Psyops

This article is part of the Propaganda Portal project of Spinwatch.

Psyops or Psychological Operations are initiatives which convey information to audiences in order to alter their thinking and behaviour. Also known as Military Information Support Operations or MISO in the U.S., Psyops work by manipulating the emotions, motivations, and objective reasoning of the audience it is directed at. The purpose of Psyops is to induce or reinforce attitudes and behaviours in its targets that are beneficial to the sponsor organisation.

Whilst the two concepts are often used interchangeably, Psychological Warfare (Psywar) refers to an overarching campaign incorporating many different facets, including Psyops, Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda; whereas Psychological Operations (Psyops) is used more to describe specific military operations and the tactical units which practice them.

As a technique of Propaganda, Psyops can also be subject to similar classification systems depending on the degree of transparency of the source. If the correct sponsor of the Psychological Operations is disclosed to its audience, it can be considered White Propaganda. If a Psyops campaign is carried out without identifying or by actively obscuring the source of the campaign, it can be considered Grey Propaganda. When Psychological Operations are sponsored by one source, but are deceptively claiming to be from another, they can be considered Black Propaganda. In all of these instances, the information conveyed as part of the Psychological Operations can be true or false.

Psychological Operations are often a key aspect of many nations’ military strategies during both peace and wartime. From a military perspective Psyops can work to crush the morale of enemy troops, reduce their combat efficiency, and sow dissidence within their ranks. Effective Psyops initiatives can also promote resistance in a civilian population against a hostile Government or enhance the image of a foreign power .

Types of Psyops

Tactical Psychological Operations are addressed toward a specific opposition fighting force in a particular battlefield, aiming to influence their morale, combat effectiveness and behaviour in a short-scale combat situation.

Strategic Psychological Operations are large-scale initiatives that comprise part of a carefully planned long-term campaign. They are directed at much larger target audiences than Tactical Psyops, aiming to influence public opinion.

Consolidation Psychological Operations aim to aid friendly civil and military forces strengthen their influence over an environment. This can include maintaining law and order, re-establishing governance, and aiding with disaster relief in both occupied and liberated areas.

Carrying out Psyops

Before modern day Psychological Operations can be authorised, intelligence analysts carefully profile potential targets in order to determine which sections of the population would be the most susceptible and should therefore be targeted. In order to figure this out, intelligence operatives need to determine the vulnerabilities of the target population and what would most affect them, as well as exploring a multitude of other factors like attitudes, motivations, cultural tensions, prejudices and languages. Once the targets have been effectively profiled, the Psyop process can begin.

The Psyop Process

1) Clearly define the mission in terms of national objectives

2) Carry out a Psyop estimation of the current situation

3) Prepare a plan of implementation

4) Select the medium of distribution

5) Product development

6) Pretesting; determining the probable impact upon the target audience

7) Production and dissemination of the Psyop material

8) Implement the plan

9) Posttesting; evaluating the response of the target audience

10) Feedback to inform future Psyop ventures.

Examples recorded in 2010–15

United Kingdom

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Northern Ireland: terminology and disputed evidence

Information organisations in Northern Ireland in January 1972, from the Bloody Sunday Inquiry report.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry reported that the Information Liaison Department was replaced in or about September 1971 by the Information Policy Unit, headed by Colonel Maurice Tugwell, with INQ 1873 as his deputy.

Colin Wallace told the inquiry that the unit combined liaison between the Army press room and operations network, counter-propaganda using white information, and a deniable role involving black operations. Tugwell, INQ 1873 and Hugh Mooney denied that the unit disseminated dishonest or misleading information. The report noted that the disagreement depended substantially on competing definitions of psyops.

David Miller draws attention to July 1971 terms of reference instructing staff to use the designation G (Liaison) Staff rather than psyops. He treats such naming practices as part of a wider attempt to distance military communications from the associations of propaganda. The inquiry itself recorded that Tugwell’s note of 24 January 1972 recommended avoiding the word psyops because of its sinister connotations. It also reproduced a passage stating that isolated black-propaganda exercises were not excluded, but required authorisation by the Military Information Policy Committee.

These general policy provisions should be distinguished from the inquiry’s findings about Bloody Sunday. It found no evidence that the committee authorised black activity in relation to that day. With the exception of a possible false rumour about an Army incursion into the Creggan, it found no evidence of advance plans to spread false information. Although describing later inaccurate information about casualties as highly regrettable, it found no evidence that military-information personnel knowingly disseminated false information about Bloody Sunday.

The 1973 Chiefs of Staff note

In his account of B. G. T. Stanbridge’s note COS 17/73, dated 6 April 1973, David Miller reports a definition of psyops encompassing planned activity directed at enemy, friendly and neutral audiences in peace and war. His account describes strategic psyops as a continuing activity with a high political content, involving the Defence and Overseas Policy (Official) Committee (Ancillary Measures), the Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments including the Information Research Department.

Miller reports that the note described psyops work in Malaya, Borneo and Oman. He also reports that its Northern Ireland establishment comprised a colonel and a lieutenant-colonel at Headquarters Northern Ireland and a major at 8 Infantry Brigade, employed on information-policy matters. Miller argues that the note’s broad definition and staffing account challenge witnesses’ narrower use of the term psyops.

Army Information Teams

According to David Miller’s account of COS 17/73, psyops teams in Hong Kong and Oman were publicly described as Army Information Teams for reasons of local expediency. The note, as reported by Miller, dated the Oman team’s presence from September 1971. It also required selected posts to be held by personnel who had taken a five-day psyops course at the Joint Warfare Establishment, while other posts required a psyops briefing.

15 Psychological Operations Group

The British were one of the first nation-state powers to effectively utilise Psychological Operations during both the First and Second World Wars. In the 2010 account of the British Army cited here, Psyops initiatives are handled by the 15 Psychological Operations Group, a joint service organisation, with personnel from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. The Group was formed directly after the Gulf War in 1991, and comprises over 150 personnel, approximately 75 from the regular Armed Services and 75 from the Reserves. The Psychological Operations Group supports deployed commanders in the provision of Psychological Operations in operational and tactical environments.

77th Brigade

A January 2015 report described the 15 Psychological Operations Group as becoming one of the sub-units of the 77th Brigade, formerly the Security Assistance Group, which has been created to deal with the evolving nature of modern conflicts, recognising that modern battlefields are affected by by a variety of non-violent measures.

United States

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Since 2010, U.S. Psychological Operations have been known as Military Information Support Operations (MISO). U.S. Psyop forces are forbidden to target U.S. citizens at any time, in any global location, under any circumstances (except to provide public information to aid natural disaster relief).

2nd Psychological Operations Group

Formed on the 29 October 1965, the 2nd Psychological Operations Group is a Psyops Unit of the United States Army Reserve. When called to active duty, it supports the 4th Military Information Support Group (Airborne) in deploying anywhere in the world on short notice; planning, developing, and conducting Psyops to help benefit U.S. troops, coalition forces, or other government agencies as directed by the Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command.

7th Psychological Operations Group

Formed on 19 August 1965, the 7th Psychological Operations Group is a Psyops unit of the United States Army Reserve. When called to active duty, it supports the 4th Information Support Group (Airborne) in deploying anywhere in the world on short notice; planning, developing, and conducting Psyops to help benefit U.S. troops, coalition forces, or other government agencies as directed by the Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command.

4th Military Information Support Group

Formed on 07 November 1967, the 4th Military Information Support Group (Airborne) is an active Psychological Operations unit of the United States Army, alongside the 8th Military Information Support Group (Airborne). The Group currently has around 1000 active service personnel. The unit is part of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), the organisation charged with overseeing the various special operations forces of the United States Army based, which is currently based at Fort Bragg, NC.

The 4th Military Information Support Group (Airborne) personnel include regional experts and linguists who understand the political, cultural ethnic, and religious subtleties of the target audience. They also include functional experts in technical fields such as broadcast journalism radio operations, print, illustration, interrogation layout operations, and long-range tactical communications.

The Group had a distinguished record during the Vietnam conflict, where the unit provided tactical support for allied operations and took part in 11 strategic campaigns against North Vietnam, including the Tet Counteroffensive. The Group provided Psyops support in both Grenada for Operation Urgent Fury and Panama for Operation Just Cause. During Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, the 4th Military Information Support Group provided Psyops support to coalition troops fighting Iraqi forces in southern Iraq and Kuwait. The Group subsequently provided Psychological Operations support to missions ranging from humanitarian assistance, like Operation Provide Promise in Bosnia-Herzegovina and peace keeping in Bosnia and Kosovo. After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Group was heavily engaged in the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines and other areas throughout the globe.

8th Military Information Support Group

Formed on 26 August 2011, the 8th Military Information Support Group (Airborne) is an active Psychological Operations unit of the United States Army, alongside the 4th Military Information Support Group (Airborne). The Group currently has around 1070 active service personnel. The unit was created as part of the restructuring of Military Information Support Operations within the United States Army Special Operations Command.

The Group has been commissioned with helping to provide Psychological Operations support to geographic combatant commanders, special operations task forces, and U.S. ambassadors. The Group has yet to see active service in any major military campaigns yet.

Commando Solo

The Air National Guard provides support for Psychological Operations using a modified C-130 Hercules aircraft named EC-130 COMMANDO SOLO, operated by the 193d Special Operations Wing. The purpose of COMMANDO SOLO is to provide an aerial platform for broadcast media on both television and radio. The media broadcast is created by various agencies and organisations. As part of the broader function of information operations, COMMANDO SOLO can also jam the enemy's Psychological Warfare broadcasts.

Resources

• Military.com, PSYOPS: Defining US Psyops
• Frank Goldstein and Benjamin Findley, ed., (1996), Psychological Operations: Principles and Case Studies: Broad review of US Military view on Psyops
• Ed Rouse, Psychological Operations/Warfare: Brief look at the history of Psyops
• Online Psychology Degree, PSYOPS – Wars Are Fought On and Off the Battlefield: Infographic on Psyops
• Jon Kelly, The secret world of 'psy-ops': Article exploring modern British Psyops
• Harold Kennedy, [1]: Article discussing the modernisation of U.S. Psyops technology

Archival document images

“Psychological Operations in Northern Ireland”, 31 December 1970, NISC 13/9. Bradshaw and Deane reproduce this as Figure 2 (TNA: CJ 4/4248), but their caption describes a Home Office minute of 22 September 1969 enclosing a memo.

H. E. Davies memorandum on codeword “PERIMETER” and restrictions on sharing information with the Northern Ireland government, 17 November 1969, ref. 19/601/1/2 (TNA: DEFE 31/28).

See also

• Perimeter, the handling codeword under which some British papers on Northern Ireland, including the 1970 psychological operations paper shown above, were kept from the Northern Ireland government
• Information Policy Unit
• Information Research Department
• Northern Ireland Information Service