Avoid false alarms by knowing notification procedures

  • Published
  • By Lee Ann Mohajerin
  • 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) --  A recent phone message had a family convinced they received the news that all loved ones of a deployed servicemember dread -- their loved one was either hurt or killed in action. Fortunately, the phone call was a scam.

Unfortunately, the wife experienced several hours of unnecessary stress and worry before she found out her husband was OK.

The distress came after her father-in-law received a message at work that said, “The Army called and had an urgent message for him.”

Frantic for news, she called her husband’s commander, and he said he knew right away something was not right.

“I knew this (call) might have been nothing, but it’s enough to raise questions, especially when loved ones are so far away and doing hazardous work,” said Maj. Max Dubroff, 72nd Security Forces Squadron. “This also might have been a rude prank, similar to what happened to many Marine families at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. But it definitely was not a legitimate action that the Department of Defense would take.”

Major Dubroff said several things tipped him off, the most obvious being the telephone call itself.

“The casualty notification system requires in-person notification by a uniformed officer as soon as possible in any case of a member missing, casualty or death,” he said.

The second problem, he said, was the “Army” reference.

“Only an officer from the same service as the deployed member would notify next of kin,” Major Dubroff said.

Fortunately, the deployed Airman made a morale call to his wife a couple hours after the incident occurred, setting her mind at ease.

To help prevent other family members from being unnecessarily distressed, Major Dubroff suggested Airmen take the following steps.

-- Tell family members about the casualty notification team procedures so they can better recognize illegitimate information.

-- Give them phone numbers of first sergeants and commanders with whom they can confirm anything questionable.

-- Keep virtual record of emergency data information updated.

-- Stay in regular communication with family members.

-- Never call anyone with information about someone who has been hurt. Too often, the situation is not clear, and the call will do more harm than good.

“Deployments are hard enough on families without these kinds of things distressing our (families),” Major Dubroff said. “While you can’t control scam artists and pranksters, you can arm your family with information that may help them in situations like this.”