Show notes
Did you know we can trace the Psychological Operations Regiment to a single person?
Did you know PSYOP played a role in the Office of Strategic Services?
They were there at the landings of Normandy, in the planning for Desert Storm, and remain a critical component to military victory in the modern age.
Join us as we host Dr. Jared Tracy, the Army Special Operations Forces' Deputy Command Historian, as he dives deep with us on the nuances and facts of the PSYOP Regiment and its history.
About the guest:
Dr. Jared M. Tracy, PhD served six years in the U.S. Army, and became a historian at the US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) in December 2010. He earned an MA in History from Virginia Commonwealth University, an MDiv in Theology from Liberty University, and a PhD in History from Kansas State University. Dr. Tracy is now the deputy command historian for USASOC at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. He previously concentrated on PSYOP history, but now he researches and writes on a wide range of ARSOF-related topics. His writing has appeared in Military Review, NCO Journal, Southern Historian, and Veritas: Journal of Army Special Operations History.
About the hosts:
Maj. Ashley "Ash" Holzmann is an experienced Psychological Operations Officer who served within the re-established PSYWAR School at the United States Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School. He is now transitioning to attend grad school at Arizona State University with a follow-on assignment at West Point's Army Cyber Institute where he will research misinformation.
Sgt. Maj. Derek Riley is one of the most experienced Civil Affairs Non-commissioned Officers in the Army Special Operations Regiment. He has incredible deployment experience and serves within the Civil Affairs Proponent at the United States Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School.
From the episode:
Victory Through Influence (Dr. Tracy's first book):
https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781648430343/victory-through-influence/
The ARSOC History website:
https://arsof-history.org/about.html#tracy
Dr. Tracy's dissertation is publicly available here:
https://krex.k-state.edu/items/333a90d2-6c98-4ac2-aa90-0e33a46c9e3f
His writing on the history of PSYOP and PSYWAR has even been posted to the main army website:
https://www.army.mil/article/199431/100_years_of_subterfuge_the_history_of_army_psychological_operations
Article on rebuilding the PSYWAR capability:
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v7n2_intro_page_1.html
Is Taylor Swift a PSYOP (featuring Dr. Tracy)?
https://www.wired.com/story/taylor-swift-psyop-conspiracy/
The Guardian article referenced about Panama (featuring Dr. Tracy):
https://www.theguardian.com/music/audio/2021/feb/03/reverberate-episode-2-rick-astley-versus-the-dictator-of-panama-podcast
What did PSYOP do during Operation Just Cause in Panama. Ash disappointedly was not able to find the interview of the captain, but the ARSOF Historians have covered this exact operation in detail:
https://arsof-history.org/articles/21feb_psyop_just_cause_page_1.html
From that article:
"Then, LTG Stiner (with Thurman’s approval) ordered a PSYOP-led “sound barrier” around the Nunciature after Christmas to prevent media eavesdropping on negotiations between MG Marc A. Cisneros, Commander, USARSO, and José Sebastían Laboa, the Papal Nuncio (Vatican diplomatic representative). Deafening, round-the-clock music from cassette tapes and local radio stations blared through 450-watt loudspeakers mounted on HMMWVs."
The art and science of PSYOP has been written about at length:
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA030140
Heber Blankenhorn's story is even more interesting in detail:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-6563.1983.tb01579.x
The ARSOF Historian's office has also covered multiple articles that mention Blankenhorn:
https://arsof-history.org/icons/blankenhorn.html
The Committee on Public Information (CPI) is a rabbit hole unto itself:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/the-great-war-master-of-american-propaganda/
Lippmann wrote the first book on Public Opinion:
https://www.amazon.com/Public-Opinion-Walter-Lippmann/dp/B099G6S24P/ref=sr_1_3?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uCSJpfoI3vI2Iv8MR449ZCjuaVyRTA3QZ-grEOo-5EOiZYbL8mci1OiMEfmyOzPHFC6acuxTTevKTq2jjgkeGWXccFMnkYkRIHJEOyJOR6OGTB4x9r0YHHP5CjNSJzgHhkQDDHzHOJOIRwlXyZhFPGROmrUxCD-aKDmRwK0SdzQoBq-9vRTUhziliA6pq0OvmaG-bHwQBnBlWyaTUjORLX4SFN-Tizrr5V8c_vWKqd8.5U0CbgjyyhXy9E5E_bJnGfS21HAxqUiQwc-I-2W6NDU&dib_tag=se&keywords=public+opinion&qid=1729801247&sr=8-3
Bernays re-wrote the book on Public Opinion:
https://www.amazon.com/Crystallizing-Public-Opinion-Edward-Bernays/dp/107827326X/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uCSJpfoI3vI2Iv8MR449ZCjuaVyRTA3QZ-grEOo-5EOiZYbL8mci1OiMEfmyOzPHFC6acuxTTevKTq2jjgkeGWXccFMnkYkRIHJEOyJOR6OGTB4x9r0YHHP5CjNSJzgHhkQDDHzHOJOIRwlXyZhFPGROmrUxCD-aKDmRwK0SdzQoBq-9vRTUhziliA6pq0OvmaG-bHwQBnBlWyaTUjORLX4SFN-Tizrr5V8c_vWKqd8.5U0CbgjyyhXy9E5E_bJnGfS21HAxqUiQwc-I-2W6NDU&dib_tag=se&keywords=public+opinion&qid=1729801247&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
Book - The Averaged American:
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674027428
The modern definition of PSYOP:
https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/specialty-careers/special-ops/psychological-operations
The Smith-Mundt Act:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/5736
Morale Operations within the Office of Strategic Services (OSS):
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v3n4_oss_primer_page_1.html
Public Records on the Office of War Information:
https://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-208
Declassified records regarding The Psychological Warfare Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (PWD SHAEF) from the CIA's website:
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-01634R000400120001-4.pdf
The First Motion Picture Unit:
https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/know-your-records/handouts-presentations/sept19-presentation.pdf
Razzle Dazzles ships:
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-65-razzle-dazzle/
The Ghost Army of World War II:
https://ghostarmy.org/
A book on the history of the Information Control Division:
https://nonstopsystems.com/radio/pdf-hell/article-hell-rwnlst.pdf
The United States Information Agency:
https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/united-states-information-agency
Gen Schwarzkopf and PSYOP:
https://arsof-history.org/articles/21oct_psyop_in_operation_ds_pt1_page_1.html
Army Special Operations Recruiting:
SOF Recruiting Page (soc.mil)
https://www.soc.mil/USASOCHQ/recruiting.html
GoArmySOF Site:
https://www.goarmysof.army.mil/
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