ryanerickson.com :: mixing Coast Guard, social media, and life

VADM Papp has begun the nomination to confirmation process… now what?

Ryan Erickson — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:30:00 +0000

Not quite Admiral but more than a Vice Admiral...

As most people know, and to which I referenced only a few hours ago, VADM Robert J. Papp Jr. went before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for his nomination hearing; which in short is the start of his Congressional nomination to confirmation process (short of actually being nominated by the President/Secretary). So now what?

Well this step isn’t quite over yet; at the end of his hearing Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) left the floor open for others to have opinions/questions if need-be through 24 March. If (or rather when) the Committee approves his nomination it’s then handed over to the Senate for full confirmation. Kind a long process but I guess it should be for such an important job. Once that’s done and over with the Coast Guard will begin its preparations for a services most important Change of Command.

It’ll no doubt be grand and I feel fortunate enough to be on this coast as might possibly be able to see it- I was in Seattle when ADM Allen took over from ADM Collins. And even if I’m not able to see it up in Washington D.C. I’m fairly certain it’ll be put out on a webcast… I hope.

However, Wednesday 25 May 2010 is only the start of a new administration (do we even call it that?) as the next two days following the change of our Master and Commander are perhaps the most important two days of our service- and it really only happens on this scale every four years. All of our services highest ranking Officers and Civilians will converge on HQ and begin the transformation of the current Coast Guard to the new. It’s here where we’ll find out (well perhaps not you and I but our bosses bosses) the way ahead for the next few months/years. What’s going to change that’s hasn’t already been announced? What’s been announced that won’t change at all? Not to many people know- and those that do won’t be spilling the beans anytime soon. Nor would I want them to as it’ll kind of ruin the surprise won’t it?

Though we still have some 60+ days to go you can feel change in the air. And though I haven’t any qualms with the Rockstar known to us as ADM Thad Allen one has to admit that when change is about to happen it’s always exciting. Well- that is unless you’re going from one age bracket to another and you don’t even get government benefits for doing so.

Exclusive: Amidst a budget crisis USCG Sector Juneau is staying ahead in technology

Ryan Erickson — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:53:54 +0000

Yesterday many of us watched VADM Papp speak to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation answering their questions as they prepare to vote on 24 March 2010 on their recommendation of whether VADM Papp should be confirmed or not as out 24th Commandant (watch it here, starts at about minute 50:00). In his testimony to the Committee he spoke of the budget crunch that our service is to endure and spoke further to mitigation techniques we’re to us in the near future; nothing earth shattering as we’ve heard most of them in the recent weeks. None the less hearing them come from his voice box made it a really more real.

Well leave it to the great Northern Territory to buck the system in a time of a national crisis. You’ll note here in the associated photo that a highly advance Blue Suiter is sitting in front of what many consider the most advanced piece of machinery in the history of Alaska; and while we here in the lower 48 might consider this an obsolete piece of equipment I’m fairly cretin that our fellow Coasties in Alaska are more than happy to get something that may, for the first time, use electricity. For those of you who are too young to know what this is it’s called an Electric Typewriter (see the history of such machines here). You’ll note it has no screen… weird ‘eh?

I’m not sure how Sector Juneau was able to afford such luxuries in these dire times but none the less they can. Oh, hey, wasn’t there a gold-rush up there recently?

Note:
This great photo was found on the Sector Juneau Facebook Fan Page… and you too should become a fan of theirs as they currently maintain one of best unit Facebook pages going (though there are others like Station Galveston). And in all fairness to the LCDR in the picture here- I don’t know him, but he looks like he knows how to use one of those things. The caption of the photo on the site was: Our Logistics Department takes advantage of cutting edge technology – the latest IBM electrics are cobalt blue.

Reminder: Today is VADM Papp’s Nomination hearing… wanna’ watch it?

Ryan Erickson — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:23:05 +0000

Most people won’t be able to watch it if you’re at work… as I will be. But none the less for those of you at home or working in an ESU where you have “different” rules and computers you may indeed be able to watch it. On C-SPAN’s CapitalHearings.com it’s listed and watchable; however, not on our workstation computers. If you want to watch make sure you have Real Media Player installed or a program compatible with the .rm file format. The hearing will start at 1000 Eastern and you can view it here (or if that doesn’t work go here and work your way down to SDG-50 (10:00 am) and click).

Just note from here, if all agree on his nomination, it’ll go to Congress for final confirmation… then we’ll have our newest Commandant named. But to be fair, as it was pointed out to me, if today’s hearing goes as planned (where he is recommended) then is almost certain the “ominus dominus you’re the CG’s Commandant in May” will be given.

UPDATE: Also catch it here.

Have a policy issue in the USCG Reserve Force? Here’s your chance to change it…

Ryan Erickson — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:58:45 +0000

ALCOAST 117/10 we’re given the process for submitting topics and issues that you think should be brought before the board. Though I’ve never submitted items to the RPB myself I’ve assisted in drafting a memo for a considered issue- it was enlightening to say the least.

If you have an issue that is or may be a problem for the entire Coast Guard Reserved force I encourage you to read the message and submit your ideas to the Board. Change might happen at the highest of levels but if they who are at said levels don’t have visibility of the lower level issue how do you expect them to change it?

Here’s the message- start you memo:

R 162036Z MAR 10

ALCOAST 117/10
COMDTNOTE 5725
SUBJ: 2010 RESERVE POLICY BOARD ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION
A. 14 USC 703
B. DOD DIRECTIVE 1200.17, "MANAGING THE RESERVE COMPONENTS AS AN
OPERATIONAL FORCE," OCTOBER 29, 2008
C. COAST GUARD RESERVE POLICY BOARD, COMDTINST 5725.1 (SERIES)
1. THIS MESSAGE SOLICITS CG PERSONNEL TO SUBMIT POLICY ISSUES FOR
CONSIDERATION BY THE 2010 RESERVE POLICY BOARD (RPB). THE BOARD,
MANDATED BY REF A, IS AN IMPORTANT FORUM FOR ENSURING MATTERS
AFFECTING THE OPERATIONAL RESERVE COMPONENT ARE CONSIDERED AT THE
HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE SERVICE.
2. REF B ESTABLISHES THE OVERARCHING SET OF PRINCIPLES AND
POLICIES TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT THE MANAGEMENT OF THE RESERVE
COMPONENT AS AN OPERATIONAL FORCE.
3. PER REF C, I ENCOURAGE COMMANDS, AS WELL AS ANY MEMBER, TO
SUBMIT ISSUES TO THE RPB. SUBMITTALS SHALL BE IN STANDARD COAST
GUARD MEMO FORMAT, ADDRESSED TO PRESIDENT 2010 RESERVE POLICY
BOARD, THRU THE CHAIN OF COMMAND, COPY COMDT (CG-131). COMMAND
ENDORSEMENTS ARE REQUIRED, COMMENTS ARE OPTIONAL. SUBMISSION
DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION IS 30 JUN 2010. SEND SUBMISSIONS WITH
ENDORSEMENTS TO CWO DIANNE TRAWICK VIA EMAIL AT
DIANNE.S.TRAWICK(AT)USCG.MIL.
4. ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST INCLUDE AT A MINIMUM:
 A. A STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM OR ISSUE.
 B. A SUMMARY OF EFFORTS PREVIOUSLY TAKEN TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE.
 C. RECOMMENDED CORRECTIVE ACTION.
5. ISSUES NOT SELECTED BY THE RPB FOR CONSIDERATION WILL BE
REVIEWED BY COMDT (CG-131) FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION AND
ALL ORIGINATORS WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THE DISPOSITION OF THEIR
SUBMITTAL.
6. COMMANDS AND MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO LOG ONTO CG PORTAL FOR
MORE INFORMATION VIA INTRANET AT HTTP://CGPORTAL.USCG.MIL. ON CG
PORTAL, SEARCH PLACES, TYPE THE FOLLOWING TEXT IN THE PLACE
NAME BOX "RESERVE POLICY BOARD", CLICK SUBMIT AND THEN CLICK UNDER
SEARCH RESULTS ON THE PLACE "RESERVE POLICY BOARD".
7. COMDT (CG-1311) POC IS LT YANIRA TIRADO, EMAIL
YANIRA.TIRADO(AT)USCG.MIL OR PHONE 202-475-5450.
8. RDML D. R. MAY, DIRECTOR OF RESERVE AND LEADERSHIP, SENDS.
9. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.

A humorous look at the theory of creation of Coast Guard policy

Ryan Erickson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:45:29 +0000

A reader sent this my way a few days ago and I thought it was too funny to pass up sharing. I’ll admit when I read it I was reluctant to share it but the more I thought about it the more it became clear that we, as an organization, can and have operated in the fashion described below on an occasion or two. Now granted not all of the Coast Guard’s policies follow this principal it’s easy to think back in my career and remember at least few that very well could have…

The origins of Coast Guard policy

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.

To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.

Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.

And that, my friends, is how a Coast Guard policy begins.

USCG Air Sta Sacramento CO Temporarily Relieved… hmm, I didn’t see that one coming

Ryan Erickson — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:37:59 +0000

USCG Air Station Sacramento Patch

And I really mean that- I didn’t see that one coming at all. However, it indeed has happened and it’ll be without any speculation from this Coastie- here’s the press release:

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Rear Adm. Joseph R. Castillo, Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District, has temporarily relieved Capt. James O’Connor from his duties as commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, citing a loss of confidence in the officer’s ability to command. Pending the results of an investigation, a final determination on O’Connor’s command status will be made by the commandant of the Coast Guard in Washington, D.C.

“Command of a Coast Guard unit is one of the most demanding assignments in the service and it is essential that I have complete trust and confidence in anyone holding such a position,” Castillo said. “This action does not reflect on the operational performance of the air station’s crew, which has been outstanding.”

Air Station Sacramento operates four long-range HC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft used for search and rescue as well as law enforcement, pollution response, and fisheries patrols.

In October, the air station suffered the loss of seven crewmen when one of its aircraft and a Marine Corps helicopter collided off the coast of Southern California. An investigation into the collision is ongoing, but Castillo noted that the relief is not connected to the crash. “The tragic loss of the Air Station Sacramento C-130 crew is still fresh in our minds; however, my decision regarding the relief of the commanding officer is based on issues unrelated to that incident,” Castillo said.

O’Connor has been temporarily reassigned to the Eleventh District staff in Alameda.

Press release can be found here.

Question: Why is, in your opinion, the Coast Guard the best/worst of the five U.S. military services?

Ryan Erickson — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:40:10 +0000

Kind of weird to admit but I don’t have anything to say right now… well… that’s not entirely true. I indeed have a lot to say yet in my current sleepy state I dare not try to say it all.

And with that I’d like to turn the tables for at least a single post and ask you to answer this question to the best of your ability:

Why is, in your opinion, the Coast Guard the best/worst of the five U.S. military services?

It’s not a trick question and you don’t have to leave your real name to leave a comment (see my policy); I just want to know why the public thinks what they do.

The Coast Guard needs to get back on the social media pedestal

Ryan Erickson — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:20:30 +0000

The Coast Guard’s been slowly falling off the radar as a social media user where at one time they were the poster child of government using online social tools.

As one who does a lot of observing of military, specifically Coast Guard, social media I’ve been noticing a huge shift in the use of Facebook from all services and the use of other such mediums. By “Coast Guard” I’m referring to those who run our social media machine; and contrary to popular belief I am not associated with those that run said machine. So as is the case I feel as if I can give a fairly good outside/inside assessment of what’s going on and what should/could be done as a matter of course correction. That is, if one wants to be made.

Have you taken a look at the Coast Guard’s official Facebook page as of late? How about the Commandant’s Fan page? Well in the likely scenario you haven’t let me be the one to tell you that not much is being missed. However, that wasn’t always the case. At the beginning of last summer (2009) the Coast Guard was the subject of Gov 2.0 conferences, Wired articles, and blogs aplenty. Our role in proving that social media could work as a discussion platform was paying dividends in press coverage; and the theory of social media was no longer just a theory but actually being exercised and proving to be of use. In fact it was the Coast Guard who showed the other four services that it CAN work as a public discussion medium. It was during this time our Public Affairs gurus began using Twitter, Facebook, and blogs; there was a lot of hype in the beginning and with said hype there was a lot of interaction with Facebook fans via the official Coast Guard fan page Commandants Fan page. But as I hinted to above- that’s all but history.

The USCG’s page is just pushing blog posts with little or no interaction from ANYONE (anyone being official Coast Guard representatives or the public). However, the Commandants page is a little different; on his page there is quite a bit of interaction but even this interaction is seemingly one way- from the fans in response to posts done on the page. There is a huge chunk of missed opportunity here.

To be fair to our service though we are far from the only ones in this particular predicament- that is- having a social presence without being social. I recently happened upon a great study done by Janson Communications titled MILITARY FACE STUDY (35) (.pdf warning) where they- as the title implies- did a study of military Facebook pages. As it so happens we, not being part of the DoD, were not included in said study; however, reading the study you quickly find the similarities between the studied sites and our own. The most notable similarity of all the sites studied and ours is the lack of interaction between the fans and the service. Regular interaction on the Coast Guard pages between officiated Coasties and fans have all but stopped following a series of attempted proverbial hijackings of the pages by some fans (dare I say trolls). But even before that, as far back as July 2009, the practice of “being social” had been on a steady decline. And though the “honeymoon” of using this medium has clearly passed the Coast Guard has been passing up the chance to be “that” model for the use of social media as a public to military (and back) interaction tool.

So is it possible to reverse course and become king again? You bet we could. It’ll take some work from our Public Affairs types (CG-092) but it can be done. How? Well I’m glad you asked-

First off everyone needs to become familiar with what’s going wrong. Start by checking out the linked report above. This gives several clues as to what we are doing wrong; i.e. citing the fact it’s an “official” page (which ours does), having clear terms of usage, and interaction. It’s clear that the lack of any real “rules” per se lead to the aforementioned hijackings and with a clear set of rules (even I have a disclaimer for which I’ve stuck by thus far) it would have been easy to delete the comments and move on. But take the power of deleting with care; if someone wants to post a credible bad experience with the Coast Guard let ‘em and engage, if need be, off the wall.
Stop with the constant push of the blog feed. Not to say they/we/you/I should stop feeding their blog to Facebook (I do it) but when that’s all there is people tend to run the other way as it’s obvious there is going to be little or no interaction. Look at my fan page- with only a handful of people I don’t see it growing too fast until I’m able to commit to both it and my regular FB page. Post stories and of significance, post “real” thoughts, post “real” experiences.
On the website The Buzz Bin (another MUST read) they’ve taken the time to address Facebook criticism as it pertains to hospitals. Don’t wince yet as they seem to have more in common with the military FB problem than you’d think. Take for instance the first point about criticism; it’s addressed and the answer is the same remain transparent and address what needs to be addressed.
Is anyone inside official channels monitoring SM? Of course they are- I’ve clued you in to the fact that there’s a 24/7 public affairs watch in the LANT Command Center watching Twitter and Facebook (’cause short of CNN- Twitter is the place for “NOW” news). Though they monitor Facebook and/or Twitter there isn’t much for them to digest in terms of the “Coast Guard Social Media Health” since interaction is one way (on the Commandants page) an no-way (on the USCG page). Thus if we’re to insert ourselves (again we as in the Coast Guard) back into the game this would have to become an integral part of the practice both within LANT and at the HQ level where the pages are maintained.

I’ve obviously only listed four items here and there are a lot more to consider but it’s my goal (well rather want as it’s not my call) to get our service back on the map as the service that does use social media to communicate with the public. And though we’re not yet (if ever) allowed to use the tools in the workplace this shouldn’t be the reason we’re not using it. The PA staff can use it, and they SHOULD be using it; though now they need to find someone who’s willing to take on the personal challenge of a mammoth size and be the voice of the Coast Guard in the digital world.

Oh- and if you saw this lastnight sorry as it wasn’t finished…

Thoughts?

VADM Papp’s Nomination Hearing for Commandant finally scheduled

Ryan Erickson — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:19:09 +0000

I’ve had my news feed looking for this for the last few days wondering when it would happen- and this evening as I was looking around I found it! Not sure when they put it on the docket but the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation notes on their public hearing schedule that VADM Robert J. Papp, Jr. is going before a full committee on 18 March 2010 at 1000 (EST). From the site:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announces the following full committee hearing on nominations.
…
Vice Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., to be Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

So now we just kick back and wait until Thursday I guess…

Beware of technology while living in the fishbowl

Ryan Erickson — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:26:38 +0000

I was reading an article about all the hoopla surrounding the former CO of USS Cowpens (and others) and how it may be related to the current norm of living in an ‘everyone’s connected – always connected’ world where access to the internet is almost a given- so far as military personnel are concerned. The end point of the piece found on Wings Over Iraq is that officers (and enlisted to that point) live in a preverbal fishbowl with everyone being connected and willing to post your/our misgivings online at a moments notice.

It makes you wonder if the CO of the Cowpens would have been relived if her subordinates didn’t have, nor leveraged the use of, such technology (if they in fact did so in the first place). Furthermore, will the lifting (eventually) of the social media ban on DoD computer further complicated these types of issues? Think about it- what if a someone caught you in a verbal and/or physical tirade on their cell-phone and posted it, immediately, to a video service such as Vimeo? One could literally go from a screaming lunatic to a viral video star in a matter of minutes. Remember the audio recording of ADM Allen calling into the Headquarters Command Center a few years ago (with the watchstandard not recognizing the voice)? I was in Seattle when I heard it and it was only a few days after it had happened- and I just heard it again about a week ago.

There are, without a doubt, great benefits to using the tools of Web 2.0 but there are also some drawbacks if you’re not policing yourself.