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PSYOP Cop
By John
Continuing in our tradition of tapping the rich VMI alumni base for various fields of military expertise, here's a brand new post (hopefully one of many) from a fellow grad called "Psyop Cop." This is good stuff, as you don't hear much about psychological operations in the press. Read on.
This is my first blog, so I’ll introduce myself. I’m PSYOP Cop, an Army reservist from Virginia. I have ten years background in the Infantry and crossed over to Psychological Operations (PSYOP… not PSYOPS or psyops…. just PSYOP) where I served as a team leader for a three-man Tactical PSYOP team in East Baghdad in 2006. In civilian life, I’m a police officer. I’m a fellow VMI alumnus with Noonan, et. al. and that’s how I ended up on Op-For.So, for my premiere blog (and I mean “premiere”, since I’ve never blogged before), I offer up this bit from SKYNews. It is a featurette of some of our opposition’s latest products.
The mission of Psychological Operations is to change minds and influence behavior. It’s essentially marketing applied to the military. We also have tactical applications and most grunts know us for our loudspeaker trucks that we ride around in. With that we become the voice of the supported unit commander (if he chooses to utilize us). We can also conduct tactical deception operations and surrender appeals, among other things.
Successful PSYOP is dependent upon several things. First, you have to know your target audience. You have to understand their language (including slangs and nuances that only native speakers relate to) and their culture (knowing what symbols to avoid, etc.). You also need to understand the media capability of your target audience (TA). For example, does my TA have a high literacy rate? If not, then pamphlets and leaflets will be useless. Does my TA have access to radios and/or TV? If so, then media broadcasts on these outlets will be effective.Second, you have to have patience. This was something that my supported unit failed to understand while I was in Iraq. The squadron commander and S-3 thought I could drive through a neighborhood blaring a loudspeaker message and things would be hunky-dory. And, if they weren’t, it must mean that I wasn’t doing my job. Try as I might to explain otherwise, they wouldn’t listen. They simply saw non-lethal kinetics the same as an artillery fire mission. Fire, splash, result. It doesn’t work that way in PSYOP.
One of the major problems with the Army’s PSYOP program is the product approval process. Product (such as leaflets and pamphlets) are typically designed and generated at the Product Development Detachment (PDD). A designed product has to be approved at numerous levels and by various people. As goes with many things Army, EVERYONE wants their fingers in the pie, even when it’s not their pie to stick their finger in. For example, JAG has to sign off on a product concept to ensure that we’re not violating any laws with it. However, JAG officers will typically say, “oh, I think this color should be different” or “why are you using that picture” when it’s really not in their purview to judge something like that. Long story short, from the time I request product at the tactical level until the time I get the product back to actually disseminate it can be as long as two to three weeks. I have heard that some product that has been disseminated has gone all the way up to one of the SECDEF’s underlings. Clearly, micromanagement is a key hang-up in PSYOP.
Unfortunately, time is of the essence when you’re fighting an information war. And, to put it bluntly, the enemy does not have to deal with the same bureaucracy that we do. Quite simply, this is why we’re losing the information war in Iraq so badly. PSYOP has to compete with Imams who put out messages several times daily in support of their favorite cause (in my AO, it was Sadr). PSYOP teams are not permitted to openly compete with that (i.e. blaring responses at the same time on our loudspeakers) because it was not allowed by our higher command. Or, take for example these movie posters made into PSYOP product. It was likely done by some insurgent using a nice PC and some graphics program. Just posting this product on the internet (even if it never gets printed up) guarantees maximum dissemination to a plethora of target audiences. Sure, it may not affect a grunt getting ready to go to Iraq. But, what does it do to his family and friends who see it? And what does it do to a political staffer or even a politician himself that sees it? Another example is television. Products made for TV dissemination are often restricted because most Iraqis receive their TV through satellite. And, because we cannot guarantee that a PSYOP product won’t be broadcast outside the borders of Iraq, we are not permitted to broadcast through satellite TV. However, al-Jazeera and other organizations can broadcast what they want and how they want to their heart’s content.
Winning of hearts and minds is not just a colloquialism. It is a very real and very vital part of the global war on terror. If we cannot win the war of ideas in the Islamic world, no amount of firepower will bring this war to a successful conclusion. That is why PSYOP (and our cousins in Civil Affairs) need to be better understood and utilized by the Army.
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Comments
The Army (primarily the Reserve) pretty much supply the demand for tactical PSYOP. The Reserves cover down on "big" Army units (conventional units) while the active-duty 9th PSYOP Battalion provide PSYOP support for special operations units such as SF, CAG, and Rangers.
The Army provided PSYOP support to the Marines as well. I believe we still do, but this is in 9th Battalion's lane.
I understand that the Marine Civil Affair units have a limited tactical PSYOP capability. I don't know of any PSYOP units that they are standing up. Perhaps one of our Marine contributors could opine on this.
Theatre-level PSYOP is coordinated at the corps-level with a JPOTF (Joint PSYOP Task Force). They are largely product development and testers and they provide staff support to the commander in the realm of PSYOP.
Wow -- thanks for the insightful post! I have truly never thought about this aspect of the war before, but I can see what an important element it is. Here's hoping you can cut through some red tape in order to do what you need to do....
~jenny
(first-time commenter, Soldiers' Angels volunteer, grateful civilian)
thx for what you do with SA Jenny!
it would be really nice to hear that you guys are driving the bad guys just flat rabid nuts.
you don't do things like a superamplified bloody murder scream in the middle of the night, or picking off one of the wilder mullahs with a sniper rifle right in the middle of his friday rant do you.
seems like a thing or two to do.
C
In other words, before PSYOP can do it's job overseas of winning the hearts and minds of the TA, it has to win the hearts and minds of it's own Army.
Sorry it took a retired MI Geek to point out to you what PSYOP has never figured out on it's own. :-)
Maybe you should sue Skippy of Skippy's List for making your image so, um, flaky...
D.W., you're right on target with that assessment. While junior officers have received a lecture at their respective OBC's about us and what we do, battalion and brigade level officers really have no concept of what we do. Their understanding of us is limited to surrender appeals because that's what was so high-vis during Desert Storm, which was the war that a lot of our current battalion and brigade commanders cut their teeth in. By the time most officers get to the battalion command and brigade level, they are very set in their ways and are not receptive to new ideas.
Information Operations is, unfortunately, the dumping ground for the staff officers that are either not competent or popular. That's not to say that there are individuals who shine, but because it's a segment the Army doesn't understand and very few take the time to understand, excess baggage (personnel-wise) get dumped there.
Not at all unlike the way some units dump their ash-and-trash into the MiTT teams they have to provide to IA units in their AO.
And I have seen "Skippy's List". It is an urban legend that has floated around for quite awhile. I always meet someone who "knew someone who knew him" but nobody seems to know exactly who he is.
As a VMI alum, former career jarhead, graduate of Ft Bragg psyops, and subsequently senior dude in the US Govt - I can attest to the fact that there are actually some folks in upper echelons of the USG who really do know what this part of the game is all about. However, having served on several inter-departmental groups dealing with this topic I think I can safely say that there are "questions" as to just how competent "we" are at this ... and what the long-term vs short-term - surrender or you die - kind of stuff delivers for us. But then again, there are also questions as to whether the USG at upper echelons even knows what our longer term goals are - before we have an election and they change .... anyway - for those in the foxholes, or Old Clubs, good luck in whatever your present assignment is -
I am a military police officer (CPT) in the U.S. Army Reserves who is planning to relocate to Virginia. I am very much interested in becoming a PsyOp officer. Is there a unit in Virginia that I could join?
I work at Homeland Security in the Public Affairs Office. The process works the same here. OPLA gets involved, Privacy office has their say...
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Very interesting! Is the Army the only service with PYSOP units? There appears to be an interdisciplinary need for this type of warrior.