First of all we learned that the PSYOP Regiment has a
Commandant. In ‘the olden days’, we always thought of the Commandant as the
Commanding Officer of the training center or school we were attending. Colonel
Robert Curris, former 4th POG CDR is our current Commandant residing
at SWC or more properly the US Army Special Operations Center of Excellence.
His role as lead of our Regiment is to shepherd the branch
in such a way as to provide the optimal force to support the national defense
mission. This includes the critical areas of training and doctrine among
others.
It was more than enlightening to learn what was going on in
PSYOP today from someone who is making it happen. Make no mistake there are ongoing
challenges across the force particularly in recruiting and fighting the cyber
influence battle, however, the Regiment continues to move forward.
I was also able to rekindle some old friendships with
colleagues from the 2nd PSYOP Group who I haven’t seen in 20 years
(to be kind). As is the case with most military friendships, connections were
renewed instantly and it was good to catch up.
We expanded our horizons by learning about PSYOP from the
Australian perspective from Derrill de Heer, a life member of POVA. (who you
can learn more about at: https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/australian-centre-for-the-study-of-armed-conflict-and-society/mr-derrill-de-heer)
POVA’s progress is nothing short of remarkable. We have over
400 active members with almost 150 life members across the US active, reserve
and veteran force along with a growing number of international members.
The PSYOP Association (POA) hosted an educational half day
program and launched their new Mobile App which you can get at: https://webapp.mobileappco.org/m/POAAPP
and checkout their website at: http://psyopassociation.org/
POA also extended an invitation to Cleveland’s Vietnamese
community who were very well represented at the event as well.
We also took advantage of seeing some of the sights in
Cleveland such as the world famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame including a tour
of Johnny Cash’s bus and a lunch cruise on Lake Erie on the Nautica Queen.
See you at Fort Bragg in 2020!
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