Quote Originally Posted by Bill Moore View Post
The (soda purchase vignette) example that Hacksaw gave, is PSYOP, but of course the PSYOP bureaucrats will tell you it isn't because it isn't an approved theme, etc. ad naseum. First we build a relationship (supporting activity), then we slip in a few talking points when appropriate (PSYOP). OPSEC, EW, Deception don't necessarily amplifiy this, I think that is a stretch. That would require synchronization at a higher level, and we know that it won't happen, something will get lost between the brain fart at Bde and execution at squad level.

Some guys understand the importance of PSYOP in irregular warfare (IW) and instinctively know how to shape people's thoughts, while others don't don't. What's new?
Agreed on most points, but I don't think you have to be a PSYOP guy to argue that Hacksaw's soda-purchase vignette isn't PSYOP. Yes, you can place messages into your conversation--and it takes skill, talent, and practice to pull it off smoothly--and that is PSYOP, to my crude understanding. (Caveat: I'm not a PSYOP guy, I just play one on TV. Or rather, when wearing one of my citizen-soldier-cowboy hats, I'm sometimes a "non-military media practitioner.")

Hacksaw's proposed storyline, however, seemed more basic and nuanced than that: The interaction itself was communicative, regardless of the conversation's verbal content. The medium was the message, to borrow a phrase.

As a lessons-learned guy in uniform, I recently observed a large-scale joint Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) operation in which senior leaders were armed with talking points, but not the Joes and Janes on the (very wet) ground. That was an unfortunate oversight. What was even more basic, however, was that the soldiers and airmen weren't coached on the "actions speak louder than words" and "when in Rome" memes, and ended up stepping on the very cultures of the populations they were trying to help--and those of the organizations with whom they were working alongside.

So, bottom-line and lesson-learned (and, I hope, coming to parallel conclusions to yours): Joe Snuffy has to be trained to act on IO, but not necessarily to think on it, or to talk on it. And that, I think, is a practical and achievable objective.