POVA LEAFLET DROP - MAY 2023
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Greetings and welcome to your May Leaflet Drop.
Your Board of Directors held our monthly meeting on 17 May. Attending: Larry Dietz, Mike Rogers, Ray Ambrozak, and Ham Salley.
Anyone who would like a copy of the minutes can email me at: Dietz.POVA@gmail.com and I will send a copy. Our next meeting is 28 June at 1900 Eastern Time.
Some highlights from our May meeting were:
Statistics for the April Leaflet Drop
Sends: 580
Opens: 293 (51%)
Clicks: 12 (2.1%)
Bounces: 5
Unsubscribes: 1
To better serve the needs of our Community we have expanded the responsibilities of the Scholarship Committee to include Veterans Services, our charitable and philanthropic efforts.
A new official POVA financial relationship has been established with Edward Jones. Transfer of our account from Michigan should be completed in the next month or so.
The new POVA mailing address is: 117 Bernal Road, Suite 70-338, San Jose, CA 95119
We did not welcome any new members in the past month.
A very hearty well-done and congratulations to Joseph Miessner and Dennis Bartow for the outstanding issue of Perspectives that was sent out to the membership earlier this month. We had 579 sends with 330 opens for an open percentage of 57.8%.
If you missed the Leaflet Drop, it’s at: https://conta.cc/3q5k1uZ
The industry average for newsletter email opens is only 17%, so we are doing well in the publications arena.
We have not been able to get on the JFK Special Warfare Center (SWC) CG’s calendar for a virtual office visit, however, I am still attempting to do so.
There have been no further discussions with the Psychological Operations Regimental Association (PRA) since my report last month. If you have any thoughts on this critical topic, please email them to me at:
dietz.pova@gmail.com
Member involvement is the lifeblood of associations. While your Board continues to make progress, the organization cannot move forward without the involvement of members to replace the aging Viet Nam era leadership.
We need members to step forward and help us lead the organization. If you are interested, please send me an email @ dietz.pova@gmail.com and we can discuss the best fit for you and POVA.
Unless new leadership comes forward, POVA, like the VietNam Veterans Association will be forced down the path of a ‘last person standing’ organization on a slow trajectory to dissolving itself.
(See: https://www.vvaveteran.org/41-6/010-11085_nov21.pdf)
If you missed the April Leaflet Drop, you can find it at:
https://conta.cc/3WyGeO8.
Larry
Lawrence D. Dietz
President
PSYOP NEWS - MAY 2023
22 May 23
Ukraine War: Vast hacker ‘militias’ do little damage - but can rally mass support, says study
A new study, due out Thursday from the thinktank CSIS and previewed exclusively by Breaking Defense, delves deep into the role that non government groups have played in the ongoing cyber conflict. It grapples with how their role blurs traditional lines between civilian and non combatant, neutrality and intervention, peace and war — and, most importantly, what effect they actually have.
RELATED: Cyber lessons from Ukraine: Prepare for prolonged conflict, not a knockout blow
https://bit.ly/3BPTbJM
16 May 23
Combating US cyber adversaries calls for whole of government approach As the dynamics on the world stage get more complicated, our adversaries only get bolder in their attempts to bring the U.S. to its knees. And they aren’t relying on a traditional stratagem to do it. That’s why we must prepare for a new kind of warfare. The next global conflict won’t occur on the battlefield but in the “cyber field,” and we aren’t ready.
The last several years have shown us concerning developments in our adversaries’ approach to cybercrime. While reported cyber incidents decreased last year, our adversaries have grown more sophisticated in their approach. As we evolve our defenses, our adversaries evolve their tactics.
https://bit.ly/3OD0TPa
12 May 23
NATO must codify these lessons from Ukraine while motivation is there A year after Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine began, there are still vital lessons to be learned — with the most important question being how the alliance can encode these lessons into its collective mindset, so its leaders can avoid repetition of past mistakes. NATO failed to deter the attack on Ukraine, and wasn’t ready to support Kyiv when the attack came. We need to look back, see what worked, what failed, and draw serious conclusions before we settle back into routine.
11 May 23
How Special Operations Forces Must Meet The Challenges of a New Era
Discussions and debates about how U.S. and allied SOF must become more capable and ready for an era of growing strategic tensions and conflicts are central to this year’s SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida. For U.S. SOF, the National Defense Strategy priorities of integrated deterrence, campaigning, and building enduring advantages highlights the direction we must take, but it is our people, and partners, who must ensure our thinking, investments, training, and mindset are optimal for the demands of this strategy: to win without fighting when we can and prevail in combat when we must. Here is our start point for SOF Week. History shows SOF is at its very best when we define ourselves by “how well” we solve extraordinarily complex, wicked, and sometimes lethal problems. Some of these require us to win by fighting, but in today’s environment, the challenges our nation faces globally are often not solved by kinetic power alone.
https://bit.ly/3I4ZsVt
8 May 23
Avril Haines: New ODNI Office Oversees Intelligence Community’s Fight Against Disinformation
Avril Haines, director of national intelligence and a 2023Wash100 awardee, said a new organization within her office oversees the intelligence community’s efforts to counter threats posed by foreign actors seeking to influence the U.S. government, The Intercept reported Friday.
Established in September 2022, the Foreign Malign Influence Center is charged with countering foreign disinformation that compromises U.S. election security and might sway the general public’s opinion.
The office uses all elements of the intelligence community, including departments and agencies with diplomatic and law enforcement functions, to combat disinformation campaigns.
“It encompasses our election threat work, essentially looking at foreign influence and interference in elections, but it also deals with disinformation more generally,” Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Haines added that the FMIC is also analyzing intelligence from other foreign adversaries besides Russia to help inform interagency efforts against foreign malign influence.
“What we have been doing is effectively trying to support the Global Engagement Center and others throughout the U.S. government in helping them to understand what are the plans and intentions of the key actors in this space: China, Russia, Iran, etc.,” Haines said.
https://bit.ly/430th20
8 May 23
Ukrainian Soldiers Using WWI Tech to Combat Against Cold War Russia
Ukrainian Soldiers Using WWI Tech to Combat Against Cold War Russia While the trenches are much the same as those from 1916, the Ukrainian troops are using 21st-century technology including satellite-enabled Internet service, smartphones, and drones to spot enemy positions. But according to a recent report from the BBC, one piece of equipment is right at home in the trenches – old wind-up phones.
To make outgoing calls, the Ukrainian soldiers must literally wind up the device with a handle. It is also wired, with cables running back to the headquarters. https://bit.ly/3pnlFr7
6 May 2023
King Charles: Royal Patron of Intelligence Agencies Has A Long History With Spies
King Charles has long been fascinated with secret operations and spying. He served in the Royal Air Force and Navy for five years and as Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment. So when news photographers staked out the Royals on holiday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in 1982, the paparazzi were hoping for a few lively, candid shots and a front page exclusive. Instead, while photographers hid in the long grass, Charles stretched out on a riverbank at Balmoral Castle reading physicist Reginald Victor Jones' memoir, Most Secret War, about WWII and the origins of electronic espionage.
https://bit.ly/433vQQJ
5 May 2023
An Information strategy for the United States
It is within the information domain that autocrats — in Moscow and Beijing, but also elsewhere — have leveraged some of the sharpest asymmetries. Vladimir Putin
and Xi Jinping deliberately spread or amplify information that is false or misleading. Both operate vast propaganda networks that use multiple modes of communication to disseminate their preferred, often slanted, versions of events. Both spread numerous, often conflicting, conspiracy theories designed to deflect blame for their own wrongdoing, dent the prestige of the United States, and cast doubt on the notion of objective truth. And both frequently engage in “whataboutism” to frame the United States and its way of doing business as hypocritical, while using a network of proxy influencers to churn up anti-American sentiment around the world. For Putin and Xi, the goal of these pursuits is to tighten their grip on power at home and weaken their democratic competitors abroad. For Xi, it is also about positioning China as a responsible global player.
https://bit.ly/42FuxXv
5 May 2023
Paper - Evolution of Russian Information Warfare
Information technology has significantly enhanced human interaction around the globe and elevated the importance of information as an instrument of power wielded by individuals and societies in politics, economics, and warfare. Advances in information technology have significantly changed the generation of, transmission of, reception of, and reaction to information. – Joint Concept for Operations in the Information Environment July 2018
The Russian concept of Information Warfare (IW) began to develop in the post WWII Soviet Union. However military theory on the concept gained traction with the USSR’s Military Research Institute (MRI), through the writings of Dr. Vladimir Lefebvre. [1] Lefebvre is credited with developing Reflexive Control (RC) Theory in the 1960s, while working for the MRI. His book, “The Algebra of Consciousness”, was the foundation for classifying the theory and establishing a Soviet research institute to assess its applications. [2]
https://bit.ly/3HJqIsB
3 May 23
Pentagon chief AI officer ‘scared to death of potential for AI in disinformation
While the US military is eager to make use of generative artificial intelligence, the Pentagon’s senior-most official in charge of accelerating its AI capabilities is warning it also could become the “perfect tool” for disinformation.
“Yeah, I’m scared to death. That’s my opinion,” Craig Martell, the Defense Department’s chief digital and AI officer, said today at AFCEA’s TechNet Cyber conference in Baltimore when asked about his thoughts on generative AI.
https://bit.ly/3NGLXyQ
1 May 23
War in 2050: The Army’s Concept After Next
The Army cannot afford for its future-focused operating concept to confuse the hell out of the force. The operating concept should establish the basis for reasoned exploration of emerging operational approaches, tactics, techniques, and procedures that are observable in ongoing conflicts, that develop as a function of new technologies, and that bubble up from the field as units train with what is in the
motor pool right now. An operating concept must establish the conditions and provide a framework for the testing of ideas, technology, and even outside-the-box ideas about warfare. The concept must enable experimentation to push the boundary of what is possible with what we have in the force and what might be possible coming from technology and adaptation of new systems. Finally, the concept must offer solution paths to operational problems across the global range of military operations. This is a tall order, to be sure, and we must bear in mind the admonition of Michael Howard that while any concept we are working on now is most likely wrong, the challenge is to not be too badly wrong. And, perhaps most importantly, concepts should not be confused with doctrine.
https://bit.ly/3LL8UhZ
26 April 23
USAJFKSWCS Heritage Week 2023 and Inductee Ceremony for the Regiments An Induction Ceremony for three Army Special Operations Regiments was held in the JFK Auditorium on April 20, 2023 on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Thirteen people were named as Distinguished and Honorary Members to the Regiments of the Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Psychological Operations community. They were honored during the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) inaugural Heritage Week.
Among the inductees are a former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (ASD SO/LIC), former acting Secretary of Defense, a Medal of Honor Recipient, and an Ambassador and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. Each of the inductees has contributed to the history and legacy of the regiments both were serving in uniform and after their service in the military.
Inducted as Distinguished Members of the Psychological Operations Regiment: Col. Richard D. Springett, US Army Retired
1st Lt. Daniel J. Edelman, US Army (Posthumous)
Inducted as Distinguished Members of the Special Forces Regiment: Maj. John J. Duffy, US Army Medal of Honor
Major Gen. David A. Morris , US Army Retired
Col. Ronald Johnson, US Army Retired
Col. Christopher Miller, US Army, Retired
Col. Mark Mitchell, US Army, Retired
Lt. Col. Roger D. Carstens, US Army, Retired
Sgt. 1st Class E. Riley Lott Jr., US Army, Retired (Posthumous) Inducted as Honorary Member of the Special Forces Regiment:
Ms. Azadeh Aryana
Inducted as Distinguished Member of the Civil Affairs Regiment: Col. Ernesto L. Sirvas, US Army, Retired
Inducted as Honorary Members of the Civil Affairs Regiment:
Mr. Donald C Barton, US Army, Retired
Dr. Spencer Meredith III
https://bit.ly/3nfAlYH
25 April 23
Army Chief of staff pick would bring insights from earlier Russian invasion to role
Gen. Randy George, who commanded troops in Afghanistan and played a key role in reconstituting the Army’s mission in Europe after Russia’s initial invasion of
Ukraine in 2014, is in line to become the service’s next top officer. President Joe Biden nominated the four-star general Thursday to replace Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, who is retiring after four years in the position. George, the current Army vice chief of staff, previously was the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
George would assume leadership as the Army is focused on an array of modernization programs designed around better positioning the military to counter threats posed by China and Russia.
https://bit.ly/41NW1dG
20 April 23
Local Partners Are Not Proxies: The Case for Rethinking Proxy War
Work on security partnerships is expanding in response to a shifting US defense posture emphasizing the benefits of working “by, with, and through” allies and partners. This research is essential, but it is worth reconsidering if we should call
strategic military engagements fought in coordination with local forces “proxy wars.” While the term is pervasive, it is conceptually problematic, at least in the post colonial era. Describing local partners as “proxies” minimizes complex coalition bargaining dynamics, risks overemphasizing the influence of US resources, and insufficiently accounts for US political dependencies.
https://bit.ly/3ANMp6O
19 April 23
9 military operations that sound like Taylor Swift songs
Pop queen Taylor Swift is known for her vague, oft ethereal-sounding song titles. Her most recent album, “Midnights,” boasts tracks with names like “Lavender Haze,” “Vigilante Sh-t” and “Midnight Rain.”
Reading such titles makes it hard not to liken the naming pattern to the U.S. military’s own operation naming conventions, which are typically indistinct adjective noun combinations that evoke anything from absurd patriotism to complete confusion.
As such, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite U.S. military operation monikers that could easily pass as Taylor Swift song titles.
https://bit.ly/3Ll7hs9
18 April 23
Combating propaganda information warfare in the sea services (video) Leaders of the Navy and Marine Corps spoke at the Sea-Air Space expo on how to counter Chinese and Russian disinformation.
https://bit.ly/3mVhrq4
12 April 23
The disturbing trend of state media use of deepfakes.
Social media has been awash with fake images of astylish Pope Francis, Elon Musk protesting in New York and Donald Trump resisting arrest.
An AI-generated image of Pope Francis wearing a white puffer jacket went viral online, with users wondering if it was real. (Reddit)
Such AI-generated images and videos, ordeepfakes, have become increasingly accessible due to advances in artificial intelligence. As more sophisticated fabricated images spread, it will become increasingly difficult for users to differentiate the real from the fake.
https://bit.ly/43WlT8q
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