Augments crisis communication case study of Air Force's reaction to having lost six nuclear missiles in 2007. Find the presentation at http://storify.com/higginbomb/lost-missiles-and-lost-messages

1. Lost Missiles, Lost Messages
Understanding crisis
communication, the high-reliability
organization concept and military
public affairs
A supplement to study’s research proposal, which is also
attached to the presentation

2. What is a Crisis?
• “The perception of an unpredictable event that
threatens important expectancies of stakeholders
and can seriously impact an organization’s
performance and generate negative outcomes.” -Coombs
– Unpredictable
– Threatens expectancies
– Impacts performance
– Perception

3. Communicating in a Crisis
• Normal rules don’t apply during a crisis
– Shortened response times
– Impact on all organizational functions
– Greater emphasis on accuracy and consistency in
messages
• Organizations should always be prepared for a
crisis
– Crisis management plan
– Crisis communication plan
• Precrisis stage

4. High-Reliability Organizations
• This case study focuses on Air Force response
through the HRO lens
• HROs are organizations with missions in which
failure could lead to potential catastrophe
– Concept has been applied to numerous operations
• Prisoner transport
• Airport security
• Naval flight operations
• Coal mining
• Nuclear operations
– Increased importance for crisis preparedness

5. High-Reliability Organizations
• HROs share many of these common traits:
– Practice mindfulness
• Preoccupation with potential for failure
• Deference to expertise
– Centralized command with decentralized decision-
making authority
– Team members share common understanding of goals
– Constant operational training
– Regular assessment of plans and execution
– Redundant operations and safety checks
– Highly scrutinized by stakeholders and regulators
– Show evidence of organizational learning

6. United States Air Force
• Only military organization in the world to use
nuclear weapons in combat (Army Air Corps)
– Japan, 1945
• Has played constant role in nuclear weapons-
handling and deterrence mission
• Two Bent Spear incidents prior to 2007
– 1966 – four bombs lost in Spain/Mediterranean Sea
– 1968 – B-52 crashed on Greenland sea ice with four
bombs in payload
• Three AF units currently charged with
maintenance of service’s nuclear weapons
– 2007 mission was part of extended campaign to retire
400 AGM-129 missiles

7. Air Force Doctrine Document 2-5.3
• Governs Air Force Public Affairs
– “Maximum disclosure of timely and accurate
information as rapidly as possible”
– Does not mention crisis communication
– Says PA ops should be incorporated in operations
– Emphasizes trust with stakeholders
• Support operations
• Aid in recruitment
– Must be a balance between security and transparency
• Cannot release sensitive operational information
• Cannot withhold information simply because it is
unflattering

8. Military Public Affairs
• Military public affairs officers are considered
special staff
– Have direct ear of commander
– Are often several steps lower in rank
• For first time in 11 years, current Air Force chief of
public affairs is a general officer
– Rank gap allows commanders to ignore public
affairs guidance in many situations
– Other military policies can trump AFDD 2-5.3
(we’ll see this happen)

9. Military-Media Relationship
• Long history of difficulty in relationship heading
into 21st century
– Vietnam
• Some research points to media coverage creating public
backlash against the war
– Grenada
• Journalists weren’t allowed on the ground
– Panama
• Journalists complained about receiving little notice prior to
invasion
• Cheney: Information flow was a problem government didn’t
trust the media to solve
– 1991 Gulf War
• Military exercised pre-publication approval process

10. Crisis Communication?
• Considering this information, did the incidents of
August/September 2007 constitute a crisis for the
Air Force?
– Unpredictable event
• Redundant safety measures should have prevented this
– Negative impact on operations
• Nuclear operations immediately halted
• Nuclear surety certifications revoked
• Firings of high-ranking officers
– Exacerbated by later discovery of mistaken shipment
of classified nuclear components to Taiwan