In the mountains of Afghanistan's Kunar province on June 28, 2005, four Navy SEALs embarked on a mission to capture a high-value target: Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, the head of a group of insurgents called the Mountain Tigers. The mission was called Operation Red Wing.
Two Afghan men and a boy discovered the SEALs and reported the commandos' position to hostile forces. The four Americans were quickly surrounded by more than 100 guerrillas. The resulting firefight lasted two hours.
One SEAL managed to place a call for help to Bagram Air Base, which summoned a Chinook helicopter carrying 16 soldiers. The Chinook was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in midair and crashed, killing everyone onboard. Only one SEAL survived Operation Red Wing.
U.S. Air Force Maj. James Simonds was stationed in Afghanistan when Operation Red Wing went down. He can't forget the crushed expressions on his fellow soldiers' faces the day they held a memorial service for the 19 dead.
"You want to see the biggest group of guys crying their eyes out — it devastated us that that happened," Simonds says.
But on TV, Simonds says, he didn't see much besides a body count reported by the press.
"Obviously, there wasn't a whole lot of information that was going to come out on it," Simonds says. "But sometimes I wonder if it's not an injustice to some of the folks, the way it's presented, you know?"
Simonds reluctantly speaks to a reporter in the cafeteria at Liberty Memorial, Kansas City's World War I museum. He's the last in his 16-person class from the Army's Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to sit down for an interview.
"I wasn't going to come in here," he admits. "I didn't think I had anything to say."
Like every other officer at the CGSC, located on the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Simonds has to ignore the chip on his shoulder concerning the press. That's because Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, who oversees the CGSC and 17 other schools and training programs, decided last year to make media savvy a requirement for graduation. Each war-college student must complete a course of "strategic communication" in order to graduate. It's an extracurricular activity — no class covers it exclusively. Officers must participate in an interview with a television, print or radio reporter, publicly address a community group, write an article or opinion piece for publication (it need not actually be published), and blog under his or her real name.
Still, this communications requirement signals a dramatic departure from the old way that the military guided officers regarding media relations. One professor at the war college, a lieutenant, describes the military's former philosophy on talking to reporters as "shut up and go up." In other words, direct questions away from yourself and up through your chain of command.
"We discouraged our officers from speaking with the media for years," says Brig. Gen. Edward Cardon. As deputy commandant of the CGSC, he acts as dean of the war college. "Basically, 'They're evil and you'll say the wrong thing.' That's what they were told."
Simonds' disdain for the press surfaced anew at a panel discussion held at Fort Leavenworth at the beginning of the fall 2008 term. Representatives of media outlets, including the McClatchy Company, Wired, The Washington Post and the Associated Press, took questions. A common thread: Why do news organizations report on bad news rather than on, say, wells being dug and orphanages being built?
"Someone flat-out said that it's not glamorous enough," Simonds says. "And the thing that really got to me, one of the panel members said, 'It's too hard. Things blowing up, things like that, that's the easy way to go.' My heart sank when I heard that."
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This is a very interesting article. LTG Caldwell personifies the lesson our Army has learned since Viet Nam: always be straight with the American People. While there will be instances of soldiers straying off this path, on the whole this policy has allowed the Army to secure a high place in public opinion and respect. I encourage my fellow soldiers to continue to pursue good, open relations with the media.
This is a very interesting article. LTG Caldwell personifies the lesson our Army has learned since Viet Nam: always be straight with the American People. While there will be instances of soldiers straying off this path, on the whole this policy has allowed the Army to secure a high place in public opinion and respect. I encourage my fellow soldiers to continue to pursue good, open relations with the media.
As a student in the CGSC at Fort Leavenworth I am always disappointed when I see military officers who have disdain for the media.
I find comfort in the fact that our media can criticize our military and government and not feel any repercussion for those actions. I believe the military protects the media right to have free speech and I think some of the young major's forget the fact that we serve to defend those rights and not for accolades from the public. I am always open to tell our story and am also not afraid to say I am not always happy in how this war has been handled. I think the military is more to blame in their distancing themselves from the media and the public because of a certain amount of moral arrogance.
We must never forget we protect the media's right to report bad news or criticism and for that you are welcome. Thanks pitch for an unbiased article
Semper Fi
Mike
Maj, USMC
Student CGSC 09-01
As a student in the CGSC at Fort Leavenworth I am always disappointed when I see military officers who have disdain for the media. I find comfort in the fact that our media can criticize our military and government and not feel any repercussion for those actions. I believe the military protects the media right to have free speech and I think some of the young major's forget the fact that we serve to defend those rights and not for accolades from the public. I am always open to tell our story and am also not afraid to say I am not always happy in how this war has been handled. I think the military is more to blame in their distancing themselves from the media and the public because of a certain amount of moral arrogance. We must never forget we protect the media's right to report bad news or criticism and for that you are welcome. Thanks pitch for an unbiased article Semper Fi Mike Maj, USMC Student CGSC 09-01
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