapes. CAP is a regulatory organization, and we guide ourselves by the published regulations, manuals and pamphlets (that I'll call collectively "regulations") that tell us what to do (and we promise to follow, as the oath of membership states). If we think that any of it is wrong, then the procedure is to send a request for change to NHQ, where cooler heads will decide on the value of implementing such change. In all cases, though, what is published and what is changed is based on the personal experience of those who rose to the top and continue to reach out to those who are practicing the specialty in the field with vigor and success. The idea is to create an organization that can fine-tune the regulations to make it more effective in Fla. Wing, Texas Wing, Calif. Wing, Hawaii Wing or any other CAP wing. Bottom line, the job of publishing, preserving and making available to the public the many CAP success stories is in the hands of the squadron, group, wing and region where it happens. This is not a trivial task, it is implemented by volunteers, and some volunteers are more effective than others. Regards Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 3:01 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Speak for yourself Arthur! What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was all that was available. While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some valid points and should not be completely discounted. As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. Howl away, Ken! Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Ken, Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view it in that light. Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: lockit3 at att.net CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From lockit3 at att.net Sun Oct 4 13:51:31 2015 From: lockit3 at att.net (lockit3) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 14:51:31 -0400 Subject: [PAO] [Bulk] Re: [Bulk] Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <000901d0fecc$409d52a0$c1d7f7e0$@austin.rr.com> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> <03f401d0fec0$2a787e20$7f697a60$@att.net> <000901d0fecc$409d52a0$c1d7f7e0$@austin.rr.com> Message-ID: <043b01d0fed5$b4e04470$1ea0cd50$@att.net> Sir, I guess the quality of PAO that comes from my mentorship will determine whether I am a good mentor or not. I'd really like to get this on the PAO group page so more may participate. It is my belief that we should steer this conversation towards solutions. For example, you have already mentioned the overwhelming amount of information on the National site, that by the way is sometimes very difficult to drill down and find specific, heavily used, information. Such as the perpetually changing information like the boilerplate for instance. While a boilerplate is defined by the British dictionary as "a unit of writing that can be used over and over without change," ours is perpetually changing and the link is buried half way down the PA page halfway in a paragraph. Something like that should be in the main links on the right column of the page with the branding guide link. That aside, the biggest issue I see facing the PA duty position in C.A.P. right now is that most commanders at squadron or for that matter group, wing, and region have either the wrong idea or no idea at all what role we serve to them. As a result, the usual line to sell a member on becoming the unit PAO is "I need someone to take some pictures and write some articles to send to the paper about our cadets." The reason, is not the commander trying to lure someone into the duty position so they can fill the slot and then drop the whole picture on them once they are in, but that is what the commander really thinks the position is all about. We need to institute a training program for commanders to fix that, then we may see a difference in who gets appointed to these positions. We have advanced the specialty a great deal just in the three years I have been in C.A.P. but we have not brought the commanders along with us. The second biggest issue didn't really crystalize for me until National PA academy this year in Orlando. That is, we need to figure when it is time to decide when "all news is local" and when it is time to take it national. For instance, at the PA Academy Julie reeled off 4 or 5 events that gave us great coverage. I.E. the congressional gold medal, the family in Arizona that got lost in the desert, etc. I could give my own list. Now I am probably more aggressive than most with google alerts and various other methods of following news events, and all of the examples she gave got some local coverage but no blanket national effort from NHQ. The congressional gold medal was covered by each wing about that wings recipiants, but nothing in the form of a national press release was aired on the major networks. Even with my monitoring of news, I would not have been aware of C.A.P. involvement in the Arizona family search had I now gotten it from C.A.P. channels, I would submit that those same channels should have aimed at ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, MSNBC and so on. This is not to stab at the powers that be, but to say the job is not finished and these might be the next avenues we follow. Respectjully, Wayne Hooks Florida Wing -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 1:44 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: [Bulk] Re: [PAO] [Bulk] Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Wayne, Indeed, mentoring and training are essential to becoming a productive and happy PAO. The problem is that the amount of information available at the NHQ website can be overwhelming. This is why mentoring is a must. And there are not enough mentors in CAP. There used to be a time when the PA specialty was an "easy Master" and as a result there are many holding a Master PA rating who never really wanted to be PAOs. Some have held the job but done nothing, mostly because doing nothing was safe. I tell all my students the same thing, "PAOs are like fish. We die through the mouth." The day that CAP gets real PAOs who are also PIOs, have experience at both, and can mentor, CAP will be a much friendlier place for us. On the other hand, I developed many cadet PAOs, some of whom have now graduated from service academies, or got scholarships to the likes of Embry Riddle and got commissioned upon graduation, or plain got a Journalism major. Every now and then, I hear from them. I hope you're a good mentor. Kind regards, Arthur Woodgate SWR DPA -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of lockit3 Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 11:17 AM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers'; jcarlson at flwg.us Subject: Re: [PAO] [Bulk] Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Gentleman, I have watched the banter since Ken's initial email. I was going to simply watch the exchange and try to learn from the educational points made during the discussion. However, with the exception of a very few valuable insights into how another organization has set up their PA program, all I am really seeing is the equivalent of a bunch of kids on the playground who got embarrassed and now have to save face by being the bigger bully. To begin with, Ken obviously got his feelings hurt when he did not get the rating he thought he should have gotten on his SUI. He took it personally because he put a lot of work and time into preparation. From his initial contact, I know he got less than satisfactory because he did not use the 4 step planning process. Something he either was not aware of, or did not know where to find. Then he went on to state what he saw as short comings to the P.A. program. Now I do not know whether he resigned because of what he saw as a lack of support, or because of the attitude of the S.U.I. team. (not all of them have P.R. skills, nor do they all see their role as one of mentorship.) In any case because of this he resigned, something I personally would not have done, but everyone handles things differently. Having said all of this, we should probably take the personalities out of this and move this onto the "Official" national Facebook group. As, I feel we could ALL benefit from the discussion and the solutions that would inevitably come from it. Including the all-knowing and infallible superiors who have seen fit to reply back to Ken. As fodder to start that discussion, I will offer this, the attitude that Ken's ignorance of resources available to him is all his fault, shows that because it is in CAP P201 we think it happens that way. The Pamphlet states that we will serve under a mentor for 6 months, presumably to learn about such things and what resources are available and where they are located. I assure you this does not happen at least as often as it does. When I joined Civil Air Patrol, there was no P.A. O. assigned in my squadron and had not been for quite some time. Further, I had no one at the group level to help. Had I been hit with an S.U.I. shortly after taking the position, it would have been ugly. So would it be possible for everyone who is supposed to be mentors here to quit getting upset because a shortcoming may have been pointed out and start acting like mentors instead. Thank you, Wayne Hooks Florida Wing -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 8:57 AM To: jcarlson at flwg.us; 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: [Bulk] Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations No one can speak for anyone else but oneself, Jeff! Not all wings do or can present to the public a clear idea of what it is that CAP does. Nor can regions, for that matter. However, one should never underestimate the power of past activities presented in a good light. In SWR, I gather the best from the wings to put together the region's quarterly publication: The Fly By http://swrcap.com/public-affairs/ - You might want to consider a similar effort for your group, and suggest it up the chain for SER (where an empty page greets the visitor to its website). For some reason, FLWG seems to have archived newsletters only up to Nov. 2009, relying on the occasional online entry for the rest. The importance of presenting all information in one place cannot be emphasized enough. At any rate, at the same SWR link above, I offer all PAOs (especially in the region) some basic tools they can use to get started and improve their work. Including support for marketing, that is essential for the National CC's priority #1 (Recruiting and Retention). Individually my assistant and I work with wing PAOs who, in turn, work with the PAOs in their wing, because PA cannot thrive in a vacuum. When requested, I also work with lower-echelons PAOs and even cadets. PA is, and always has been, a team effort. Notice that the operative word is "work." That said, Ken chose to blame NHQ, and this made it sound a lot like sour grapes. CAP is a regulatory organization, and we guide ourselves by the published regulations, manuals and pamphlets (that I'll call collectively "regulations") that tell us what to do (and we promise to follow, as the oath of membership states). If we think that any of it is wrong, then the procedure is to send a request for change to NHQ, where cooler heads will decide on the value of implementing such change. In all cases, though, what is published and what is changed is based on the personal experience of those who rose to the top and continue to reach out to those who are practicing the specialty in the field with vigor and success. The idea is to create an organization that can fine-tune the regulations to make it more effective in Fla. Wing, Texas Wing, Calif. Wing, Hawaii Wing or any other CAP wing. Bottom line, the job of publishing, preserving and making available to the public the many CAP success stories is in the hands of the squadron, group, wing and region where it happens. This is not a trivial task, it is implemented by volunteers, and some volunteers are more effective than others. Regards Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 3:01 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Speak for yourself Arthur! What it sounds like to me is inexperience. Based on his comments, I don't believe Ken was in the duty position long enough to uncover what resources are available to support the local PAO. They really do exist. For many geographic areas, leadership and mentoring is thin in the PA directorate. To the neophyte, it can seem like being abandoned in a desert. I remember my early days as a CAP PAO and feeling completely unsupported. During my first couple of years of duty, I had to organize my own CAP PAO workshops to get training; PAOs came from all over the wing to participate because it was all that was available. While I don't agree with everything, Ken's two emails have touched on some valid points and should not be completely discounted. As far as comparing CAP and ARC... I voluntarily serve as both a CAP PAO/PIO and as a member of the Red Cross Public Affairs team. The reality is that CAP public affairs does not have the same resources as ARC public affairs. ARC has hundreds of paid staff members and much larger budget. It is not a fair comparison. The Red Cross has one of the strongest brand images on the globe, while CAP is huffing and puffing to develop a brand and gain a foothold. That being said, there are numerous best practices that CAP could borrow from ARC. What Ken doesn't seem to realize is that this email listserv is from a bygone era that has seen minimal activity in recent years. His voice is only carried so far, though I am certain his comments have been received by members of the national PA team. The unofficial Official CAP Public Affairs Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/4305419935/ is where the action is these days. If Ken wants to shout at the wind, let him do it. The typing will keep his fingers nimble and the release of frustration is the only satisfaction he'll ever get from his efforts expended in this direction. If you don't want to read it, use the delete key. Howl away, Ken! Maj Jeffrey P Carlson, CAP Public Affairs Officer -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Woodgate Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 2:17 PM To: 'CAP Public Affairs Officers' Subject: Re: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations Ken, Please be advised that by not giving your full name and affiliation, what you have to say sounds a great deal like sour grapes - and most of us view it in that light. Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP SWR Director of Public Affairs -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 12:27 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations IMHO admit that the American Red Cross by far seems to have a consistent & successful public relations plan in regards to everything they do nationally, regionally, and locally. From a natural disaster standpoint they appear to have ready to go media release/talking points for the preparation, response, & mitigation phases of disasters. Volunteers & paid staff are in a consistent uniform, easy identifying them as ARC, with what appears to me to be standard talking points. They have the ability to get immediate media coverage showing them doing good things! The news media definitely sees them as an organization to provide coverage for! Even during local type incidents (e.g. apartment fires) this same type of public relations presentation to the media occurs and aids them in obtaining funds. Contrast this with CAP. No really consistent uniform (in fact if BDU, BBDU are worn and the orange safety vest is worn, total organization identify is missing). IF assisting another government organization perception is that nothing can be released about CAP's support. Very little released regarding CAP preparedness to provide assistance (e.g. photo recon training exercise with local pictures released). Inconsistent approach (actually missing opportunities) to providing releases to the news media. With hurricane season upon us many opportunities for getting the word out about CAP! Perhaps National should consider developing a disaster/emergency services internal operations support kit (e.g. pre prepared type media releases (templates) that certain information just has to be filled in for specific type incidents, as well as general type media releases on CAP's typical disaster relief missions). Perhaps even a National PAO Duty officer needs to be immediate/near immediate available to assist field PAO's with successfully writing/releasing news media releases, perhaps even sending the releases on behalf of the field PAO's. A good gauge to see the Red Cross' news media success is to use google news search engine "American Red Cross". Ken Former PAO _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: jcarlson at flwg.us CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: lockit3 at att.net CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: lockit3 at att.net CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From djessmer at cap.gov Sun Oct 4 14:04:10 2015 From: djessmer at cap.gov (DOUGLAS E. JESSMER, Lt Col, CAP. CAP/PM) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 15:04:10 -0400 Subject: [PAO] CAP PA and the SWR In-Reply-To: <003e01d0fec4$584cfcf0$08e6f6d0$@flwg.us> References: <003e01d0fec4$584cfcf0$08e6f6d0$@flwg.us> Message-ID: <04E43CD7-DCDC-497B-ADAB-839088AF69A2@cap.gov> Point of order... Jeff said: "FLWG's old-style newsletter stopped several years back with the untimely death of the member who was its champion, Capt. Eileen Tonkinson." It was the Ghost of Eileen Tonkinson that kept me from changing the name of that newsletter, which continued into 2010 and 2011 as a quarterly. The name was a sacred cow. "Wingspan" wasn't necessarily the greatest name for a publication, not that "Gator CAPers" before that was anything more than cute. I'm keeping an eye on this conversation, thinking I may weigh in later. You've been warned. And I think while the Facebook discussion is worthwhile, this listserv isn't so bad. Get 'em where they are... Lt Col Douglas E. Jessmer, CAP Former National Public Affairs and Marketing Officer and National Marketing Officer Former Florida Wing Director of Public Affairs Former group PA, Ohio Wing Groups 3 and 4 and Florida Wing Groups 3, 5 and 8 Former and recovering journalist Lots of formers, in fact Cleveland Lakefront Thunderbirds Sq (BKL), Ohio Wing Clearwater, Fla. Sent from my iPhone via AT&T This message is confidential and intended only for the addressed recipients. Do not forward without permission from the sender (me). > On Oct 4, 2015, at 12:47, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: > > FLWG's old-style newsletter stopped several years back with the untimely > death of the member who was its champion, Capt. Eileen Tonkinson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From awoodgate at austin.rr.com Sun Oct 4 14:37:29 2015 From: awoodgate at austin.rr.com (Arthur Woodgate) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 14:37:29 -0500 Subject: [PAO] PAO SUI/CI Recommended Changes Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations In-Reply-To: <561140AC.8010008@charter.net> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> <561140AC.8010008@charter.net> Message-ID: <002f01d0fedc$1d21a9b0$5764fd10$@austin.rr.com> Ken, 9/11, the second Gulf War, and our protracted involvement in the Middle East have changed the world forever -- at least for the AF. In-country in the Middle East, given personnel constraints, the AF no longer enjoyed army base security but had to take care of it on their own. As a result, they started sending airmen to Ft Benning for infantry training. At times, as never before, AF forward bases became isolated in different locations and had to do everything that normally was done for them by higher HQ. Also, the AF now considers us members of their Total Force, and we need to be able to take care of ourselves. Finally, mammoth hurricanes (Katrina, Ike, and the like) and the possibility of man-made disasters have made both the AF and CAP think twice. In Katrina, for instance, New Orleans became isolated and cut-off from the world, as the entire area became paralized. The same thing happened in Houston (not as badly, though), with communications in shambles and all roads transformed into endless parking lots making it impossible to drive in or out. In Houston, a squadron PAO (not even a PIO) had to work the mission. Wing was able to communicate intermittently and guide that PAO in a general way, but it was the PAO who had to face the media and produce the news releases. In a case like this, a Wing or Group Plan would be of no use to the squadron, since most of the assets listed at the Wing or Group level would not be available to a squadron cut off from the world. This is why squadrons need to have a PA Plan and a Crisis Communications Plan -- without them, they would be seriously handicapped in trying to function. And... you don't get to pick the emergency; the emergency picks you. So yes, there is a reason for all this "unreasonable burden" -- it's called survival. Your survival. I'm sorry that you didn't get the support and mentoring you needed. But your present and past predicaments won't make CAP stop requiring a squadron to have both a PAP and a CCP. In a real emergency, that squadron might, find itself the sole representative of wing and need to do the job without any support from higher HQs. Regards, Arthur Woodgate SWR DPA -----Original Message----- From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Ken Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 10:07 AM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: [PAO] PAO SUI/CI Recommended Changes Re: The American Red Cross Versus Civil Air Patrol Public Relations To the group: I may be talking in the wind so to speak but here it goes: My specific heartburn is the SUI evaluates ONLY the planning aspect of squadron PAO and requires very specific formats to be followed in order to "pass" (yet doesn't really give any good examples at the squadron level). It fails to evaluate/mention what was ACTUALLY accomplished by the unit PAO during that evaluation/inspection period. In my military career as enlisted and officer my experience has been that squadrons implement plans from wings & groups very rarely do they have a responsibility to write their own plans. In some military units I was assigned to our units were considered to be at the group level, so we did write an annex to one of the wings/military installations' plans and actually did have our own plan. We were actually sent to a week long course on how to write the plan and there was very specific formats (the entire plan was outlined on what to place in each paragraph/sub paragraph) for the entire plan that were utilized. Again over IMHO planning (both overall PAO goals & contingency plans) is a wing function in CAP and should not be a squadron function. Tactically at the squadron we should be implementing the wing guidance and a report mechanism should be in place to the appropriate wing/group PAO can easily monitor what the squadrons under his/her supervision are doing. Interestingly the Wing CI PAO checklist doesn't appear to place any emphasis on supervision/mentoring at the wing level to subordinate units. (e.g. doesn't ask the Wing PAO to produce copies of each squadron's PAO plan or contingency plan). Volunteers have limited time, there's a vast difference from doing nothing in a position to do something -- there seems to be some reference that I didn't do anything, as I said before best TV news coverage in the wing, numerous published stories, etc. consistently for five years!! At the squadron PAO level if one is sending out news media releases/stories (that are getting published), getting TV & radio coverage than the job is getting done. Successful action is more important than spending time writing about potential action! When approximately 95% of the PAO function at the squadron level in a region gets a marginal because one is only looking at "planning" versus actual action/results there's a problem. Surely National "wins" in the end because volunteers have to clear those SUI discrepancies otherwise the CAP inspection machine will go crazy (on such minor administrative things)!!! So change the SUI to a more reasonable/valid evaluation. IMHO here's an example of the squadron checklist: 1. Does the squadron have a web site and/or face book page? 2. Is the website/face book page up to date (at least one posting every 20 to 30 days)? 3. Does the squadron publish/get published internally/externally stories about all of its' activities? 4. Does the squadron publish/get published internally/externally stories about its' members CAP accomplishments? 5. Does the squadron publish/get published internally/externally stories of general interest about CAP (as requested by National/Wing headquarters)? 6. How long has the squadron PAO been in the position? 7. Has the squadron PAO received orientation/training from the group/wing PAO? All of this activity can easily be kept on a simple log that shows activity/accomplishment date, activity description, news release (to whom) and/or internal, and results (either hot keyed but preferably downloaded/scanned into an electronic file or cross referenced to squadron website/face book page(s)). All of this could easily be sent to the inspector so the PAO would not have to spend time at the squadron with the inspector. IMHO it is very difficult to measure results because as an example the number of website/face book hits/likes etc could actually be CAP members and not the external public. IMHO Here's a recommendation on the wing checklist: 1. Has the wing PAO developed a comprehensive overall plan & contingency plan that meets region/national requirements? 2. Has the plans been communicated to all subordinate units in the wing? 3. Does the Wing PAO effectively supervise/advise subordinate units? (e.g. reviews monthly/quarterly reports, visits subordinate units websites, etc). 4. Does the Wing PAO effectively train/mentor subordinate units PAO's (e.g. give examples of training e.g. emails, website, telephone conference calls (memos for record). 5. How long has the wing PAO in the job? 6. What is his/her qualifications for the position and what training/advise/mentoring was received from higher headquarters? IMHO If one can simplify the squadron inspection process to one of action/results, I would strongly consider returning to the PAO function. However again, I'm not going to frustrate myself if there's no changes, since as a volunteer I do have choices on how to spend my available time! Really got to wonder how many more have decided to do the same thing!!! Ken Former PAO On 10/4/2015 8:56 AM, Arthur Woodgate wrote: > snip..snip..snip. > That said, Ken chose to blame NHQ, and this made it sound a lot like > sour grapes. CAP is a regulatory organization, and we guide ourselves > by the published regulations, manuals and pamphlets (that I'll call > collectively > "regulations") that tell us what to do (and we promise to follow, as > the oath of membership states). If we think that any of it is wrong, > then the procedure is to send a request for change to NHQ, where > cooler heads will decide on the value of implementing such change. In > all cases, though, what is published and what is changed is based on > the personal experience of those who rose to the top and continue to > reach out to those who are practicing the specialty in the field with vigor and success. > > The idea is to create an organization that can fine-tune the > regulations to make it more effective in Fla. Wing, Texas Wing, Calif. > Wing, Hawaii Wing or any other CAP wing. Bottom line, the job of > publishing, preserving and making available to the public the many CAP > success stories is in the hands of the squadron, group, wing and > region where it happens. This is not a trivial task, it is implemented > by volunteers, and some volunteers are more effective than others. > > Regards > > Lt. Col. Arthur Woodgate, CAP > SWR Director of Public Affairs > > _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: awoodgate at austin.rr.com CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao From jcarlson at flwg.us Sun Oct 4 16:20:20 2015 From: jcarlson at flwg.us (Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ) Date: Sun, 04 Oct 2015 17:20:20 -0400 Subject: [PAO] CAP PA and the SWR In-Reply-To: <04E43CD7-DCDC-497B-ADAB-839088AF69A2@cap.gov> References: <003e01d0fec4$584cfcf0$08e6f6d0$@flwg.us> <04E43CD7-DCDC-497B-ADAB-839088AF69A2@cap.gov> Message-ID: <007901d0feea$7c3317f0$749947d0$@flwg.us> Now you’ve done it guys. You’ve created such a ruckus that it woke Jessmer up. Dear lord, what have we done? Oh my aging brain…forgive me Douglas, I had forgotten about the newsletter during your duty appointment period. Now that I think about it…weren’t you the one who ultimately put the FLWG newsletter to “sleep”? My, how time flies when you’re having fun… From: DOUGLAS E. JESSMER, Lt Col, CAP. CAP/PM [mailto:djessmer at cap.gov] Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 3:04 PM To: jcarlson at flwg.us; CAP Public Affairs Officers Cc: Arthur Woodgate Subject: Re: [PAO] CAP PA and the SWR Point of order... Jeff said: "FLWG's old-style newsletter stopped several years back with the untimely death of the member who was its champion, Capt. Eileen Tonkinson." It was the Ghost of Eileen Tonkinson that kept me from changing the name of that newsletter, which continued into 2010 and 2011 as a quarterly. The name was a sacred cow. "Wingspan" wasn't necessarily the greatest name for a publication, not that "Gator CAPers" before that was anything more than cute. I'm keeping an eye on this conversation, thinking I may weigh in later. You've been warned. And I think while the Facebook discussion is worthwhile, this listserv isn't so bad. Get 'em where they are... Lt Col Douglas E. Jessmer, CAP Former National Public Affairs and Marketing Officer and National Marketing Officer Former Florida Wing Director of Public Affairs Former group PA, Ohio Wing Groups 3 and 4 and Florida Wing Groups 3, 5 and 8 Former and recovering journalist Lots of formers, in fact Cleveland Lakefront Thunderbirds Sq (BKL), Ohio Wing Clearwater, Fla. Sent from my iPhone via AT&T This message is confidential and intended only for the addressed recipients. Do not forward without permission from the sender (me). On Oct 4, 2015, at 12:47, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: FLWG's old-style newsletter stopped several years back with the untimely death of the member who was its champion, Capt. Eileen Tonkinson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From djessmer at cap.gov Sun Oct 4 16:26:09 2015 From: djessmer at cap.gov (DOUGLAS E. JESSMER, Lt Col, CAP. CAP/PM) Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 17:26:09 -0400 Subject: [PAO] CAP PA and the SWR In-Reply-To: <007901d0feea$7c3317f0$749947d0$@flwg.us> References: <003e01d0fec4$584cfcf0$08e6f6d0$@flwg.us> <04E43CD7-DCDC-497B-ADAB-839088AF69A2@cap.gov> <007901d0feea$7c3317f0$749947d0$@flwg.us> Message-ID: <1E20680F-7A1C-4883-98BE-CAE78A8867CB@cap.gov> Well, I dunno about fun, and time goes by much quicker at my advanced age. But yes, Jeff, I wanted to kill it graveyard-dead. Online delivery is far more timely. More later. I have a magazine to finish up tonight and a brochure I promised a certain chief historian by morning.... DEJ Sent from my iPhone via AT&T This message is confidential and intended only for the addressed recipients. Do not forward without permission from the sender (me). > On Oct 4, 2015, at 17:20, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: > > Now you’ve done it guys. You’ve created such a ruckus that it woke Jessmer up. Dear lord, what have we done? > > Oh my aging brain…forgive me Douglas, I had forgotten about the newsletter during your duty appointment period. Now that I think about it…weren’t you the one who ultimately put the FLWG newsletter to “sleep”? > > My, how time flies when you’re having fun… > > > From: DOUGLAS E. JESSMER, Lt Col, CAP. CAP/PM [mailto:djessmer at cap.gov] > Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 3:04 PM > To: jcarlson at flwg.us; CAP Public Affairs Officers > Cc: Arthur Woodgate > Subject: Re: [PAO] CAP PA and the SWR > > Point of order... > > Jeff said: "FLWG's old-style newsletter stopped several years back with the untimely death of the member who was its champion, Capt. Eileen Tonkinson." > > It was the Ghost of Eileen Tonkinson that kept me from changing the name of that newsletter, which continued into 2010 and 2011 as a quarterly. The name was a sacred cow. "Wingspan" wasn't necessarily the greatest name for a publication, not that "Gator CAPers" before that was anything more than cute. > > I'm keeping an eye on this conversation, thinking I may weigh in later. You've been warned. > > And I think while the Facebook discussion is worthwhile, this listserv isn't so bad. Get 'em where they are... > > Lt Col Douglas E. Jessmer, CAP > Former National Public Affairs and Marketing Officer and National Marketing Officer > Former Florida Wing Director of Public Affairs > Former group PA, Ohio Wing Groups 3 and 4 and Florida Wing Groups 3, 5 and 8 > Former and recovering journalist > Lots of formers, in fact > Cleveland Lakefront Thunderbirds Sq (BKL), Ohio Wing > Clearwater, Fla. > > > Sent from my iPhone via AT&T > > This message is confidential and intended only for the addressed recipients. Do not forward without permission from the sender (me). > > On Oct 4, 2015, at 12:47, Jeff Carlson, Grp 5 HQ wrote: > > FLWG's old-style newsletter stopped several years back with the untimely > death of the member who was its champion, Capt. Eileen Tonkinson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From djessmer at cap.gov Mon Oct 5 00:56:26 2015 From: djessmer at cap.gov (DOUGLAS E. JESSMER, Lt Col, CAP CAP/PM) Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2015 01:56:26 -0400 Subject: [PAO] Ken, er, CAN we do better? In-Reply-To: <043b01d0fed5$b4e04470$1ea0cd50$@att.net> References: <5606F28F.7060008@charter.net> <56073CC7.5020608@charter.net> <005a01d0f8cd$e2b548e0$a81fdaa0$@austin.rr.com> <56100FED.1090309@charter.net> <014301d0fe07$a7422320$f5c66960$@austin.rr.com> <005201d0fe16$30d38ad0$927aa070$@flwg.us> <022f01d0fea4$1fd838a0$5f88a9e0$@austin.rr.com> <03f401d0fec0$2a787e20$7f697a60$@att.net> <000901d0fecc$409d52a0$c1d7f7e0$@austin.rr.com> <043b01d0fed5$b4e04470$1ea0cd50$@att.net> Message-ID: All this back and forth, and I just wish you people would get off my lawn. Carlson’s right. You woke me up, though I have to say, I’ve been watching this discussion and there are some good points on all sides. Many times in CAP, our unit commanders (full disclosure: I was a squadron commander a couple of times) dump a duty assignment on someone and tell them we’ll help them, then we’re too busy to circle back around and actually make good on our word. Frankly, and I hate this expression, but… that sucks. A lot of good it does when someone’s assigned and we give them a few little morsels of information, then tell them “go to it, Sparky,” slap them on the butt and that’s the end of it. That’s a leadership issue, not a direct public affairs problem. What’s worse, on the leadership side, is that public affairs isn’t always treated as the frontline thing it’s become in the Information Age. When I joined CAP in 1984, the public affairs officer was usually one of the less useful members of a squadron, who walked around with a scrapbook talking about how things were 20 years before. Absolutely, totally useless. And that’s NOT what public affairs and marketing are now, nor should they ever be again. We are salespeople. We are communicators. We are architects of public perception, leading the way and encouraging those around us to follow our lead. We are information warriors, if you want to go that far, but any of you start wearing a ninja sword in public and I’m going to ridicule you as a dork. The people who get into PA and show more ambition than knowledge wind up being pushed into the limelight and they’re learning as they go along. That’s a horrible place to be. They’re going to stutter and trip, and they shouldn’t be doing that on the wing stage. Group level’s bad enough, at least in bigger groups around major metro areas…. And hey, this happens to commanders, too, so we’re not alone. (How many people are suckered into squadron and group command billets to stumble around for at least the first year?) The national folks (full disclosure: I was one of ‘em for a time, before Julie took my red Swingline stapler) say some nice things about how we should mentor, but there are issues, as you already know — we don’t have enough PAs who are strong enough to mentor, and those who are wind up swamped with more questions than Sam Donaldson could ever fire off at a Reagan White House presser. To top that, we have professionals in public relations, marketing and other related fields who aren’t in CAP public affairs, or were and thought better of it after seeing it in action, or inaction, whichever. These are resources we need to tap, and we don’t, or we say we’ll get back to them and we don’t. Or the bureaucracy or the politics screw everything up, they say go do something unspeakable with yourself, and go back to flying. The paid staff at HQ CAP/PM is stretched thin, and since it’s sleepy Montgomery-frickin’-Alabama and not New York, Miami or some other big advertising/public relations mecca, resources and talent aren’t as abundant, much like our funding for publicity and collateral. There’s only a small number of uniformed members — like, two or three — attached, and there’s only so much they can do. They’re talented people, but they have real jobs, too. What’s my solution? First off, I’m nominating myself to be the next national commander. (After all, I’m due.) And once you’re done laughing at that, there are several things off the top of my head. It’s after 1 a.m. Eastern time, so if this comes across as being less than tactful, or as the rhetorical equivalent of a drive-by shooting, I apologize in advance. Blame Carlson. He’s the one who dragged me into this. If I’m meandering or sounding like Richard Nixon late at night after a couple of drinks and a few erased tapes, YOU ASKED FOR IT. 1. Bring the pros into the fold, encourage them, foster their ideas, and DON’T BE SO QUICK TO SAY NO. (After all, whoever thought “Citizens Serving Communities” DIDN’T sound like a Police Academy sequel and was indeed a great slogan for CAP should have been punched right square in the nose. It’s a slogan that could describe the local food pantry, the Salvation Army, anyone. It’s vague, meaningless, vapid and it stinks, and it needs to die quickly. That showed a lack of thought on the part of the creatives involved, and was probably formulated by committee, much like the Edsel. KILL IT WITH FIRE! But I digress.) Why not be quick to say no? We have people in this organization who get off on flaunting rank and grade and who absolutely LOVE to tell people they can’t do something. That’s a bad attitude that needs to be stomped out. If there’s no real good reason to say no, don’t say it. We have to have a framework — I agree wholeheartedly — but people in CAP who do this stuff for a living (and presumably know it far better than the cadet’s mom who was just assigned as a squadron PA) shouldn’t face a wall of NO because they bring a different perspective, or someone’s afraid of them. We shut people down before we give them a chance sometimes, usually because they don’t fit into our nice, tidy little box. And we need the talent, the knowledge and the ideas. This territorial and comfort-zone silliness you see in some quarters has to stop. 2. Take our best talent and turn them loose on up-and-comers. We have wing PAs who show more ambition than knowledge and ability, and their OJT is on a bigger stage than it should have been. Why can’t we work in a cohort group to raise the level of knowledge so the wing and region PAs can trickle information downward? The Facebook group doesn’t do enough of that, instead posting trivia and clips from news sites of CAP stories, but we’re not asking enough questions, posing dilemmas for people to solve, and what are we really doing there? This listserv could do just that, incidentally. I’ve also suggested in the past that a regular email be sent out from HQ CAP/PM to PAs in the field to keep them up to speed on what we’re all doing. That didn’t happen. Which leads me to... 3. BETTER PLANNING. We don’t do it the way we should. We tend to be reactive and not very proactive. Big events should be planned a year out, at least, or at least, they should be put on a marketing calendar. If you ask “what’s a marketing calendar?”, that’s a good question. Where I work, we use them, and they cascade from the international level down to the local — each week and month is labeled, denoted in the national/international column with monthly themes and quarterly initiatives and events, the state and association column with what it’s doing that dovetails into national events, with our own stuff, and then the local column with its promotions, programs and whatever that supports the state and national initiatives. We have stuff on our radar at least a year out. A master calendar from National that cascades through regions to wings and downward would be ideal to help better coordinate what we do. (It’s something I’ve tried to use, but there’s something about that pesky CAP “no” that came up.) But a calendar isn’t enough. We need to talk more to each other. We need command support and encouragement at all levels, too. 4. Let’s go back to 2 for a minute, and talk about MENTORING. Annual public affairs workshops are nice, but they aren’t everything. We introduce ourselves to each other… get a few classes in… maybe listen to me stumble and stammer for an hour and you fall asleep... and seldom hear from each other until… well, until the next public affairs workshop. Those workshops are the time for unit PAs to network, and even to form bonds of cooperation. But the people who teach at those workshops are set apart as expert (at least to some extent) on what they’re teaching. Why aren’t they around to help mentor outside the conferences? And why don’t they reach out to conferees occasionally to see how they’re doing? There’s just a big communication gap. Actually, one issue I see that grinds my gears is that talent, knowledge and ability are sometimes overlooked because of politics in CAP. We should have our best and most capable people in positions, not people who are appointed because of friendship or familiarity. And that’s the best way to ensure mentors are in place in the right place. Crap, I’ve written enough. It’s bedtime. I’m sure I’m scattershot and random, and I’m not going back to self-edit. I’ve probably hacked all of you off, and if so, good. You woke me up. You people keep arguing, and I’m going to chime in when Jeff forgets something else because of old age. (He’s probably younger than me, which is the scary part.) I’m going to go find a 190-1 from about 1991 and remember wistfully what CAP public affairs was like before the Internet, and that oughta be good bedtime reading. All that said, thank you for supporting America’s Air Force Auxiliary, we newly minted Airmen-with-a-capital-A, because it’s you who keep the props turning, the wings flying, the coffee pots perking and the donut boxes filled at mission base. (Save me a jelly, eh?) Good night. Enjoy the argument. DEJ Lt Col Douglas E. Jessmer Advisor to the Commander Cleveland Lakefront Thunderbirds Sq, Ohio Wing (M) 727 480 9606 (Clearwater, Fla.) U.S. Air Force Auxiliary gocivilairpatrol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 23607 bytes Desc: not available URL: From karenc at smyth.net Fri Oct 9 08:38:15 2015 From: karenc at smyth.net (Karen Copenhaver) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 09:38:15 -0400 Subject: [PAO] FW: [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday In-Reply-To: <5617C200.3040703@smyth.net> References: <5617C200.3040703@smyth.net> Message-ID: <5617C347.7030906@smyth.net> ALCON: I have just completed a phone call with SC Wing Commander, Col Francis Smith, and he as given permission to share this overview of the situation in South Carolina, their efforts and the support they are receiving throughout this disaster relief effort. Please feel free to share with your fellow units and members. Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP Deputy Director, Public Affairs Middle East Region 276-783-8022 Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:*Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC [mailto:fhsmith at scwgcap.org] *Sent:* Thursday, October 08, 2015 7:28 PM *To:* scwg at scwgcap.org; scwg-cc at scwgcap.org *Cc:* Maj Gen Joe Vazquez; Brig Gen Larry Myrick; John Knowles; Col Dennis Barron; Jay Langley; Col David Crawford; Richard Greenwood; Lt Col Andrea Van Buren; Boykin Roseborough; Larry Ragland; icp; mark.obrien.3 at us.af.mil; losc at bellsouth.net; opscenter at capnhq.gov *Subject:* [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday Good evening, everyone. Another good day working for the good citizens of the Palmetto State. At the moment, we have flown approximately 20 sorties and 46 hours. The taskings for today were more focused. Over the last two days, we have flown a LOT of “get out there and see what’s happening” type sorties. With all of the grids we flew, we had a lot more activity in the sky yesterday. We’re still prominent today, but flew about half of the hours because the areas of concern are now more specifically identified. The Georgetown area is of major concern starting right away, as floodwaters are cresting further and further downstream. *Be clear on this:* we are not responding to a disaster that has occurred. We are responding to a disaster that is still in progress. Major flooding is still occurring and will continue to occur through the weekend. This is even more dangerous because people are seeing the blue skies and assuming that all is okay. This is resulting in many, many stranded people. Today CAP performed Impact Assessment and SAR flights over the most affected rivers and in flood prone areas. Unfortunately, most of the flood prone areas are very large in the flatlands, and water is literally running over the ground from river to river in some areas. We have no real way of knowing if we saved lives today, but I’m betting we did. CAP aircraft identified a number of flooded and isolated areas, noted where there were vehicles in distress, located two unsafe bridges that had no law enforcement or other barricades, and provided hundreds more in the way of IA photos. We also flew roads in and out of Georgetown helping SCEMD folks plan for evacuations and areas that are likely to flood and thus close roads needed for those evacuations. We are again getting real time information to the EOC from the air and help is getting to the right places. We had three new (in the original wrapper) camera systems arrive from the NOC today. These are small Garmin cameras that attach to a wing strut and take “straight down” photos on a particular flight profile. We’ll be taking a look at the first sortie using those cameras tonight - we have high hopes but we are the test case for sure. If we had good success, we’ll be flying all three of them tomorrow. Today, we flew aircraft from SC, NC, VA, and MD wings, with thanks to the two aircrews from Georgia that were ready to come at a moment’s notice. This is allowing our aircrews and mission base staff to be rotated out a bit for some badly needed and well earned rest. We appreciate you, and hopefully we’ll see you in the next few days. Our mission base staff was augmented by a GA-8 and several van-loads of cadets from Lowcountry, Columbia, and Lexington, as well as senior staff from North Carolina and Maryland. We set up a debriefing section in the main meeting room at SC Wing HQ, and have support personnel in that section to help get WMIRS populated with complete and meaningful debriefing information. That information is also being cross-decked quickly to the EOC. We are taking advantage of our fiber connection to the internet here to upload photos to FEMA at rates about 30 times faster than typical high-speed internet. We are very fortunate to have had donations or steep discounts from vendors who have brought us food, water, and soft drinks. We are well cared for here! Tomorrow we will be flying affected and likely affected roads, possibly with the new camera system, both early and late in the day. We also expect to receive a long list of photo targets (spot targets) along 4 or 5 of the affected rivers. We won’t receive those until in the morning, but that list will be completed in the morning and repeated in the afternoon for comparison purposes. We won’t be launching the majority of our aircraft (or don’t expect to) until after 9am, which is a welcome short break. Again, so very blessed to have had great assistance from everyone involved. Thank you all for your continued efforts. *You are making a difference.* *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* South Carolina Wing Commander (W) 803.490.0180 (C) 803.261.4981 U.S.Air Force Auxiliary GoCivilAirPatrol.com scwgcap.org > On Oct 6, 2015, at 10:17 PM, Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC > > wrote: > > SC Wing and friends: > > Today the Civil Air Patrol really got spun up as part of the SAR and > disaster relief effort in South Carolina. The weather was great in > some areas, good enough in others, and unfortunately almost good > enough in a few places. Our priority has been on flying and > identifying locations that need or will shortly need SAR assets and > getting rescue to those locations. Right behind that, and sometimes > simultaneously with that, we provided impact assessment reports and > photography. Even now, there are CAP members that are compiling > reports and continuing to plan for the next operational periods. > We’ll kick off again early in the morning. > > In the roundest of numbers, we had approximately 100 personnel > involved, flew 14 aircraft, and logged about 85 hours in the air > today. We expect similar numbers tomorrow. We have received all of > our taskings and have planned and sorted those amongst several > aircrew. Kudos to everyone involved in our operations from the > mission base staff to the aircrews to the communications operators > stationed all over the state. We have had incredible work by Col > Lindler and his helpers at our state EOC for the past 72 hours or so - > truly an integral part of the response effort being put forth by all > levels of government. Outstanding work by the members of Columbia and > Lexington Composite Squadrons who were called and showed up within > minutes yesterday to prepare and staff our headquarters. They were > back today making sure everyone had what they needed, no one went > hungry, or didn’t have a place to stay. Mrs. Kim Phillips, our Wing > Administrator worked (approved) overtime - well above and beyond the > call of duty. There are so many names out there deserving of > commendation and recognition - we’ll definitely get to that. > > Included in all of this, we have two aircrews and aircraft each from > North Carolina and Georgia flying with us right now. A GA-8 airvan > and an aircrew from Maryland arrived today, and are tasked first thing > in the morning. We have a Cessna 206 coming from North Carolina > tomorrow. Every bit of support we have asked for we have received > without hesitation. This is the concept of No Borders, No Boundaries > in action, and it is working better than you could ever imagine for > the citizens of the Palmetto State. Thanks to everyone who is here, > who will be here later, or who just volunteered to come. Kudos to Lt > Col Jay Langley, the MER/DO, who simply answered the phone, heard my > request for him to “just handle” coordination of all out-of-wing > assets, and said, “I got it.” > > Tomorrow we will start the day with more SAR runs in flooded and > flood-prone areas. We’ll then continue to work on Aerial Photography > and Impact Assessment missions. As was so prevalent today, we will > also have a couple of aircraft and aircrews set aside to fly federal, > state and local officials that need to see what they’re dealing with. > > Please be sure your minds are on safety as we continue forward. It’s > very easy to get your mind so wrapped around what we need to do that > we forget about the little things that can cause incidents and > accidents. We have mission requirements and we need to meet them, but > remember to plan your response so that you can respond to those needs > safely, effectively, and efficiently (in that order.) > > I am immensely proud be a leader and a servant in the Civil Air Patrol > today. You should be too. > > Semper Vigilans, > > *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* > > South Carolina Wing Commander > > (W) > > 803.490.0180 > > (C) > > 803.261.4981 > > U.S.Air Force Auxiliary > > GoCivilAirPatrol.com > > scwgcap.org > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov Fri Oct 9 16:06:22 2015 From: Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov (Michael Marek, Lt Col, CAP) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 16:06:22 -0500 Subject: [PAO] FW: [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday In-Reply-To: <5617C347.7030906@smyth.net> References: <5617C200.3040703@smyth.net> <5617C347.7030906@smyth.net> Message-ID: <56182C4E.8020409@sm.capnhq.gov> Thanks for sending this, Karen. Please feel free to send any further updates, as appropriate. -Michael- On 10/9/2015 8:38 AM, Karen Copenhaver wrote: > ALCON: > > I have just completed a phone call with SC Wing Commander, Col Francis > Smith, and he as given permission to share this overview of the > situation in South Carolina, their efforts and the support they are > receiving throughout this disaster relief effort. Please feel free to > share with your fellow units and members. > > Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP > Deputy Director, Public Affairs > Middle East Region > 276-783-8022 > > Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary > > http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > *From:*Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC [mailto:fhsmith at scwgcap.org] > *Sent:* Thursday, October 08, 2015 7:28 PM > *To:* scwg at scwgcap.org; scwg-cc at scwgcap.org > *Cc:* Maj Gen Joe Vazquez; Brig Gen Larry Myrick; John Knowles; Col > Dennis Barron; Jay Langley; Col David Crawford; Richard Greenwood; Lt > Col Andrea Van Buren; Boykin Roseborough; Larry Ragland; icp; > mark.obrien.3 at us.af.mil; losc at bellsouth.net; opscenter at capnhq.gov > *Subject:* [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday > > Good evening, everyone. > > Another good day working for the good citizens of the Palmetto State. > At the moment, we have flown approximately 20 sorties and 46 hours. > > The taskings for today were more focused. Over the last two days, we > have flown a LOT of “get out there and see what’s happening” type > sorties. With all of the grids we flew, we had a lot more activity in > the sky yesterday. > > We’re still prominent today, but flew about half of the hours because > the areas of concern are now more specifically identified. The > Georgetown area is of major concern starting right away, as > floodwaters are cresting further and further downstream. > > *Be clear on this:* we are not responding to a disaster that has > occurred. We are responding to a disaster that is still in progress. > Major flooding is still occurring and will continue to occur through > the weekend. This is even more dangerous because people are seeing > the blue skies and assuming that all is okay. This is resulting in > many, many stranded people. > > Today CAP performed Impact Assessment and SAR flights over the most > affected rivers and in flood prone areas. Unfortunately, most of the > flood prone areas are very large in the flatlands, and water is > literally running over the ground from river to river in some areas. > We have no real way of knowing if we saved lives today, but I’m > betting we did. CAP aircraft identified a number of flooded and > isolated areas, noted where there were vehicles in distress, located > two unsafe bridges that had no law enforcement or other barricades, > and provided hundreds more in the way of IA photos. We also flew > roads in and out of Georgetown helping SCEMD folks plan for > evacuations and areas that are likely to flood and thus close roads > needed for those evacuations. We are again getting real time > information to the EOC from the air and help is getting to the right > places. > > We had three new (in the original wrapper) camera systems arrive from > the NOC today. These are small Garmin cameras that attach to a wing > strut and take “straight down” photos on a particular flight > profile. We’ll be taking a look at the first sortie using those > cameras tonight - we have high hopes but we are the test case for > sure. If we had good success, we’ll be flying all three of them tomorrow. > > Today, we flew aircraft from SC, NC, VA, and MD wings, with thanks to > the two aircrews from Georgia that were ready to come at a moment’s > notice. This is allowing our aircrews and mission base staff to be > rotated out a bit for some badly needed and well earned rest. We > appreciate you, and hopefully we’ll see you in the next few days. Our > mission base staff was augmented by a GA-8 and several van-loads of > cadets from Lowcountry, Columbia, and Lexington, as well as senior > staff from North Carolina and Maryland. We set up a debriefing > section in the main meeting room at SC Wing HQ, and have support > personnel in that section to help get WMIRS populated with complete > and meaningful debriefing information. That information is also being > cross-decked quickly to the EOC. We are taking advantage of our fiber > connection to the internet here to upload photos to FEMA at rates > about 30 times faster than typical high-speed internet. > > We are very fortunate to have had donations or steep discounts from > vendors who have brought us food, water, and soft drinks. We are well > cared for here! > > Tomorrow we will be flying affected and likely affected roads, > possibly with the new camera system, both early and late in the day. > We also expect to receive a long list of photo targets (spot targets) > along 4 or 5 of the affected rivers. We won’t receive those until in > the morning, but that list will be completed in the morning and > repeated in the afternoon for comparison purposes. We won’t be > launching the majority of our aircraft (or don’t expect to) until > after 9am, which is a welcome short break. > > Again, so very blessed to have had great assistance from everyone > involved. Thank you all for your continued efforts. *You are making a > difference.* > > *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* > > South Carolina Wing Commander > > (W) > > 803.490.0180 > > (C) > > 803.261.4981 > > U.S.Air Force Auxiliary > > GoCivilAirPatrol.com > > scwgcap.org > > > > >> On Oct 6, 2015, at 10:17 PM, Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC >> > wrote: >> >> SC Wing and friends: >> >> Today the Civil Air Patrol really got spun up as part of the SAR and >> disaster relief effort in South Carolina. The weather was great in >> some areas, good enough in others, and unfortunately almost good >> enough in a few places. Our priority has been on flying and >> identifying locations that need or will shortly need SAR assets and >> getting rescue to those locations. Right behind that, and sometimes >> simultaneously with that, we provided impact assessment reports and >> photography. Even now, there are CAP members that are compiling >> reports and continuing to plan for the next operational periods. >> We’ll kick off again early in the morning. >> >> In the roundest of numbers, we had approximately 100 personnel >> involved, flew 14 aircraft, and logged about 85 hours in the air >> today. We expect similar numbers tomorrow. We have received all of >> our taskings and have planned and sorted those amongst several >> aircrew. Kudos to everyone involved in our operations from the >> mission base staff to the aircrews to the communications operators >> stationed all over the state. We have had incredible work by Col >> Lindler and his helpers at our state EOC for the past 72 hours or so >> - truly an integral part of the response effort being put forth by >> all levels of government. Outstanding work by the members of >> Columbia and Lexington Composite Squadrons who were called and showed >> up within minutes yesterday to prepare and staff our headquarters. >> They were back today making sure everyone had what they needed, no >> one went hungry, or didn’t have a place to stay. Mrs. Kim Phillips, >> our Wing Administrator worked (approved) overtime - well above and >> beyond the call of duty. There are so many names out there deserving >> of commendation and recognition - we’ll definitely get to that. >> >> Included in all of this, we have two aircrews and aircraft each from >> North Carolina and Georgia flying with us right now. A GA-8 airvan >> and an aircrew from Maryland arrived today, and are tasked first >> thing in the morning. We have a Cessna 206 coming from North >> Carolina tomorrow. Every bit of support we have asked for we have >> received without hesitation. This is the concept of No Borders, No >> Boundaries in action, and it is working better than you could ever >> imagine for the citizens of the Palmetto State. Thanks to everyone >> who is here, who will be here later, or who just volunteered to come. >> Kudos to Lt Col Jay Langley, the MER/DO, who simply answered the >> phone, heard my request for him to “just handle” coordination of all >> out-of-wing assets, and said, “I got it.” >> >> Tomorrow we will start the day with more SAR runs in flooded and >> flood-prone areas. We’ll then continue to work on Aerial Photography >> and Impact Assessment missions. As was so prevalent today, we will >> also have a couple of aircraft and aircrews set aside to fly federal, >> state and local officials that need to see what they’re dealing with. >> >> Please be sure your minds are on safety as we continue forward. It’s >> very easy to get your mind so wrapped around what we need to do that >> we forget about the little things that can cause incidents and >> accidents. We have mission requirements and we need to meet them, >> but remember to plan your response so that you can respond to those >> needs safely, effectively, and efficiently (in that order.) >> >> I am immensely proud be a leader and a servant in the Civil Air >> Patrol today. You should be too. >> >> Semper Vigilans, >> >> *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* >> >> South Carolina Wing Commander >> >> (W) >> >> 803.490.0180 >> >> (C) >> >> 803.261.4981 >> >> U.S.Air Force Auxiliary >> >> GoCivilAirPatrol.com >> >> scwgcap.org >> >> >> >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov > CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenc at smyth.net Fri Oct 9 16:34:11 2015 From: karenc at smyth.net (Karen Copenhaver) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 17:34:11 -0400 Subject: [PAO] FW: [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday In-Reply-To: <56182C4E.8020409@sm.capnhq.gov> References: <5617C200.3040703@smyth.net> <5617C347.7030906@smyth.net> <56182C4E.8020409@sm.capnhq.gov> Message-ID: <561832D3.2080205@smyth.net> I'll be happy to do so. I received release #4 about an hour ago, however, it seems to have been sent to all the wing PAOs and wing commanders. Would you like for me to forward it to this list so others may also follow? Karen~ On 10/9/2015 5:06 PM, Michael Marek, Lt Col, CAP wrote: > Thanks for sending this, Karen. Please feel free to send any further > updates, as appropriate. > > > -Michael- > > > > > On 10/9/2015 8:38 AM, Karen Copenhaver wrote: >> ALCON: >> >> I have just completed a phone call with SC Wing Commander, Col >> Francis Smith, and he as given permission to share this overview of >> the situation in South Carolina, their efforts and the support they >> are receiving throughout this disaster relief effort. Please feel >> free to share with your fellow units and members. >> >> Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP >> Deputy Director, Public Affairs >> Middle East Region >> 276-783-8022 >> >> Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary >> >> http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> *From:*Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC [mailto:fhsmith at scwgcap.org] >> *Sent:* Thursday, October 08, 2015 7:28 PM >> *To:* scwg at scwgcap.org; scwg-cc at scwgcap.org >> *Cc:* Maj Gen Joe Vazquez; Brig Gen Larry Myrick; John Knowles; Col >> Dennis Barron; Jay Langley; Col David Crawford; Richard Greenwood; Lt >> Col Andrea Van Buren; Boykin Roseborough; Larry Ragland; icp; >> mark.obrien.3 at us.af.mil; losc at bellsouth.net; opscenter at capnhq.gov >> *Subject:* [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday >> >> Good evening, everyone. >> >> Another good day working for the good citizens of the Palmetto State. >> At the moment, we have flown approximately 20 sorties and 46 hours. >> >> The taskings for today were more focused. Over the last two days, we >> have flown a LOT of “get out there and see what’s happening” type >> sorties. With all of the grids we flew, we had a lot more activity >> in the sky yesterday. >> >> We’re still prominent today, but flew about half of the hours because >> the areas of concern are now more specifically identified. The >> Georgetown area is of major concern starting right away, as >> floodwaters are cresting further and further downstream. >> >> *Be clear on this:* we are not responding to a disaster that has >> occurred. We are responding to a disaster that is still in progress. >> Major flooding is still occurring and will continue to occur through >> the weekend. This is even more dangerous because people are seeing >> the blue skies and assuming that all is okay. This is resulting in >> many, many stranded people. >> >> Today CAP performed Impact Assessment and SAR flights over the most >> affected rivers and in flood prone areas. Unfortunately, most of the >> flood prone areas are very large in the flatlands, and water is >> literally running over the ground from river to river in some areas. >> We have no real way of knowing if we saved lives today, but I’m >> betting we did. CAP aircraft identified a number of flooded and >> isolated areas, noted where there were vehicles in distress, located >> two unsafe bridges that had no law enforcement or other barricades, >> and provided hundreds more in the way of IA photos. We also flew >> roads in and out of Georgetown helping SCEMD folks plan for >> evacuations and areas that are likely to flood and thus close roads >> needed for those evacuations. We are again getting real time >> information to the EOC from the air and help is getting to the right >> places. >> >> We had three new (in the original wrapper) camera systems arrive from >> the NOC today. These are small Garmin cameras that attach to a wing >> strut and take “straight down” photos on a particular flight >> profile. We’ll be taking a look at the first sortie using those >> cameras tonight - we have high hopes but we are the test case for >> sure. If we had good success, we’ll be flying all three of them >> tomorrow. >> >> Today, we flew aircraft from SC, NC, VA, and MD wings, with thanks to >> the two aircrews from Georgia that were ready to come at a moment’s >> notice. This is allowing our aircrews and mission base staff to be >> rotated out a bit for some badly needed and well earned rest. We >> appreciate you, and hopefully we’ll see you in the next few days. >> Our mission base staff was augmented by a GA-8 and several van-loads >> of cadets from Lowcountry, Columbia, and Lexington, as well as senior >> staff from North Carolina and Maryland. We set up a debriefing >> section in the main meeting room at SC Wing HQ, and have support >> personnel in that section to help get WMIRS populated with complete >> and meaningful debriefing information. That information is also >> being cross-decked quickly to the EOC. We are taking advantage of >> our fiber connection to the internet here to upload photos to FEMA at >> rates about 30 times faster than typical high-speed internet. >> >> We are very fortunate to have had donations or steep discounts from >> vendors who have brought us food, water, and soft drinks. We are >> well cared for here! >> >> Tomorrow we will be flying affected and likely affected roads, >> possibly with the new camera system, both early and late in the day. >> We also expect to receive a long list of photo targets (spot >> targets) along 4 or 5 of the affected rivers. We won’t receive those >> until in the morning, but that list will be completed in the morning >> and repeated in the afternoon for comparison purposes. We won’t be >> launching the majority of our aircraft (or don’t expect to) until >> after 9am, which is a welcome short break. >> >> Again, so very blessed to have had great assistance from everyone >> involved. Thank you all for your continued efforts. *You are making >> a difference.* >> >> *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* >> >> South Carolina Wing Commander >> >> (W) >> >> 803.490.0180 >> >> (C) >> >> 803.261.4981 >> >> U.S.Air Force Auxiliary >> >> GoCivilAirPatrol.com >> >> scwgcap.org >> >> >> >> >>> On Oct 6, 2015, at 10:17 PM, Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC >>> > wrote: >>> >>> SC Wing and friends: >>> >>> Today the Civil Air Patrol really got spun up as part of the SAR and >>> disaster relief effort in South Carolina. The weather was great in >>> some areas, good enough in others, and unfortunately almost good >>> enough in a few places. Our priority has been on flying and >>> identifying locations that need or will shortly need SAR assets and >>> getting rescue to those locations. Right behind that, and sometimes >>> simultaneously with that, we provided impact assessment reports and >>> photography. Even now, there are CAP members that are compiling >>> reports and continuing to plan for the next operational periods. >>> We’ll kick off again early in the morning. >>> >>> In the roundest of numbers, we had approximately 100 personnel >>> involved, flew 14 aircraft, and logged about 85 hours in the air >>> today. We expect similar numbers tomorrow. We have received all of >>> our taskings and have planned and sorted those amongst several >>> aircrew. Kudos to everyone involved in our operations from the >>> mission base staff to the aircrews to the communications operators >>> stationed all over the state. We have had incredible work by Col >>> Lindler and his helpers at our state EOC for the past 72 hours or so >>> - truly an integral part of the response effort being put forth by >>> all levels of government. Outstanding work by the members of >>> Columbia and Lexington Composite Squadrons who were called and >>> showed up within minutes yesterday to prepare and staff our >>> headquarters. They were back today making sure everyone had what >>> they needed, no one went hungry, or didn’t have a place to stay. >>> Mrs. Kim Phillips, our Wing Administrator worked (approved) >>> overtime - well above and beyond the call of duty. There are so >>> many names out there deserving of commendation and recognition - >>> we’ll definitely get to that. >>> >>> Included in all of this, we have two aircrews and aircraft each from >>> North Carolina and Georgia flying with us right now. A GA-8 airvan >>> and an aircrew from Maryland arrived today, and are tasked first >>> thing in the morning. We have a Cessna 206 coming from North >>> Carolina tomorrow. Every bit of support we have asked for we have >>> received without hesitation. This is the concept of No Borders, No >>> Boundaries in action, and it is working better than you could ever >>> imagine for the citizens of the Palmetto State. Thanks to everyone >>> who is here, who will be here later, or who just volunteered to >>> come. Kudos to Lt Col Jay Langley, the MER/DO, who simply answered >>> the phone, heard my request for him to “just handle” coordination of >>> all out-of-wing assets, and said, “I got it.” >>> >>> Tomorrow we will start the day with more SAR runs in flooded and >>> flood-prone areas. We’ll then continue to work on Aerial >>> Photography and Impact Assessment missions. As was so prevalent >>> today, we will also have a couple of aircraft and aircrews set aside >>> to fly federal, state and local officials that need to see what >>> they’re dealing with. >>> >>> Please be sure your minds are on safety as we continue forward. >>> It’s very easy to get your mind so wrapped around what we need to >>> do that we forget about the little things that can cause incidents >>> and accidents. We have mission requirements and we need to meet >>> them, but remember to plan your response so that you can respond to >>> those needs safely, effectively, and efficiently (in that order.) >>> >>> I am immensely proud be a leader and a servant in the Civil Air >>> Patrol today. You should be too. >>> >>> Semper Vigilans, >>> >>> *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* >>> >>> South Carolina Wing Commander >>> >>> (W) >>> >>> 803.490.0180 >>> >>> (C) >>> >>> 803.261.4981 >>> >>> U.S.Air Force Auxiliary >>> >>> GoCivilAirPatrol.com >>> >>> scwgcap.org >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Subscribed Email Address:Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov >> CAP-PAO mailing list >> CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org >> http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao > > > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: karenc at smyth.net > CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bklewis425 at msn.com Fri Oct 9 16:36:06 2015 From: bklewis425 at msn.com (Wm and Kandyce Lewis) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:36:06 -0700 Subject: [PAO] FW: [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday In-Reply-To: <561832D3.2080205@smyth.net> References: <5617C200.3040703@smyth.net> <5617C347.7030906@smyth.net> <56182C4E.8020409@sm.capnhq.gov> <561832D3.2080205@smyth.net> Message-ID: I would love to be able to see it please. Kandyce Lewis, From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org [mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Karen Copenhaver Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 2:34 PM To: CAP Public Affairs Officers Subject: Re: [PAO] FW: [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday I'll be happy to do so. I received release #4 about an hour ago, however, it seems to have been sent to all the wing PAOs and wing commanders. Would you like for me to forward it to this list so others may also follow? Karen~ On 10/9/2015 5:06 PM, Michael Marek, Lt Col, CAP wrote: Thanks for sending this, Karen. Please feel free to send any further updates, as appropriate. -Michael- On 10/9/2015 8:38 AM, Karen Copenhaver wrote: ALCON: I have just completed a phone call with SC Wing Commander, Col Francis Smith, and he as given permission to share this overview of the situation in South Carolina, their efforts and the support they are receiving throughout this disaster relief effort. Please feel free to share with your fellow units and members. Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP Deputy Director, Public Affairs Middle East Region 276-783-8022 Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com _____ From: Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC [mailto:fhsmith at scwgcap.org] Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2015 7:28 PM To: scwg at scwgcap.org ; scwg-cc at scwgcap.org Cc: Maj Gen Joe Vazquez; Brig Gen Larry Myrick; John Knowles; Col Dennis Barron; Jay Langley; Col David Crawford; Richard Greenwood; Lt Col Andrea Van Buren; Boykin Roseborough; Larry Ragland; icp; mark.obrien.3 at us.af.mil ; losc at bellsouth.net ; opscenter at capnhq.gov Subject: [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday Good evening, everyone. Another good day working for the good citizens of the Palmetto State. At the moment, we have flown approximately 20 sorties and 46 hours. The taskings for today were more focused. Over the last two days, we have flown a LOT of “get out there and see what’s happening” type sorties. With all of the grids we flew, we had a lot more activity in the sky yesterday. We’re still prominent today, but flew about half of the hours because the areas of concern are now more specifically identified. The Georgetown area is of major concern starting right away, as floodwaters are cresting further and further downstream. Be clear on this: we are not responding to a disaster that has occurred. We are responding to a disaster that is still in progress. Major flooding is still occurring and will continue to occur through the weekend. This is even more dangerous because people are seeing the blue skies and assuming that all is okay. This is resulting in many, many stranded people. Today CAP performed Impact Assessment and SAR flights over the most affected rivers and in flood prone areas. Unfortunately, most of the flood prone areas are very large in the flatlands, and water is literally running over the ground from river to river in some areas. We have no real way of knowing if we saved lives today, but I’m betting we did. CAP aircraft identified a number of flooded and isolated areas, noted where there were vehicles in distress, located two unsafe bridges that had no law enforcement or other barricades, and provided hundreds more in the way of IA photos. We also flew roads in and out of Georgetown helping SCEMD folks plan for evacuations and areas that are likely to flood and thus close roads needed for those evacuations. We are again getting real time information to the EOC from the air and help is getting to the right places. We had three new (in the original wrapper) camera systems arrive from the NOC today. These are small Garmin cameras that attach to a wing strut and take “straight down” photos on a particular flight profile. We’ll be taking a look at the first sortie using those cameras tonight - we have high hopes but we are the test case for sure. If we had good success, we’ll be flying all three of them tomorrow. Today, we flew aircraft from SC, NC, VA, and MD wings, with thanks to the two aircrews from Georgia that were ready to come at a moment’s notice. This is allowing our aircrews and mission base staff to be rotated out a bit for some badly needed and well earned rest. We appreciate you, and hopefully we’ll see you in the next few days. Our mission base staff was augmented by a GA-8 and several van-loads of cadets from Lowcountry, Columbia, and Lexington, as well as senior staff from North Carolina and Maryland. We set up a debriefing section in the main meeting room at SC Wing HQ, and have support personnel in that section to help get WMIRS populated with complete and meaningful debriefing information. That information is also being cross-decked quickly to the EOC. We are taking advantage of our fiber connection to the internet here to upload photos to FEMA at rates about 30 times faster than typical high-speed internet. We are very fortunate to have had donations or steep discounts from vendors who have brought us food, water, and soft drinks. We are well cared for here! Tomorrow we will be flying affected and likely affected roads, possibly with the new camera system, both early and late in the day. We also expect to receive a long list of photo targets (spot targets) along 4 or 5 of the affected rivers. We won’t receive those until in the morning, but that list will be completed in the morning and repeated in the afternoon for comparison purposes. We won’t be launching the majority of our aircraft (or don’t expect to) until after 9am, which is a welcome short break. Again, so very blessed to have had great assistance from everyone involved. Thank you all for your continued efforts. You are making a difference. Col Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP South Carolina Wing Commander (W) 803.490.0180 (C) 803.261.4981 U.S. Air Force Auxiliary GoCivilAirPatrol.com scwgcap.org On Oct 6, 2015, at 10:17 PM, Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC > wrote: SC Wing and friends: Today the Civil Air Patrol really got spun up as part of the SAR and disaster relief effort in South Carolina. The weather was great in some areas, good enough in others, and unfortunately almost good enough in a few places. Our priority has been on flying and identifying locations that need or will shortly need SAR assets and getting rescue to those locations. Right behind that, and sometimes simultaneously with that, we provided impact assessment reports and photography. Even now, there are CAP members that are compiling reports and continuing to plan for the next operational periods. We’ll kick off again early in the morning. In the roundest of numbers, we had approximately 100 personnel involved, flew 14 aircraft, and logged about 85 hours in the air today. We expect similar numbers tomorrow. We have received all of our taskings and have planned and sorted those amongst several aircrew. Kudos to everyone involved in our operations from the mission base staff to the aircrews to the communications operators stationed all over the state. We have had incredible work by Col Lindler and his helpers at our state EOC for the past 72 hours or so - truly an integral part of the response effort being put forth by all levels of government. Outstanding work by the members of Columbia and Lexington Composite Squadrons who were called and showed up within minutes yesterday to prepare and staff our headquarters. They were back today making sure everyone had what they needed, no one went hungry, or didn’t have a place to stay. Mrs. Kim Phillips, our Wing Administrator worked (approved) overtime - well above and beyond the call of duty. There are so many names out there deserving of commendation and recognition - we’ll definitely get to that. Included in all of this, we have two aircrews and aircraft each from North Carolina and Georgia flying with us right now. A GA-8 airvan and an aircrew from Maryland arrived today, and are tasked first thing in the morning. We have a Cessna 206 coming from North Carolina tomorrow. Every bit of support we have asked for we have received without hesitation. This is the concept of No Borders, No Boundaries in action, and it is working better than you could ever imagine for the citizens of the Palmetto State. Thanks to everyone who is here, who will be here later, or who just volunteered to come. Kudos to Lt Col Jay Langley, the MER/DO, who simply answered the phone, heard my request for him to “just handle” coordination of all out-of-wing assets, and said, “I got it.” Tomorrow we will start the day with more SAR runs in flooded and flood-prone areas. We’ll then continue to work on Aerial Photography and Impact Assessment missions. As was so prevalent today, we will also have a couple of aircraft and aircrews set aside to fly federal, state and local officials that need to see what they’re dealing with. Please be sure your minds are on safety as we continue forward. It’s very easy to get your mind so wrapped around what we need to do that we forget about the little things that can cause incidents and accidents. We have mission requirements and we need to meet them, but remember to plan your response so that you can respond to those needs safely, effectively, and efficiently (in that order.) I am immensely proud be a leader and a servant in the Civil Air Patrol today. You should be too. Semper Vigilans, Col Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP South Carolina Wing Commander (W) 803.490.0180 (C) 803.261.4981 U.S. Air Force Auxiliary GoCivilAirPatrol.com scwgcap.org _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao _______________________________________________ Subscribed Email Address: karenc at smyth.net CAP-PAO mailing list CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenc at smyth.net Fri Oct 9 16:44:27 2015 From: karenc at smyth.net (Karen Copenhaver) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 17:44:27 -0400 Subject: [PAO] Fwd: SCWG Release No. 4 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5618353B.2090908@smyth.net> /ALCON: The attached is the latest release (#4) update on CAP's efforts and missions regarding the flooding in SC for your information. You are welcome and encouraged to share the information with your fellow units and members. Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CA{ Deputy Director, Public Affairs Middle East Region/ Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com Greeting, The following news release and infographic was sent to the national media today. NHQ/PA commends Capt Bill Vendramin of the Indiana Wing who created the attached infographic in support of this release. Regards, Julie cid:9A18312A-A445-4805-8F77-524A881DDED9 *Julie DeBardelaben*** HQ CAP Deputy Director of Public Affairs (O) 877.227.9142 ext. 250 (O) 334.953.7593 (DSN) 493.7748 ext. 250 (C) 334.549.2224 U.S. Air Force Auxiliary _gocivilairpatrol.com _ __ FB Flickr Twitter white-large-chiclet -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/png Size: 23607 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/png Size: 1873 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/png Size: 2426 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: INWG_Infographic_South_Carolina.png Type: image/png Size: 772692 bytes Desc: not available URL: From Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov Fri Oct 9 19:37:46 2015 From: Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov (Michael Marek, Lt Col, CAP) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 19:37:46 -0500 Subject: [PAO] SC Flood Response Overview In-Reply-To: <561832D3.2080205@smyth.net> References: <5617C200.3040703@smyth.net> <5617C347.7030906@smyth.net> <56182C4E.8020409@sm.capnhq.gov> <561832D3.2080205@smyth.net> Message-ID: <56185DDA.2050308@sm.capnhq.gov> Yes, please. I can forward to other places, plus we have a lot of people on this list who may get the information faster via our list. :-) -Michael- On 10/9/2015 4:34 PM, Karen Copenhaver wrote: > I'll be happy to do so. I received release #4 about an hour ago, > however, it seems to have been sent to all the wing PAOs and wing > commanders. Would you like for me to forward it to this list so > others may also follow? > > Karen~ > > On 10/9/2015 5:06 PM, Michael Marek, Lt Col, CAP wrote: >> Thanks for sending this, Karen. Please feel free to send any further >> updates, as appropriate. >> >> >> -Michael- >> >> >> >> >> On 10/9/2015 8:38 AM, Karen Copenhaver wrote: >>> ALCON: >>> >>> I have just completed a phone call with SC Wing Commander, Col >>> Francis Smith, and he as given permission to share this overview of >>> the situation in South Carolina, their efforts and the support they >>> are receiving throughout this disaster relief effort. Please feel >>> free to share with your fellow units and members. >>> >>> Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP >>> Deputy Director, Public Affairs >>> Middle East Region >>> 276-783-8022 >>> >>> Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary >>> >>> http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com >>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> >>> *From:*Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC [mailto:fhsmith at scwgcap.org] >>> *Sent:* Thursday, October 08, 2015 7:28 PM >>> *To:* scwg at scwgcap.org; scwg-cc at scwgcap.org >>> *Cc:* Maj Gen Joe Vazquez; Brig Gen Larry Myrick; John Knowles; Col >>> Dennis Barron; Jay Langley; Col David Crawford; Richard Greenwood; >>> Lt Col Andrea Van Buren; Boykin Roseborough; Larry Ragland; icp; >>> mark.obrien.3 at us.af.mil; losc at bellsouth.net; opscenter at capnhq.gov >>> *Subject:* [SCWG] [ICP] SC Flood Response Overview - Thursday >>> >>> Good evening, everyone. >>> >>> Another good day working for the good citizens of the Palmetto >>> State. At the moment, we have flown approximately 20 sorties and 46 >>> hours. >>> >>> The taskings for today were more focused. Over the last two days, >>> we have flown a LOT of “get out there and see what’s happening” type >>> sorties. With all of the grids we flew, we had a lot more activity >>> in the sky yesterday. >>> >>> We’re still prominent today, but flew about half of the hours >>> because the areas of concern are now more specifically identified. >>> The Georgetown area is of major concern starting right away, as >>> floodwaters are cresting further and further downstream. >>> >>> *Be clear on this:* we are not responding to a disaster that has >>> occurred. We are responding to a disaster that is still in >>> progress. Major flooding is still occurring and will continue to >>> occur through the weekend. This is even more dangerous because >>> people are seeing the blue skies and assuming that all is okay. >>> This is resulting in many, many stranded people. >>> >>> Today CAP performed Impact Assessment and SAR flights over the most >>> affected rivers and in flood prone areas. Unfortunately, most of >>> the flood prone areas are very large in the flatlands, and water is >>> literally running over the ground from river to river in some areas. >>> We have no real way of knowing if we saved lives today, but I’m >>> betting we did. CAP aircraft identified a number of flooded and >>> isolated areas, noted where there were vehicles in distress, located >>> two unsafe bridges that had no law enforcement or other barricades, >>> and provided hundreds more in the way of IA photos. We also flew >>> roads in and out of Georgetown helping SCEMD folks plan for >>> evacuations and areas that are likely to flood and thus close roads >>> needed for those evacuations. We are again getting real time >>> information to the EOC from the air and help is getting to the right >>> places. >>> >>> We had three new (in the original wrapper) camera systems arrive >>> from the NOC today. These are small Garmin cameras that attach to a >>> wing strut and take “straight down” photos on a particular flight >>> profile. We’ll be taking a look at the first sortie using those >>> cameras tonight - we have high hopes but we are the test case for >>> sure. If we had good success, we’ll be flying all three of them >>> tomorrow. >>> >>> Today, we flew aircraft from SC, NC, VA, and MD wings, with thanks >>> to the two aircrews from Georgia that were ready to come at a >>> moment’s notice. This is allowing our aircrews and mission base >>> staff to be rotated out a bit for some badly needed and well earned >>> rest. We appreciate you, and hopefully we’ll see you in the next >>> few days. Our mission base staff was augmented by a GA-8 and >>> several van-loads of cadets from Lowcountry, Columbia, and >>> Lexington, as well as senior staff from North Carolina and Maryland. >>> We set up a debriefing section in the main meeting room at SC Wing >>> HQ, and have support personnel in that section to help get WMIRS >>> populated with complete and meaningful debriefing information. That >>> information is also being cross-decked quickly to the EOC. We are >>> taking advantage of our fiber connection to the internet here to >>> upload photos to FEMA at rates about 30 times faster than typical >>> high-speed internet. >>> >>> We are very fortunate to have had donations or steep discounts from >>> vendors who have brought us food, water, and soft drinks. We are >>> well cared for here! >>> >>> Tomorrow we will be flying affected and likely affected roads, >>> possibly with the new camera system, both early and late in the day. >>> We also expect to receive a long list of photo targets (spot >>> targets) along 4 or 5 of the affected rivers. We won’t receive >>> those until in the morning, but that list will be completed in the >>> morning and repeated in the afternoon for comparison purposes. We >>> won’t be launching the majority of our aircraft (or don’t expect to) >>> until after 9am, which is a welcome short break. >>> >>> Again, so very blessed to have had great assistance from everyone >>> involved. Thank you all for your continued efforts. *You are making >>> a difference.* >>> >>> *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* >>> >>> South Carolina Wing Commander >>> >>> (W) >>> >>> 803.490.0180 >>> >>> (C) >>> >>> 803.261.4981 >>> >>> U.S.Air Force Auxiliary >>> >>> GoCivilAirPatrol.com >>> >>> scwgcap.org >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>> On Oct 6, 2015, at 10:17 PM, Francis Smith, Col, CAP SCWG/CC >>>> > wrote: >>>> >>>> SC Wing and friends: >>>> >>>> Today the Civil Air Patrol really got spun up as part of the SAR >>>> and disaster relief effort in South Carolina. The weather was >>>> great in some areas, good enough in others, and unfortunately >>>> almost good enough in a few places. Our priority has been on >>>> flying and identifying locations that need or will shortly need SAR >>>> assets and getting rescue to those locations. Right behind that, >>>> and sometimes simultaneously with that, we provided impact >>>> assessment reports and photography. Even now, there are CAP >>>> members that are compiling reports and continuing to plan for the >>>> next operational periods. We’ll kick off again early in the morning. >>>> >>>> In the roundest of numbers, we had approximately 100 personnel >>>> involved, flew 14 aircraft, and logged about 85 hours in the air >>>> today. We expect similar numbers tomorrow. We have received all >>>> of our taskings and have planned and sorted those amongst several >>>> aircrew. Kudos to everyone involved in our operations from the >>>> mission base staff to the aircrews to the communications operators >>>> stationed all over the state. We have had incredible work by Col >>>> Lindler and his helpers at our state EOC for the past 72 hours or >>>> so - truly an integral part of the response effort being put forth >>>> by all levels of government. Outstanding work by the members of >>>> Columbia and Lexington Composite Squadrons who were called and >>>> showed up within minutes yesterday to prepare and staff our >>>> headquarters. They were back today making sure everyone had what >>>> they needed, no one went hungry, or didn’t have a place to stay. >>>> Mrs. Kim Phillips, our Wing Administrator worked (approved) >>>> overtime - well above and beyond the call of duty. There are so >>>> many names out there deserving of commendation and recognition - >>>> we’ll definitely get to that. >>>> >>>> Included in all of this, we have two aircrews and aircraft each >>>> from North Carolina and Georgia flying with us right now. A GA-8 >>>> airvan and an aircrew from Maryland arrived today, and are tasked >>>> first thing in the morning. We have a Cessna 206 coming from North >>>> Carolina tomorrow. Every bit of support we have asked for we have >>>> received without hesitation. This is the concept of No Borders, No >>>> Boundaries in action, and it is working better than you could ever >>>> imagine for the citizens of the Palmetto State. Thanks to everyone >>>> who is here, who will be here later, or who just volunteered to >>>> come. Kudos to Lt Col Jay Langley, the MER/DO, who simply answered >>>> the phone, heard my request for him to “just handle” coordination >>>> of all out-of-wing assets, and said, “I got it.” >>>> >>>> Tomorrow we will start the day with more SAR runs in flooded and >>>> flood-prone areas. We’ll then continue to work on Aerial >>>> Photography and Impact Assessment missions. As was so prevalent >>>> today, we will also have a couple of aircraft and aircrews set >>>> aside to fly federal, state and local officials that need to see >>>> what they’re dealing with. >>>> >>>> Please be sure your minds are on safety as we continue forward. >>>> It’s very easy to get your mind so wrapped around what we need to >>>> do that we forget about the little things that can cause incidents >>>> and accidents. We have mission requirements and we need to meet >>>> them, but remember to plan your response so that you can respond to >>>> those needs safely, effectively, and efficiently (in that order.) >>>> >>>> I am immensely proud be a leader and a servant in the Civil Air >>>> Patrol today. You should be too. >>>> >>>> Semper Vigilans, >>>> >>>> *Col**Francis H. Smith, Jr., CAP* >>>> >>>> South Carolina Wing Commander >>>> >>>> (W) >>>> >>>> 803.490.0180 >>>> >>>> (C) >>>> >>>> 803.261.4981 >>>> >>>> U.S.Air Force Auxiliary >>>> >>>> GoCivilAirPatrol.com >>>> >>>> scwgcap.org >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Subscribed Email Address:Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov >>> CAP-PAO mailing list >>> CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org >>> http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Subscribed Email Address:karenc at smyth.net >> CAP-PAO mailing list >> CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org >> http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao > > > > _______________________________________________ > Subscribed Email Address: Michael.Marek at sm.capnhq.gov > CAP-PAO mailing list > CAP-PAO at lists.sempervigilans.org > http://lists.sempervigilans.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-pao -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenc at smyth.net Sat Oct 10 09:40:54 2015 From: karenc at smyth.net (Karen Copenhaver) Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2015 10:40:54 -0400 Subject: [PAO] Fwd: [SPAM-LOW] CAP SC Flood Response Mission Update; New Garmin Virb Camera System Used By CAP Airmen In-Reply-To: <218499BE1751450599CB0D8F6E8AEA6A@mhamricklt> References: <218499BE1751450599CB0D8F6E8AEA6A@mhamricklt> Message-ID: <56192376.1080208@smyth.net> ALCON: The following is the latest #5 release regarding CAP's response to the SC flooding. Please share with your fellow units and members, and as stated below, you are encouraged to post on your social media networks. Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP Deputy Director, Public Affairs Middle East Region Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [SPAM-LOW] CAP SC Flood Response Mission Update; New Garmin Virb Camera System Used By CAP Airmen Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2015 10:04:19 -0400 From: Matt Hamrick To: 'Matt Hamrick' New Garmin Virb Camera System Used By CAP Airmen All: Please see the latest press release (below) and infographic (attached) from CAP NHQ. Unit PAOs, please share these with your units’ members and your local media contacts, and post them to your local units’ facebook pages, websites, or other media channels. NHQ PA staff has also already sent these press releases to all media outlets in SC, but if you have direct media contacts you are still permitted and encouraged to send these directly to them. Finally, if you forward this or otherwise send this or any email to several recipients, please remember the best practice is to create an undisclosed recipients list or send it to yourself and blind copy all other recipients. I have been guilty of forgetting to do this, but it is the preferred practice so that each recipient does not receive the email address of every other recipient. Thank you all for the outstanding work you are doing for CAP and for South Carolina. Semper Vigilans! Capt Matthew D. Hamrick, CAP South Carolina Wing Legal Officer South CarolinaWing Public Affairs Officer (C) 843.693.4700 Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary http://GoCivilAirPatrol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:*Cox, Steve [mailto:SCOX at capnhq.gov] *Sent:* Friday, October 09, 2015 5:06 PM *To:* Matt Hamrick *Subject:* FW: New Garmin Virb Camera System Used By CAP Airmen Matt, hope you had a good day in the sky. Here is today’s release and infographic as distributed to the media. Steve *From:*Steve Cox [mailto:scox at capnhq.gov] *Sent:* Friday, October 09, 2015 3:47 PM *To:* Cox, Steve *Subject:* New Garmin Virb Camera System Used By CAP Airmen **October 9, 2015** **Enhanced technology improves Civil Air Patrol’s flood damage assessment imagery** **COLUMBIA****, South Carolina **– Civil Air Patrol airmen photographing the flood damage in South Carolina began using a new tool Thursday in their emergency response arsenal – a Garmin Virb camera system that attaches to their planes’ wing strut. The cameras capture ground images directly below, which allows officials to make much faster use of the images. South Carolina Wing officials received three of the new cameras Thursday from CAP’s National Operations Center at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. They were first used on damage assessment flights last night. The camera systems and associated online tools to deliver these images were developed through tests with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1st Air Force (AFNORTH) and Civil Air Patrol over the last year, said John Desmarais, CAP director of operations. So far this week, Civil Air Patrol has provided 3,650 aerial photos of the South Carolina flood damage. Aircrews have made 110 flights, spending 202.9 hours in the sky above the state. About 187 CAP members have worked in the air and on the ground in support of the flooding response. Aircrews from South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia and Virginia are flying under the direction of 1st Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. A total of 21 CAP planes have been deployed for the South Carolina mission. Members of the public are invited to join CAP members in ranking the aerial photos; the crowdsourcing website is http://fema.maps.arcgis.com/home/. The crowdsourcing process expedites emergency officials’ ability to identify critical infrastructure needs. CAP is also conducting search and rescue flights. So far, CAP has directed emergency officials to numerous vehicles in distress, located two unsafe bridges that had no law enforcement or other barricades and flown over roads in and out of Georgetown to help state emergency management plan for evacuations. **Media: See Mission Overview attachment** //Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force, which consists of Regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 85 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 70 lives annually. Civil Air Patrol’s 58,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its Airmen additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. Civil Air Patrol received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. Congressionally chartered 74 years ago, the nonprofit organization also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.capvolunteernow.com for more information. // **CAP contact:** Maj. Brenda Reed Middle East Region Public Information Officer breed at mdcap.org 410-279-0292 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: