HEADQUARTERS ARKANSAS WING CIVIL AIR PATROL UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AUXILIARY 2201 Crisp Drive Little Rock, AR 72202 (501) 376-1729 CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN Introduction. IAW CAPR 190-1, Civil Air Patrol Public Affairs Program, Arkansas Wing maintains a Public Relations Crisis Communications Plan. This plan defines Public Relations procedures to guide Wing staff in response to an emergent event. Purpose and Need. CAP Regulation 190-1§7a(3) requires every CAP unit to “develop a crisis communications plan to ensure a rapid and effective response during an emergency that may damage the organization’s reputation if mishandled.” Authority and Responsibility. This Crisis Communication Plan has been created in order to outline the mechanism by which the commander and other senior leaders within the Wing, Region and at CAP NHQ may be provided with timely information, guidance, advice and support regarding internal and external communications and messaging strategies during emergency or crisis situations involving Civil Air Patrol personnel. This plan augments, and does not supersede, the chain-of-command, Region or NHQ policies, Delegations of Authority, or Memorandums of Understanding. Goals and Objectives. The Crisis Communications Team is charged with developing and executing the release of information regarding any kind of non-standard incident in order to: • Develop clear, concise, unified messages and message delivery strategies during a crisis. • Provide timely, accurate and updated information to CAP leadership, members, stakeholders, the news media and the public. • Protect the reputation and integrity of Civil Air Patrol by providing reasonable media access and by releasing clear, straightforward and honest information in accordance with CAP regulations and policies. • Act proactively to head off or correct any misinformation or misperceptions regarding CAP and the event. Reasons for possible team activation. The team can be activated any time when perceived that a situation or incident has occurred or is developing involving the Wing or subordinate units which has the potential to attract the unplanned attention of stakeholders, the news media or the public, especially when it may cast CAP in an unfavorable light if not handled in a timely, honest and forthright manner. Examples include: • Participation by CAP members from the Wing in response to a multi-state or national statewide emergency or natural disaster. • A fatal accident to any participant in a CAP-sponsored activity within the Wing. • A fatal accident involving a CAP member from the Wing participating in any CAP activity or emergency response within or outside the Wing. • A serious accident involving an aircraft assigned to the Wing or any subordinate unit. Page 1 of 30 CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN – ARKANSAS WING 16 SEP 2016 • The arrest, incarceration, or charging of a felony or crime of a Wing CAP member. Initiation of team activation. Any member of the Wing staff, the Commander or Vice Commander of a subordinate unit, or any member of the Wing’s Crisis Communications Team may initiate the process to activate the Wing’s Crisis Communications Team at any time by contacting any member of the team. The team shall be considered to have been activated once a team member has had a chance to speak in person, by phone or by other means with the requesting party or when a team member has affirmatively responded to a text message or email from the requesting party. Basic information to gather from the requesting party includes: • Nature of crisis • Date and time of event • Synopsis of event • Response actions taken • Number and names of involved persons/assets • Extent of damage • Source of information Initial response. Upon activation, the requesting party will immediately provide a succinct briefing of the event to the member of the Crisis Communications Team who was contacted. Methods other than by text, such as email or telephone, are preferred. The requesting party will be advised not to share information with others without further consultation with the Crisis Communications Team and to remain available for contact for at least 90 minutes for follow-up inquiries. The Wing Commander and PAO will determine if an official statement should be prepared and released. If warranted, they and the CCT will develop three talking points and prepare answers to specific questions that may be asked by the media or provided in the media statement (release). In some cases, it may be appropriate for CAP to make an initial announcement of an accident or incident. In others, it may be better to wait and "see if the media notices." Goals of first team meeting or call. The Team Lead, the requesting party, or both, will provide a succinct briefing to the assembled team members regarding the incident or event. Upon conclusion of the briefing, the Crisis Communications Team must decide whether circumstances warrant activation and are within the capabilities of the local team. If at the conclusion of the briefing the Crisis Communications Team determines that a management response of an Incident Management Team or Region staff is warranted, the Team Lead will make such a request to a member of the Region Staff. Multiple Crisis Communication Teams. Should a crisis have high severity or affect a large geographic area, Crisis Communications Teams (CCT) may be activated at multiple levels. The PAO at each level should coordinate promptly with higher headquarters when a CCT has been activated. When a determination is made as to who is the primary source for media information, other CCTs should provide support and be prepared to reinforce the same messages if contacted by the media. Page 2 of 30 CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN – ARKANSAS WING 16 SEP 2016 Crisis Communications Team Ongoing Activities. During the course of the crisis, the PAO and CCT will provide the public and CAP membership with basic information and updates via news and social media, and provide directions on how to obtain further advice or information. Crisis Communications Team Recovery Period. The PAO will issue media updates as long as necessary, then scale back CCT activities as warranted. Upon termination of the crisis situation, the PAO will schedule a meeting of all key players to complete an After Action Report. The AAR will then be forwarded to the Wing Commander and other appropriate leaders, and to higher headquarters Public Affairs. CAP, media and primary stakeholder contacts. The Region will prepare and maintain a list of Region Command and Public Affairs staff and of major national media outlets with reporters and correspondents in the Region. Subordinate units are tasked with preparing and maintaining a contact list of all area news media outlets serving their home community, and of other important community stakeholders including local government and law enforcement officials. Contact information for the Crisis Communication Team is found in Section 3. This list will be updated annually by March 31st or as staff changes mandate. Information distribution methods. The Wing has established the following media points to electronically distribute timely information to the public: Email [email protected] (Wing PAO) Web site http://arwingcap.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ArkansasWing Approval, distribution and dissemination. This plan is effective upon review and approval of the Wing Commander. The latest version of the plan will be submitted to Region Public Affairs for annual review by March 31st of each calendar year. Copies of the approved plan will be distributed to Wing staff members by April 30th of each calendar year. Approved updates to the plan will be immediately distributed to members of the Crisis Communications Team, Region and NHQ. Annual Review. This plan is prepared by Arkansas Wing’s Office of Public Affairs and submitted to the Arkansas Wing Commander for review by March 31st of each calendar year, and becomes effective immediately upon his/her approval. Promulgation. This plan, upon approval of the Arkansas Wing Commander, will be made available on the arwingcap.org website for distribution. Submitted: 16 SEP 16 Approved: ___________ (date) Bradley W. Kidder, Jr., Capt, CAP Art Formanek, Col, CAP ARWG Public Affairs Officer ARWG Commander Page 3 of 30 CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN – ARKANSAS WING 16 SEP 2016 Section 1: Crisis Communication Team Contact and Role List Crisis Communications Team Members: The following are the standing members of Arkansas Wing’s Crisis Communication Team: • Arkansas Wing Commander • Arkansas Wing Chief of Staff • Arkansas Wing Public Affairs • Arkansas Wing Chaplain • Arkansas Wing Director of Operations • Arkansas Wing Director of Safety Contact information for the Crisis Communication Team is found in Section 3. The team may be augmented by other members from the Wing, Region, and National Headquarters as appropriate. Team Lead. The contacted Crisis Communications Team member will serve as the Team Lead until relieved of such duty by appropriate command authority. The Team Lead will make arrangements for and notify all standing team members and any other appropriate individuals and ask them to participate in a face-to-face meeting or conference call within 30 minutes of team activation. If fewer than three members of the Crisis Communications Team are available to participate in a meeting or conference call, the Team Lead will contact the Region Public Affairs Office and ask them to take over response to the incident or event from the Wing. Team Assignments. If the Crisis Communications Team decides to respond to the incident or event, the following decisions and assignments shall be accomplished: • Select spokesperson • Designate primary contact for Wing members • Designate primary contact with Region staff • Establish need for- and assignment of a family liaison • Activation of an Incident Command Posts and/or Media Center • Agreement on three bulleted statements to serve as initial talking points • Determine time and method or location of next team meeting Page 4 of 30 CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN – ARKANSAS WING 16 SEP 2016 Section 2: Command and Media Center Locations Incident Command Post and/or Media Center Locations.