CONTENT WARNING: The following information references suicide.
If you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide, seek support from a health care provider, counselor or chaplain. For immediate help in dealing with a suicidal crisis, contact the free and confidential Veterans/Military Crisis Line. Dial 988, then press 1.
Visit the Defense Suicide Prevention Office for more valuable resources for suicide prevention in our military community.
On 23 September 2019, the commander of USS George H.W. Bush, Capt. Sean Bailey, made the tragic announcement that three sailors had committed suicide, marking a total of five in just under two years.
Finish What You Start
Navigate the timeline by selecting points of information.
Sep 23, 2019
Initial Social Media Post
A week after losing three sailors to suicide, Capt. Bailey posted a message on social media.
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Sep 23, 2019
A Supportive Response
Positive support from the community of condolences, empathy and sadness began to roll in, but so did the comments of shared experiences and blame.
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Sep 24, 2019
Public Response Turns Negative
As the views and responses to Capt. Bailey's post grew, the USS Bush social media team lost control of the narrative.
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Sep 25, 2019
Ship Organizes a Safety Stand-Down
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Sep 25, 2019
Backlash from the Community
The USS Bush received backlash from the community following the two posts. Negativity came from the perception that little was being done to address the root causes. The audience interpreted this as the USS Bush being tone-deaf to the situation.
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Sep 26, 2019
Shared Post from Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
The USS Bush shared a post from the MCPON speaking with Sailors during an all-hands call, "What We Do Is Hard; It's OK to Ask for Help." This post was met with positive comments and supportive shares.
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Sep 28, 2019
Morning of Hope Walk is Held
The USS Bush shared a post of how they joined more than 3,000 community leaders, citizens and other Sailors stationed in the Hampton Roads area for the Morning of Hope Walk in Virginia Beach, an annual event to remember the lives lost due to suicide.
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Initial Announcements
In the initial Facebook post, Capt. Bailey called on all hands to bring forward ideas and reiterates that there is no stigma for asking for help. He asks all crew members to look empathetically at their shipmates and offer help in dealing with stressors. He shares emergency phone numbers outside of the ship, on base and off, opening the doors for sailors who don't want their command to know.
The overall message was one of strength, compassion and support. The post stays on top as the only post of the day.
Within two days, the ship hosted a safety stand-down and a suicide prevention walk that saw over 3000 members from the ship and the local community participate.
However, this message was meant for an internal audience and was intended to be shared on an outward-facing platform. This opened up the commander to criticism he did not prepare for. For something as serious as suicide, public affairs should have developed a communication plan and enlisted outside opinions BEFORE leaning forward and posting.
Uncontrolled Online Narrative
Initially, most of the responses were positive, but within a few days, the lid came off. Former sailors and civilians in high-stress jobs started pointing out that the military culture needed to do more to address the very stressors it knew pushed their people past their breaking point. No one from the USS Bush responded.
The safety stand-down drew criticism as being tone deaf, with users pointing out that considering the initial call for empathy, the command could have done better than a presentation. Again, no response from the USS Bush, even when commenting grew increasingly incendiary.
PA should have mapped out where they wanted the conversation to go, where they didn't want it to go and where they expected it to go. From there, a plan needed to exist on how to vector the conversation back to a good spot, if it went sideways.
Lessons Learned
When dealing with any highly sensitive topics, there needs to be some oversight and willingness to engage with responses that are genuine and authentic to the organization. Failure to do so will result in an uncontrolled narrative online. It is also important to note that you can empathize and sympathize without admitting guilt or responsibility. That said, if you bear responsibility, it's always best to admit it, apologize if necessary and offer a way to move on or make things right. This is a hard battle, especially on social media, where conflicting opinions are rampant. PA needs to communicate with leaders during normal operations about how they can engage when things go wrong. The community wanted to participate and help — witness the large crowd that came out to walk with their neighbors in support of the sailors.
Remember to:
- Use caution when handling internal messages that are not suited for external platforms.
- Engage with responses that are genuine and authentic.
- Incorporate micro-strategies into social media posts that support an overarching strategy that aligns with the unit's unique value proposition and the commander's intent.
- Develop a communication plan and enlist outside opinions before posting.
- Ensure the communication plan includes scenarios for a lost narrative.