President of POVA Duties Means the Blog is Going on HIatus

Greetings,

As of 1 January 1, 2023 I became the President of the PSYOP Veterans Association (POVA).

POVA is the oldest continuous serving veterans' Association providing membership support, reconnection, reunion and philanthropic support to America's military PSYOP soldiers and veterans.  Founded in 1988, POVA continually seeks to support and assist our fellow PSYOP veterans.

I joined POVA many years ago and served as First Vice President. Chad Spawr, like many of my fellow VietNam Veterans has been experiencing health issues. I felt duty bound as the First Vice President to assume the duties.

While I will not be posting to the Blog often, I am continuing to follow and analyze important news and events in the field. I am providing all POVA members with a new product: PSYOP News. This is included in our monthly membership mailing.

Please consider joining POVA at www.usapova.org.

Here’s my first issue of PSYOP News from last month:

PSYOP News January 2023

Here are some links and summaries of important developments in the influence world.

1/10/23

How  Finland Is Teaching a Generation to Spot Misinformation

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/world/europe/finland-misinformation-classes.html

See also: How it Startedd, How It is Going: Media Literacy Index 2022

https://osis.bg/?p=4243&lang=en

6 Jan 23

Deepfakes and International Conflict

Deceit and media manipulation have always been a part of wartime communications, but never before has it been possible for nearly any actor in a conflict to generate realistic audio, video, and text of their opponent’s political officials and military leaders. As artificial intelligence (AI) grows more sophisticated and the cost of computing continues to drop, the challenge deepfakes pose to online information environments during armed conflict will only grow.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/deepfakes-and-international-conflict/

28 Dec 22

MCIOC Marine Receives 2022 Major General Robert A. McClure Medallion Award

QUANTICO, VA, UNITED STATES

12.28.2022

Story by Capt. Karen Jensen 

Marine Corps Information Operations Center

QUANTICO, Virginia. – The U.S. Army’s Psychological Operations Proponent’s Office announced the recipients of the Major General Robert A. McClure Medallion Awards, December 19, 2022, for the recipients’ sustained meritorious contributions in support of U.S. Army Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Psychological Operations Regiments.

Gunnery Sgt. Jeffery D. Jones, an Influence/Psychological Operations Marine from the Marine Corps Information Operations Center, is one of four U.S. Marine Corps service members selected as Bronze award recipients. The three other U.S. Marine Corps recipients, all previous MCIOC Marines, are Staff Sgt. Taylor J. Dieckman, Gunnery Sgt. William Correa, and Maj. Christopher B. Hampton.    

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/435981/mcioc-marine-receives-2022-major-general-robert-mcclure-medallion-award

22 Dec 22

Cyber to be featured for first time at US military exercise in Africa

WASHINGTON — An upcoming military exercise involving U.S. Africa Command and more than a dozen countries will for the first time feature elements of cyber.

The Justified Accord 23 event, or JA 23, kicks off in mid-February and will allow the U.S. military to work with African forces on matters tied to the digital domain, a highly influential and contested space, the Army announced Dec. 21.

Specifically, time will be spent sharpening incident detection, intelligence collection, containment and eradication abilities. Participants include Kenya and Uganda.

http://bit.ly/3Wp3SM0

The Power of ChatGPT

Unleashed on Military Technology

http://bit.ly/3hSqJ3r

The dire warnings suggest an outcome similar to science fiction movies such as The Terminator or The Matrix, where armed machines turn on their masters. However, as Musk noted, the greater danger is that AI could take everyone’s jobs, as it could simply do everything better than humans. That danger could be released with recently released software known as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, or ChatGPT. It actually sounds like a rather harmless application. But is it?

“It is a chatbot application developed by OpenAI that is built on top of the group’s GPT-3.5 family of large language models,” explained technology analyst Charles King of Pund-IT. “ChatGPT is fine-tuned with both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques, allowing it to develop detailed responses and articulate answers across numerous knowledge domains.”

The prototype launched just last month, and the application’s human-like responses raised alarms over whether ChatGPT might be used to build or orchestrate automated phishing scams sophisticated enough to fool consumers and businesses.

“Those same concerns could apply to government agencies, including groups dealing with defense and national security issues,” King told ClearanceJobs. “From my reading, I don’t believe that ChatGPT is a serious threat yet.”

20 Dec 22

‘South Park’ Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone Land $20 Million in Funding for Their Deepfake VFX Studio

  The creators of “South Park” have secured a $20 million investment for their AI entertainment startup Deep Voodoo. The funding was led by Connect Ventures, an investment partnership between CAA and venture-capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA). It’s the first outside capital raised by Deep Voodoo, which previously was funded entirely by Parker and Stone’s independent entertainment company, Park County.

Stone and Parker plan to use the new funding to “accelerate Deep Voodoo’s development of its leading deepfake technology, cost-effective visual effects services and original synthetic media projects,” according to the announcement.   

http://bit.ly/3hG0z49

16 Dec 22

Drones critical to US info-warfare playbook, Air Force Kennedy says

http://bit.ly/3YHX91h

The three-star general spearheading the U.S. Air Force’s information warfare efforts foresees a sustained future for drones in the military, as nations monitor, analyze and attempt to outfox each other from greater and greater distances.

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Errors, etc

Please contact Larry Dietz - dietz.pova@gmail.comwith information on any errors.

Does It Really Matter Who Owns Twitter?

 

 

Unless you live in a cave, you know that Elon Musk paid $44 Billion to buy Twitter and then take it from a public company to a private one. There has been more than a great deal of concern about the Twitter platform and the future of the company itself. On November 22, 2022 The Brookings Institute published “The future of Twitter: Four scenarios” (see: http://bit.ly/3UgiaN9, which is also a photo source.)

 

The four alternatives according to Brookings are:

1.     Bankruptcy

2.     Little Content Moderation and Lots of Extremism

3.     Technical Problems in Maintaining the Site

4.     Survival Through Premium Services

 

Of course there can also be multiple scenarios as well. PSYOPers are information maestros. Just as a symphony conductor blends the sounds of the various instruments together in a symphony, influencers will blend media and messages to orchestrate an effective campaign.

 

Two other analogies apply here as well. The first is that Twitter is a an information tool. When building a house, the carpenter knows that saws cut wood, hammers are used on nails and screwdrivers are used on screws. The tool has a purpose and is used for that purpose.

 

Another way to look at it as like playing a bocce court (Photo source: http://bit.ly/3gFCwlj).

Each court has its own nuances. Most are not completely level all the way around. The skillful player has to know where the court dips and where the ball is likely to go because of the nature of the court.

 

My point is that no matter which way Twitter goes, it still may useful for influence operations. Assuming for the moment that Twitter scenario number 2. Little Content Moderation and Lost of Extremism comes into being.

 

Influencers will need to assess if Twitter is an appropriate medium to transmit their message. It is also important to recognize that Twitter could be a source of intelligence on the extreme content and the extreme content’s authors, goals, etc.

 

People get their information in a variety of ways and successful influencers, like orchestra conductors must learn how to blend the appropriate medium to create optimal effectiveness

What’s Good for the Goose Isn’t Necessarily Good For the Gander

 

My good friends at Merriam Webster define this expression “to say that one person or situation should be treated the same way that another person or situation is treated” (see: https://bit.ly/3qPXRKh)

Should the U.S. concede the information advantage to our enemies and adversaries?

 

The Washington Post posted “Pentagon orders review of psyops after takedown of fake social accounts” (see: https://wapo.st/3R1IcSF, which is also a photo source.) The Post said the article was a follow-up to a previous article posted on August 25, 2022 “A phony, U.S.-friendly social media campaign prompts questions (see: https://wapo.st/3qWlGAa, also a photo source)

 

This second article was about the discovery and removal of pro-US messaging by Twitter and Meta. That article was sort of an expose of fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda,”. 

 

However, that type of activity was actually reported by the British publication the Guardian on 17 March 2011 (see: https://bit.ly/3dt5WkO, another photo source). This article addressed specific operations being conducted by the US Central Command under a $2.76 million contract with an LA based company, Ntrepid. The company has since moved to Herndon, VA (https://ntrepidcorp.com/)

 

 

It is clearly no secret that other countries, particularly Russia and China, engage in disinformation using a variety of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) including fake personas on social media.

 

The most recent article points out that “U.S. law authorizes the use of fictitious substitute accounts, but Pentagon policy and doctrine discourage spreading false information. Congress in 2019 effectively allowed the military to strike back online when countering foreign disinformation campaigns.”

 

Trying to get a more objective look, I found Gizmodo’s article “The Pentagon is Reportedly Auditing the U.S. Military’s Own Pro-American Social Media Psyop” published yesterday, September 19, 2022 (see: https://bit.ly/3S5OfXF). The closing paragraph of that article is:

“In response to Gizmodo’s questions, a DoD spokesperson sent the following comment in an email, “As a matter of policy, the Department of Defense conducts military information support operations in support of our national security priorities. These activities must be undertaken in compliance with U.S. law and DoD policy. We are committed to enforcing those safeguards.”

 

Let’s see if we can move beyond the hype shall we?

 

1.     Our enemies and adversaries are dominating the high ground of the information domain. Disinformation campaigns using automated means by Russia and China in particular have been widely documented.

2.     It appears that US law allows the DOD to execute similar campaigns as long as those campaigns are not primarily targeted to an American audience.

3.     The PSYOP hand has been caught in the information cookie jar on more than one occasion.

4.     Only a fool would allow their enemies to act freely.

5.     There is quite a bit of politics at play here. If I were a cynical person (as I have been accused of being) I would say that ‘someone’ in the White House is very concerned about looking bad especially with the midterm elections literally around the corner.

 

While of course the U.S. should take the high road, we cannot ignore the low roads or information highway routes being dominated by our enemies and adversaries.

 

As always, reader comments are encouraged.

 

 

When You Don’t Know If the Indirect Effect Will Be Greater

 

The NY Times featured an article on August 22, 2022 “People are paying to have personal messagespainted on Ukrainian artillery shells.” (see: https://nyti.ms/3CsFNwy, which is also a photo source.)

 

The article chronicles a novel way that Ukrainians are raising money to support their war effort against Russia. According to the article the signmyrocket is one of these efforts. Supporters can not only get their personal messages on the shells, but can, for an extra fee of course, they can get a video of their shell being shot.

 

Of course, this is not the first time that bombs have had a dual purpose. Life Magazine featured some bombs destined for the Pacific Theater in World War II. (Source: Life Magazine).

 

While some may view fundraising by Artem Poliukhovych at signmyrocket.com (which is also a photo source) as the main goal, there are of course other outcomes. Most of the messages have political overtones, but others like the one from Cristina Repetti of Chicago is personal – she simply wants her boyfriend, Vinny to come back home.

 

 

As PSYOP professionals, let’s take a moment to talk about the effects of this kind of effort.

 

1.     Direct Effect - Kinetic

First of all the bombs land on the enemy causing damage.

 

2.     Indirect Effect - PSYOP

 

The nature of the campaign, the fund raising, and the popular/media support create another effect and that is the PSYOP effect of showing the enemy that there is a worldwide community that stands against them.

 

This raises the question of what audience can actually see the articles about the bombs and their messages. Given the totalitarian control that Russia has over its ‘news’ media, it would be reasonable to assume that the Russian domestic media market will not see the messages.

 

The Russian diaspora outside Russia can certainly access on line and traditional media that will feature the articles. Russian soldiers inside Ukraine may or may not be an audience depending on their particular situation and of course their rank.

 

When it comes to Measures of Effectiveness (MOE), we could all take a lesson from the ‘signmyrocket.com’ results below. As always, reader comments encouraged.

 

Movies and PSYOP: The PRC is the Best!

 

While the picture here is from one of my favorite military satire sites, it, like most effective PSYOP, is based on truth. (see: https://bit.ly/3INygd3, which is also a photo source).

 

While the thrill of going to a darkened room with hundreds of strangers has been dampened due to COVID, there have been some exceptions. One of which has been “Top Gun: Maverick” which has topped over $1 Billion at the box office. 

 

The lure of movies as a propaganda medium has not been lost on other countries, in particular, the People’s Republic of China. Unbeknownst to me (because I let my subscription lapse) my favorite news magazine, The Economist published a January article “How Chinese propaganda films became watchable – Patriotic blockbusters are so entertaining people willingly buy tickets” (see: https://econ.st/3zgtUIi, another photo source).

The article talks about “The Battle at Lake Changjin” became the highest-grossing film in Chinese history, and the second-highest of the year worldwide. It made over $900m, just behind “Spider-Man: No Way Home”. You can watch the official trailer on YouTube at: https://bit.ly/3IXQnNy (another photo source) You can read a review in the British publication the Guardian at: https://bit.ly/3aUN50Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found it very interesting to learn that the film was especially popular among Young Chinese. This contrasts with Top Gun where the majority of viewers were over 35. (see: https://bit.ly/3v17JDm)

 

Stepping back, it would appear that the PRC is well aware its target audience. Clearly, their goal is to attract the younger citizen who is perhaps more disenchanted with the Chinese heavy surveillance efforts and potential censorship of internet news and other sites regarded as damaging to the Party and government.

 

Once upon a time, in World War II, one scholarly source summed up Hollywood’s role “During World War II, Hollywood produced films that acted as propaganda, increased military recruitment rates, assisted in military training, and boosted the morale of American soldiers and civilians alike, easily making cinema the most important form of popular media in the war effort.” (see: https://bit.ly/3B4pTYG)

 

The Office of War Information was created due to the need for offensive influence operations and under the pressure of World War II. Given the nature, resources and pressure created by Russia and other disinformation efforts – is it time to consider an Office of Disinformation Control?

 

Reader comments encouraged.