The Pentagon has scrapped plans to get help from a PR executive who was to advise the branch on how to repair its image and handle publicity surrounding questions about the mysterious soldiers' illness blamed on the Persian Gulf War.
Guy Smith IV, who heads Smith Worldwide Inc., a strategic communications/PR firm in New York, told PR News last week that the Pentagon "terminated" its $184,500 contract with him but that he still expects to get paid for consultancy services he offered up until the deal was nixed.
Through the years, Smith has had his share of damage control PR projects, having worked with Seven-Up [4730Z] to repair its image after a poison scare.
"This was Dr. Bernard Rostker's (head of the Pentagon) decision and it was based on the fact that Guy Smith was becoming part of the story and that wasn't useful," said Brian Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman who wouldn't elaborate on Rostker's decision.
The Pentagon agreement called for Smith to set up a strategic communications plan in response to fallout over how the Pentagon managed news of the so-called Gulf War Syndrome as well as how it will respond in the future. It wasn't until June that the Pentagon announced that ailments reported by military personnel may be linked to a nerve agent released during an explosion in Southern Iraq, according to The Washington Post.
Smith said he was in the midst of creating the plan when he was notified of the Pentagon's Nov. 14 decision to cancel the three-month contract which began in October.
His plan would have called for outreach programs and informational videos, brochures, CD-ROMs and newsletters to be developed. It would have also recommended that specific key messages be relayed in Pentagon communications concerning the controversy.
Smith said that the initial agreement he struck with the Pentagon came in October after he was contacted by officials about establishing a credibility-restorative plan.
Whitman said Smith will be paid for the services he rendered from Oct. 15 to Nov. 14 and for the counsel he already provided Rostker.
He also said that the Pentagon is in the process of putting together a team of military staffers and civil servants to expand its public affairs efforts to deal with the health crisis and resulting probes. Whitman said at this time there are no plans to turn to another outside PR consultant. (Smith Worldwide, Guy Smith, 212/779-2336; Pentagon, Brian Whitman, 703/697-5131)