accomplish?”  Even  small  special  events  require  detailed planning and time-consuming, hard work on the part of many members of the staff. Clarifying objectives early in the planning process ensures that this work is not wasted. PLANNING There is no single formula you can use to plan all special  events.  Certain  guidelines  can  be  followed, however,  and  the  process  is  not  too  different  from  the planning  process  an  operational  commander  goes through in analyzing his mission, estimating his tactical situation, making a command decision and drawing up the directive to be sure his forces carry out the mission. The process starts by your stating in broad terms what  you  are  going  to  do  and  why.  Consider  the following   examples: l l l l l This ship will conduct a dependents’ cruise on 4 July to increase dependents’ understanding of our duties  and  thereby  enhance  morale. This station will hold public visitation on Armed Forces  Day  to  increase  public  awareness  of  the importance  of  sea  power  and  to  further  our community  relations  objectives. The  CO  will  present  Good  Conduct  Medals  and advancement certificates after inspection Friday morning  to  reward  recipients  and  encourage others to achieve similar recognition. This ship will embark 12 Secretary of the Navy guests while en route from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor to further the objectives of the Secretary of the Navy Guest Cruise Program. A group of community leaders will be flown to the U.S. Naval Academy for an orientation visit to induce outstanding young men and women of the community to apply for academy admission. Statements such as those above will help you keep your eye on the target in later phases of planning. It will probably appear in an early paragraph of your planning directive, if the event is big enough to require one. FACILITIES Next,  consider  the  facilities  you  have  at  your disposal. These may include ships, planes and lesser hardware  at  a  major  event,  portable  items  used  in exhibits and such live participants as speakers, marching units, bands and color guards. With these “attractions,” consider  the  working  facilities  you  have  at  your disposal:  the  size  and  capacity  of  your  own  office, logistic  support  (guides,  transportation,  bleachers, brochures  and  other  printed  matter,  etc.)  and  the countless minor items that take time, talent and usually money to produce, but are indispensable in a major special  event. It is only after you examine your event and its objectives  considering  these  available  facilities  that  you are ready to decide just how much can be done and who will carry out what tasks. At  this  point  nothing  is  more  important  than attention to detail. An event of major proportions may be a miserable flop if only one detail is omitted from the basic plan. The results of a poorly staged public event might  include  adverse  publicity  on  a  local,  national  or international  scale. Consider,  for  example,  the  embarrassment  of Olympic  Games  officials  in  the  following  incident recounted  from  Coronet  Magazine  in  November  1956: “The  officials  were  embarrassed  because  in making  plans,  someone  had  overlooked  the details  involving  the  entrance  of  the  traditional torch bearer. When the famous Finnish miler, Paavo  Nurmi,  appred  at  the  gates  of  the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, he was denied entrance. His torch had been lit in Athens and passed  by  15,000  other  runners  and  finally  to Nurmi at the stadium. At the end of the colorful pageantry  and  fanfare,  Nurmi  was  scheduled  to appear, but the police kept him standing in his track suit before the stadium gates. At last one of  the  dignitaries  recognized  the  famous  runner with the torch and gave him entrance.” It is equally embarrassing when plans fail to provide for clearance of visiting dignitaries into the VIP area, for delivery of brochures to the distribution point, for media parking,  for  properly  briefed  escorts,  for  advance clearance  for  media  representatives  to  board  boats  or helicopters, or for any other essential details. These areas can be planned far more readily when the directive is  being  written  than  when  left  until  the  last  minute. When a planning directive clearly outlines what is to be done and who is to do it, execution becomes easier. EXECUTION OF THE PLAN The next step is executing the plan. Operations personnel  call  this  step  “supervising  the  planned action,” and the operational planning manuals say that the best way to do this is to start with a good plan. 5-18