return  to  normal  before  the  VIPs  arrived,  like  the last  time,  The  next  series  of  1MC  announcements shattered that wish. “All  repair  division  and  damage  control personnel not on watch muster abreast elevator two,”  announced  the  1MC.  Everyone  in  the  public affairs office froze and strained to catch every word. “Medical  emergency,  medical  emergency  in compartment. . .  away  the  medical  team  away,” shouted the 1MC. “All engineering personnel not on watch muster abreast elevator two.” Right away, the butterfly in my stomach stood up. My gut feeling told me something was wrong, very wrong or else damage control central would not muster all engineering personnel. JO3 Greg Traweek, who was working on the mess decks, burst into the office and reported an explosion. Bautch immediately  called  up  the  prepared  adverse  news release  format  in  the  computer. I  decided  to  gather  first-hand  information. Unable to reach the scene of the explosion because of fire boundaries, I went aft toward the medical department.  Before  reaching  medical,  I  found  the aft  mess  deck  lined  with  burned  crewmen  and corpsmen  racing  to  attend  the  injured. I  knew  I  had  to  take  quick  decisive  action. Remembering my PA Regs training, I had one hour to send the initial press release. I realized the clock was ticking and the VIPs were still inbound. The C-23 carrying the VIPs escorted by Cmdr. Mark Stun, the Commander Naval Forces Japan PAO,  landed.  Receiving  the  VIPs  and  improvising a new plan for them in flag country diverted my attention. The initial press release was still waiting for me. The Midway  public  affairs  staff  pieced  together the first press release from various sources. JOC Jim O’Leary phoned in after talking to damage control personnel near the scene. Traweek relayed the status of the injured from the aft mess deck. I located Midway's position in relation to Yokosuka from the flag watch officer and Bautch strung all the pieces together. The  crisis  management  marathon  was  just beginning. As soon as the initial press release was out, Bautch and I began preparing for the follow-up releases. We wanted to determine the number of injured and the status of the fire. But again, the VIPs onboard prevented me from concentrating on the press  release. While  the  office  was  buzzing  with  activity, O’Leary directed JO3 Kevin Stephens and JOSN Lee Gobin to videotape the mass casualties on the mess  deck,  the  medical  evacuation  of  injured crewmen  and  the  transport  of  deceased  crew members  to  a  helicopter.  The  footage  was  used  by Navy News This Week and will also be used as a training aid for Navy medical personnel. Bautch  and  I  continued  to  hunt  down  new information for follow-up releases. By this time, we learned  to  compare  notes  with  the  intelligence officers who were writing the OPREP-3s. Bautch also  established  direct  contact  with  the  chief engineer and damage control assistant to streamline information  gathering.  In  between  follow-up releases, we drafted the opening statement and composed a list of questions and answers for the media  availability. About 10:30 a.m. the second day, Cdr. Mark Newhart,  the  Seventh  Fleet  PAO,  arrived  by helicopter about four hours before the ship returned to Yokosuka. The task at hand was to organize the media  availability. When Midway entered Yokosuka Harbor, 12 Japanese  media  helicopters  flew  in  circles  and hovered  about  150  feet  above  the  flight  deck.  Three bus loads of reporters were waiting on the pier. About 30 minutes after  Midway  cast its first line, more than 100 international print and electronic journalists charged over the brow to cover the media availability  of  COMCARGRUFIVE  and  the  CO. A major challenge for the PAO handling an emergency is getting accurate information quickly. Rumors abound amid confusion. I always gathered or double-checked information with the experts. The PAO onboard an aircraft carrier is like a reporter in a city under an airport. The fire department and hospital will not call the reporter in an emergency. The reporter has to go to the fire department and hospital. While being the inquisitive reporter, I also thought  about  how  to  gather  the  facts  without impeding the fire-fighting and lifesaving activities. Another major challenge was running press releases up and down the chop chain in a timely fashion. The geographic separation between the bridge (CO and XO) and flag country (admiral and chief of staff) made this process time consuming. The highly perishable information quickly becomes 2-6