National Guard Response Story: Do a Better Job of Telling It to the Media

摘要

Should the National Guard include national and local media in its natural disaster response planning to more effectively present its response story. This thesis examines three recent disasters and the way in which the National Guard got its response story into the media in each case. The thesis reviews how each story aired on national television, the conversations of key leaders during the disaster, and follow-up stories once the initial disaster response was completed. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, it was such a large-scale storm that the scope of the disaster dictated the form of media it received. The Greensburg Tornado was a devastating disaster that almost completely wiped out a Midwestern town and garnered the sympathy of the President of the United States. The Coffeyville Floods were a quiet devastation that, despite the oil spill from a local refinery, received almost no national attention. The thesis evaluates the National Guard's responses to these disasters using the DOTMLPF (Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership, Personnel, Facilities) method. Secondary research questions are as follows: What is the response story the National Guard wants the public to know; Should the media be used strategically as a means of informing the people prior to a natural disaster; Would civil media be a viable means of communicating National Guard efforts after a disaster; and Can the use of media in pre-disaster preparation improve the response capabilities of first responders during a national disaster. The author recommends that each State organize a Mobile Public Affairs Detachment and use it to do a better job of telling the National Guard response story. National-level media must be included in disaster response planning at the highest levels to prevent the use of the media as solely a marketing and recruiting tool.