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Targeting Hearts and Minds
SOTECH 2008 Volume: 6 Issue: 6 (August)
The 4th Psychological Operations Group
Out of Fort Bragg Supports U.S. Operations in
Southwest Asia, and Around the World,
With Targeted Communications.
by Peter A. Buxbaum
Psychological operations will be assuming increased importance to the United States military in coming years, at least if the number of personnel assigned to PSYOP activities are any indication. Two years from now, the U.S. Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group will have more than doubled the number of its personnel over five years.
The group currently stands at 1,700 strong, an increase of 600 soldiers over the last three years. Colonel Curt Boyd, the unit’s commander, expects to build an additional company and add another 600 soldiers by the end of next year, before the group caps out at around 2,450 in 2010.
The 4th Psychological Operations Group, based in Fort Bragg, N.C., shoulders a diverse set of missions. The unit does everything from supporting operations in Southwest Asia to providing assistance to information programs run out of U.S. embassies around the world. One PSYOP unit is operating independently in Iraq and Afghanistan, while other personnel are attached to special forces and other outfits in theater. They also are integral to regional commands in Asia, Africa and South America.
If this sounds like the 4th is stretched a little thin, it is, said Boyd. “Currently we have one company of 104 people deployed as part of the surge in Iraq,” he related. “They are in the process of coming back home now. We have two other companies that support special operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and another tactical company refitting and waiting to return to the theater. We are pretty much tapped out.” Given these kinds of commitments, it is not surprising that the 4th is increasing its payroll.
PSYOP carries with it something of a sinister reputation, Boyd acknowledged. Many associate psychological operations with disinformation, that is, with attempts to deceive enemies or populations. Whatever its history, PSYOP’s current stock in trade is in the truth, Boyd emphasized. The key PSYOP mission is to win over the hearts and minds of populations by disseminating accurate information.
Given the information-intensive nature of its operations, it is not surprising that PSYOP personnel are experts at utilizing information media, all kinds of media, and particularly those that are able to target specific geographies. Thus, the internet is not favored, since it is accessible to all. On the other hand, PSYOP personnel excel at creating and distributing sophisticated video and audio programs and print materials targeted at specific demographic groups. Not everything they do is that glamorous; sometimes the best way to communicate to a target population is over a loudspeaker system. Here, too, however, technology has advanced far beyond the bullhorn era to make even this mode of communication all the more effective.
How do PSYOP units support U.S. operations in Iraq? By disseminating information designed to have both strategic and tactical effects. “One thing we do is to explain U.S. intentions,” said Boyd. “We try to create the impression that we are invited guests, and not occupiers.”
Beyond that, they also try to help the local population by providing useful information. “We may explain to them why the electrical system works the way it does these days,” Boyd said. “We may warn them to stay away from a certain area for safety reasons.”
PSYOP activities in support to public diplomacy in U.S. embassies attempt to advance U.S. diplomatic objectives in host countries. “We have worked in support of democratization projects,” Boyd explained. “We have been involved with training local media on professional standards and impartiality and on the public good inherent in disseminating information. We have provided training and assistance in the development of public relations capabilities of local security forces and have acted as spokespersons for U.S. diplomatic missions in communicating with the populace. We have also assisted local authorities in developing radio and television public service announcements.”
PSYOP personnel assigned to regional commands are experts in local languages and cultures and advise commanders on interacting with their environments. The 4th boasts personnel with expertise languages as diverse as Arabic, Pashtu, Dari, Farsi, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish, and French.
The 4th Psychological Operations Group produces video programming at a state-of-the-art multimillion dollar facility at its headquarters in Fort Bragg. The facility was developed to emulate a cable TV news operation, according to Boyd.
“It is a multi-mission facility equipped with many millions of dollars worth of equipment,” he said. “In the greater scheme of things, what we spent is a drop in the bucket compared to what could be spent. The facility has the ability to archive an extensive library of material and to convert analog video into digital media. Over the course of the summer and into next year, we will be fielding systems to our operational teams which will allow them to move video in real time globally across secure and unsecure communications.
”The 4th’s archiving capability is aided with equipment acquired from VideoBank, a software development company and producer of complex video management systems based in Northvale N.J. “We have been handling the archiving at the media operations center since December 2004,” said Louis Siracusano, the company’s president.
VideoBank systems convert analog video into digital media that can be stored on a computer system and retrieved through a search engine from anywhere on a network. “Traditionally, media operations have kept rooms full of tapes and content,” said Siracusano. “Our system takes all of that and consolidates it into a small footprint on a computer-based system.” The VideoBank system also digitizes other kinds of content, such as audio media and still imagery.
The VideoBank systems consists of servers and storage components; work stations for video capture, decoding, and encoding; and a robotic tape library that is used for long-term archiving and backup.
The media operations center installed the system in phases and has enhanced its storage and capture capabilities over time. Siracusano expects the center to order future enhancements to its systems, in particular deployable or remote systems. “These will come in smaller packages,” he said, “possibly a single laptop or some other portable case that can capture imagery and video in the field and be brought back to a central location to be collected and managed.” In theater, PSYOP broadcasts programs tailored for local populations. “We don’t install a huge antenna to reach all of Baghdad,” said Boyd. “We use a small antenna to reach a portion of Baghdad. We operate likewise elsewhere throughout Iraq.”
That kind of capability has been enabled with the advent of small aperture satellite ground terminals, noted Jim Gerow, president of U.S. operations for SWE-DISH Satellite Systems, Inc., a Stockholmbased company and a division of DataPath Inc. of Duluth, Ga. These smaller systems can be vehicle mounted or even manpacked to be set up where needed. The small aperture systems manufactured by SWE-DISH are integrated and all inclusive terminals that are designed to be operated in tough environments and in temperatures ranging form minus 20 degrees to 50 degrees Celsius.
“The small aperture systems has allowed PSYOP to provide broadband support down to smaller elements to distribute information or act as a force amplifier for what they are trying to achieve,” said Gerow.
This type of technology, which has been available only for five years, has changed how satellite communications are deployed. “It takes one man to unload the equipment from an aircraft and get it to where it needs to be deployed to establish connectivity,” Gerow added.
“Large antenna systems required a satellite communicator who was part of a very small and highly educated group. This equipment can be intuitively understood and operated by untrained users. It allows anyone to put the terminal on the ground and the system automatically calculates the vector and points the antenna to acquire a satellite signal.”
Complementing the 4th’s media operations center is a print shop, which Boyd described as “Kinko’s on steroids,” equipped with two digital presses and the ability to produce books and magazines. PSYOP has supported local school development programs engineered by Civil Affairs units by producing specially designed textbooks and notebooks for the students.
The print shop is also able to produce the more banal leaflet. Leaflet drops are considered to be a staple of psychological operations and are mostly used in remote areas with poor accessibility to other media.
The 4th has dropped leaflet bombs— sheaths of rolled leaflets dropped to create a predictable scatter pattern based on wind conditions—from a variety of different aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan. But “we are not where we need to be with leaflet delivery,” said Boyd. “At this point we are stuck with using fixed-wing piloted aircraft. We could use a system that could be launched form an aircraft carrier and piloted remotely. Our intention in developing a nextgeneration leaflet drop system to be able to deliver a paper message without sending a man to do the job. We are currently exploring UAV technology in this regard.”
Loudspeakers may be the most pedestrian but nonetheless an essential tool in the PSYOP arsenal. “It doesn’t take any special talent to operate one of these,” sad Boyd. “It is one of the ways we are able to target local populations. We can broadcast messages to them locally while being well removed from them.”
Loudspeaker systems have come a long way from the horn-type of contraptions of old, noted Karl von Kries, president of Technomad Associates LLC, a Boston-based developer and manufacturer of loudspeaker systems and related technologies. The older systems operated on low power and were adequate for voice communications only if the listener was situated in a direct line from the horn. They did a poor job reproducing other kinds of sounds. Systems that strove for better area coverage mounted clusters of horns in one location. In any event, the horn-based systems are not known for their high fidelity.
Technomad systems, on the other hand, have been adopted by the military for basewide paging, for training, and for PSYOP because of its high level of intelligibility and its realistic reproduction of sound.
“Our loudspeakers are high performance and weather proof,” said von Kries, “and can be deployed in any outdoor environment. They have been in service for so many years that we actually don’t know the maximum life span of our own product.”
In addition to loudspeakers, Technomad also produces turnkey military public address systems that can cover areas of one-mile radius as well networking solutions that allow groups of wirelessly connected loudspeakers to broadcast over a 20 square-mile area with near-CD quality audio.
Boyd would like to see loudspeaker systems miniaturized so that they can more easily be toted by soldiers. “Current systems weigh 35 pounds, and at least 50 pounds with all the peripherals,” he said. “That is tough for a soldier to carry together with all of his personal gear. We are asking industry to lighten the load, not in the capacity to communicate, but in weight. We’d like them to produce a system that weighs no more than 20 pounds.”
Besides all of these impressive capabilities, the 4th Psychological Operations Group also has plans to acquire some additional and more sophisticated technologies to help it carry out its missions. “We are contemplating technologies that are used by the advertising, marketing, and sales, and communications industries,” said Boyd. “We are looking to edit video, imagery and text in near real time to add color and clarity and to create greater appeal for our products. There is a host of commercially based software that we could acquire to perform these tasks.”
In addition, Boyd is looking beyond the physical product and toward technologies that would better plan and target the kinds of campaigns that the 4th works on.
“We could use software which collects and analyzes demographic information so that we can create our communications products based on the specific characteristics of the target population,” he said. “We could also use marketing software for laying out campaign objectives, planning the achievement of those objectives over time, and analyzing the effect of the information we are providing on the populations we are targeting.” ♦
The group currently stands at 1,700 strong, an increase of 600 soldiers over the last three years. Colonel Curt Boyd, the unit’s commander, expects to build an additional company and add another 600 soldiers by the end of next year, before the group caps out at around 2,450 in 2010.
The 4th Psychological Operations Group, based in Fort Bragg, N.C., shoulders a diverse set of missions. The unit does everything from supporting operations in Southwest Asia to providing assistance to information programs run out of U.S. embassies around the world. One PSYOP unit is operating independently in Iraq and Afghanistan, while other personnel are attached to special forces and other outfits in theater. They also are integral to regional commands in Asia, Africa and South America.
If this sounds like the 4th is stretched a little thin, it is, said Boyd. “Currently we have one company of 104 people deployed as part of the surge in Iraq,” he related. “They are in the process of coming back home now. We have two other companies that support special operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and another tactical company refitting and waiting to return to the theater. We are pretty much tapped out.” Given these kinds of commitments, it is not surprising that the 4th is increasing its payroll.
PSYOP carries with it something of a sinister reputation, Boyd acknowledged. Many associate psychological operations with disinformation, that is, with attempts to deceive enemies or populations. Whatever its history, PSYOP’s current stock in trade is in the truth, Boyd emphasized. The key PSYOP mission is to win over the hearts and minds of populations by disseminating accurate information.
Given the information-intensive nature of its operations, it is not surprising that PSYOP personnel are experts at utilizing information media, all kinds of media, and particularly those that are able to target specific geographies. Thus, the internet is not favored, since it is accessible to all. On the other hand, PSYOP personnel excel at creating and distributing sophisticated video and audio programs and print materials targeted at specific demographic groups. Not everything they do is that glamorous; sometimes the best way to communicate to a target population is over a loudspeaker system. Here, too, however, technology has advanced far beyond the bullhorn era to make even this mode of communication all the more effective.
How do PSYOP units support U.S. operations in Iraq? By disseminating information designed to have both strategic and tactical effects. “One thing we do is to explain U.S. intentions,” said Boyd. “We try to create the impression that we are invited guests, and not occupiers.”
Beyond that, they also try to help the local population by providing useful information. “We may explain to them why the electrical system works the way it does these days,” Boyd said. “We may warn them to stay away from a certain area for safety reasons.”
PSYOP activities in support to public diplomacy in U.S. embassies attempt to advance U.S. diplomatic objectives in host countries. “We have worked in support of democratization projects,” Boyd explained. “We have been involved with training local media on professional standards and impartiality and on the public good inherent in disseminating information. We have provided training and assistance in the development of public relations capabilities of local security forces and have acted as spokespersons for U.S. diplomatic missions in communicating with the populace. We have also assisted local authorities in developing radio and television public service announcements.”
PSYOP personnel assigned to regional commands are experts in local languages and cultures and advise commanders on interacting with their environments. The 4th boasts personnel with expertise languages as diverse as Arabic, Pashtu, Dari, Farsi, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish, and French.
The 4th Psychological Operations Group produces video programming at a state-of-the-art multimillion dollar facility at its headquarters in Fort Bragg. The facility was developed to emulate a cable TV news operation, according to Boyd.
“It is a multi-mission facility equipped with many millions of dollars worth of equipment,” he said. “In the greater scheme of things, what we spent is a drop in the bucket compared to what could be spent. The facility has the ability to archive an extensive library of material and to convert analog video into digital media. Over the course of the summer and into next year, we will be fielding systems to our operational teams which will allow them to move video in real time globally across secure and unsecure communications.
”The 4th’s archiving capability is aided with equipment acquired from VideoBank, a software development company and producer of complex video management systems based in Northvale N.J. “We have been handling the archiving at the media operations center since December 2004,” said Louis Siracusano, the company’s president.
VideoBank systems convert analog video into digital media that can be stored on a computer system and retrieved through a search engine from anywhere on a network. “Traditionally, media operations have kept rooms full of tapes and content,” said Siracusano. “Our system takes all of that and consolidates it into a small footprint on a computer-based system.” The VideoBank system also digitizes other kinds of content, such as audio media and still imagery.
The VideoBank systems consists of servers and storage components; work stations for video capture, decoding, and encoding; and a robotic tape library that is used for long-term archiving and backup.
The media operations center installed the system in phases and has enhanced its storage and capture capabilities over time. Siracusano expects the center to order future enhancements to its systems, in particular deployable or remote systems. “These will come in smaller packages,” he said, “possibly a single laptop or some other portable case that can capture imagery and video in the field and be brought back to a central location to be collected and managed.” In theater, PSYOP broadcasts programs tailored for local populations. “We don’t install a huge antenna to reach all of Baghdad,” said Boyd. “We use a small antenna to reach a portion of Baghdad. We operate likewise elsewhere throughout Iraq.”
That kind of capability has been enabled with the advent of small aperture satellite ground terminals, noted Jim Gerow, president of U.S. operations for SWE-DISH Satellite Systems, Inc., a Stockholmbased company and a division of DataPath Inc. of Duluth, Ga. These smaller systems can be vehicle mounted or even manpacked to be set up where needed. The small aperture systems manufactured by SWE-DISH are integrated and all inclusive terminals that are designed to be operated in tough environments and in temperatures ranging form minus 20 degrees to 50 degrees Celsius.
“The small aperture systems has allowed PSYOP to provide broadband support down to smaller elements to distribute information or act as a force amplifier for what they are trying to achieve,” said Gerow.
This type of technology, which has been available only for five years, has changed how satellite communications are deployed. “It takes one man to unload the equipment from an aircraft and get it to where it needs to be deployed to establish connectivity,” Gerow added.
“Large antenna systems required a satellite communicator who was part of a very small and highly educated group. This equipment can be intuitively understood and operated by untrained users. It allows anyone to put the terminal on the ground and the system automatically calculates the vector and points the antenna to acquire a satellite signal.”
Complementing the 4th’s media operations center is a print shop, which Boyd described as “Kinko’s on steroids,” equipped with two digital presses and the ability to produce books and magazines. PSYOP has supported local school development programs engineered by Civil Affairs units by producing specially designed textbooks and notebooks for the students.
The print shop is also able to produce the more banal leaflet. Leaflet drops are considered to be a staple of psychological operations and are mostly used in remote areas with poor accessibility to other media.
The 4th has dropped leaflet bombs— sheaths of rolled leaflets dropped to create a predictable scatter pattern based on wind conditions—from a variety of different aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan. But “we are not where we need to be with leaflet delivery,” said Boyd. “At this point we are stuck with using fixed-wing piloted aircraft. We could use a system that could be launched form an aircraft carrier and piloted remotely. Our intention in developing a nextgeneration leaflet drop system to be able to deliver a paper message without sending a man to do the job. We are currently exploring UAV technology in this regard.”
Loudspeakers may be the most pedestrian but nonetheless an essential tool in the PSYOP arsenal. “It doesn’t take any special talent to operate one of these,” sad Boyd. “It is one of the ways we are able to target local populations. We can broadcast messages to them locally while being well removed from them.”
Loudspeaker systems have come a long way from the horn-type of contraptions of old, noted Karl von Kries, president of Technomad Associates LLC, a Boston-based developer and manufacturer of loudspeaker systems and related technologies. The older systems operated on low power and were adequate for voice communications only if the listener was situated in a direct line from the horn. They did a poor job reproducing other kinds of sounds. Systems that strove for better area coverage mounted clusters of horns in one location. In any event, the horn-based systems are not known for their high fidelity.
Technomad systems, on the other hand, have been adopted by the military for basewide paging, for training, and for PSYOP because of its high level of intelligibility and its realistic reproduction of sound.
“Our loudspeakers are high performance and weather proof,” said von Kries, “and can be deployed in any outdoor environment. They have been in service for so many years that we actually don’t know the maximum life span of our own product.”
In addition to loudspeakers, Technomad also produces turnkey military public address systems that can cover areas of one-mile radius as well networking solutions that allow groups of wirelessly connected loudspeakers to broadcast over a 20 square-mile area with near-CD quality audio.
Boyd would like to see loudspeaker systems miniaturized so that they can more easily be toted by soldiers. “Current systems weigh 35 pounds, and at least 50 pounds with all the peripherals,” he said. “That is tough for a soldier to carry together with all of his personal gear. We are asking industry to lighten the load, not in the capacity to communicate, but in weight. We’d like them to produce a system that weighs no more than 20 pounds.”
Besides all of these impressive capabilities, the 4th Psychological Operations Group also has plans to acquire some additional and more sophisticated technologies to help it carry out its missions. “We are contemplating technologies that are used by the advertising, marketing, and sales, and communications industries,” said Boyd. “We are looking to edit video, imagery and text in near real time to add color and clarity and to create greater appeal for our products. There is a host of commercially based software that we could acquire to perform these tasks.”
In addition, Boyd is looking beyond the physical product and toward technologies that would better plan and target the kinds of campaigns that the 4th works on.
“We could use software which collects and analyzes demographic information so that we can create our communications products based on the specific characteristics of the target population,” he said. “We could also use marketing software for laying out campaign objectives, planning the achievement of those objectives over time, and analyzing the effect of the information we are providing on the populations we are targeting.” ♦