Cut to pieces at nighttime checkpoints after they failed to stop" is how the international press characterized the U.S. Marine engagement of vehicles that ran checkpoints after curfew in the early weeks of Operation Secure Tomorrow, the security mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti from February to June 2004.
Local press reports reflected public concern that the Marines were unjustified in the shootings. For the next two weeks, Marine Brigadier General Ronald Coleman, the multinational interim force (MIF) commander, worked with the local press to ensure the Haitian people had a clear understanding of the procedures at the checkpoints and the mission of the task force. The commander's work with the press, and most importantly, the professionalism of the Marines on the streets, helped improve the situation at the checkpoints.
Military forces must cooperate with the news media to support battlefield objectives. Working with the press can help save lives and make life easier for the Marines on the ground. On the strategic level it can build public confidence in the mission through openness and honesty from the command.
Operation Secure Tomorrow exemplified a military-media relationship that worked to provide the local population with the latest information on the task force's objectives and procedures. It serves as a potential model from which to approach future operations.
Operation Secure Tomorrow
In February 2004, the United Nations authorized a multinational interim force (MIF) to conduct security and stability operations in Haiti and to facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid. The Air Contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, became the core of the MIF with forces from France, Canada, and Chile. A combined joint task force headquarters formed and was led by Brigadier General Coleman, commanding general of the 2nd Force Service Support Group, also out of Camp Lejeune.
During the operations in March, Marines conducted security patrols and manned vehicle checkpoints throughout the city after the 10 p.m. curfew in order to search for illegal weapons. The patrols received sporadic gunfire, and one Marine was shot in the arm. Threatened by vehicles that ran the checkpoints, Marines fired upon two cars in a two-week period, killing one driver and injuring a second.
Press reports reflected public concern of unwarranted shootings by the Marines. A Reuters story reported that:
New Haitian police chief Leon Charles said a growing fear of the "trigger-happy" Americans was causing problems. "U.S. is losing the hearts and minds of people because there's so many cases of shootings," Charles told Reuters. "The Marines-they are military. They are very, very nervous. But the commander sent out a note saying, hey, we need to calm down, Haiti is not Iraq."
The MIF Creole linguist team monitoring local Haitian radio broadcasts also reported the same concern expressed in local media reports.
Take it to the People
Based on analysis of the media response and input from the Haitian-American Marine advisor, Brigadier General Coleman decided to go to the Haitian press to address these concerns. Radio is the most significant medium in Haiti. Specific radio stations were selected for their reach to large segments of the populace.
The commander conducted a radio interview and the next day the staff evaluated the press reaction. With balanced reporting from the first station, he conducted another interview with a competing station that afternoon. This second interview was a live radio call-in show with the general taking questions from some of the three million residents of Port-au-Prince. The flood of calls varied from lectures about checkpoints to gratitude for the Marines' and the multinational presence.
Brigadier General Coleman worked to ensure Haitians understood the purpose and procedures at the checkpoints and the mission of the MIF. The interviews also gave the general the ability to inform the populace about other important multinational force missions and to request their support or assistance. Additionally, the MIF spokesman addressed the issue at press conferences.
Tension and conflict at the checkpoints subsided shortly afterward. Clearly, the performance of the Marines at the checkpoints, and their efforts to ensure clarity of the procedures, was the most significant contribution to the success of the mission. Public affairs work supports the mission but does not accomplish it. The action of the Marines on the ground, their sound performance of a sound policy, is the only guarantee of success. Conversely, public affairs becomes extremely difficult when a sound policy is implemented poorly or when one attempts to implement an unsound policy.
A successful public affairs program does not only respond to issues-it identifies and addresses issues before they become problems. An aggressive public affairs program supports the mission by ensuring the public has a clear understanding of the mission. It helps counter disinformation, quell rumor, and provide the population with critical information.
This is important to the commander because it may save lives by helping to ensure the local population is clear on the command's policy on a variety of issues from curfew enforcement to weapons possession. This in turn may make life easier for the average Marine who must enforce the policy.
Developing the Public Affairs Plan
The public affairs plan should complement or enhance the command's mission. It must support the operational objectives. In Operation Secure Tomorrow, the public affairs plans and actions supported the MIF commander's intent and mission in several ways.
First, the plan contributed to a secure and stable environment. It facilitated the media's ability to accompany the security and stability patrols and examine the security situation at the checkpoints. Press coverage of checkpoints demonstrated the professionalism of the Marines and did much to dispel the rumors of being trigger-happy. It also assisted the provision of humanitarian assistance and the access of international humanitarian workers to the Haitian people in need. It allowed the press to cover the MIF security escort of humanitarian convoys to food distribution events.
Finally the plan made possible the provision of international assistance to the Haitian police and the Haitian Coast Guard in order to establish and maintain law and order. Public affairs facilitated a joint Haitian-U.S. Coast Guard press conference that demonstrated Haitian capability and cooperation between the forces.
Analysis is also a key component of any public affairs plan. The media situation is analyzed through several means. The local American embassy develops a daily media report. The command linguist team and G-2 may report the overnight press coverage. Linguists should constantly monitor local news. The public affairs officer (PAO) monitors the international news.
The staff must determine the day's leading stories. Not every media outlet has the same lead story so the PAO must report which story is of significant interest to most of the media. If the lead story concerns your command, you should be prepared to address the subsequent press interest.
There are many issues that interest the press, but not every issue need be addressed. The command should focus on the main effort. Attempting to address everything dilutes the importance of the effort. Have a theme and focus on it until purposefully changed. It should change as the operational objectives change.
The staff must provide fair reporting of negative events. Addressing bad news to the press is no different then briefing the boss: give them the solution without excuses. Most bad news is exceptional to the good work a unit does and can be reported in that context. However if a leader's poor judgment or performance has cost lives or resources he or she should be held accountable.
Marine leaders are given that special trust for the lives of their Marines and the local population. With that responsibility comes public scrutiny. Capable leaders trust themselves and their team and welcome that scrutiny. Additionally, public confidence is usually maintained with organizations that take responsibility for their actions, hold people accountable, and address poor performance immediately.
We continue to be on the cusp of the information revolution. News reports and images fly from the battlefield to global audiences in real time. Commanders should include their public affairs officer in the planning process. In Operation Secure Tomorrow, the commander worked with the media to support a tactical objective: safety at checkpoints. At the same time his openness contributed to an important strategic necessity: public trust in the multinational force. In previous wars some commanders may have considered working with the media too risky a proposition, now it is too risky to work without them.
Lieutenant Colonel Salas is currently the I Marine Expeditionary Force Public Affairs Officer. He has served in public affairs billets at the Department of Defense, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Pants Island, and with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic.