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Personnel
(Photo:
U.S. Army
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Headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C., the 4th Psychological Action Group is comprised of about 1,200 Airborne soldiers and is the only active psyops unit in the United States. Several dozen civilian analysts, many with Ph.Ds, augment the group as members of the Strategic Studies Detachment. Additionally, about 75 percent of the men and women in psyops are reservists, and the program draws upon the expertise they cultivate in a variety of fields.
In crafting persuasive messages to target populations, these personnel act as force multipliers, working to maximize the impact of combat troops. Sometimes they contract out their work, such as when DC comics, the publisher of Superman, was asked to create comics depicting the dangers of landmines for distribution in Bosnia. But in most cases the research, development, production and dissemination of psyops materials is handled inside the unit, with psyops soldiers acting as storytellers, multilingual radio announcers, printing press operators, and so on.
Pictured: The Psychological Operations regimental insignia. Gray, white and black represent the three types of Psychological Operations; white is indicative of purity and truth, the first and preferred type of propaganda; the colors gray and black represent the second and third types of propaganda used by the unit when necessary.
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