26 December 2012

US Military Influence Operations

http://www.au.af.mil/info-ops/influence.htm

It is a fundamental mistake to see the enemy as a set of targets. The enemy in war is a group of people. Some of them will have to be killed. Others will have to be captured or driven into hiding. The overwhelming majority, however, have to be persuaded.

--- Frederick Kagan, "War and Aftermath," Policy Review, Aug 03

Trying to get people to reason in a way that is not natural for them is like trying to teach a pig to sing. You don't accomplish anything and you annoy the pig.

--- E. Jeffrey Conklin & William Weil

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. He who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes or decisions possible or impossible to execute.

--- President Abraham Lincoln

One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the press and other forms of propaganda.

--- General Douglas MacArthur

The real target in war is the mind of the enemy commander, not the bodies of his troops.

--- Captain Sir Basil Liddell Hart, Thoughts on War, 1944

The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armoury of the modern commander.... In Asia we were so weak physically that we could not let the metaphysical weapon rust unused.

--- T.E. Lawrence

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

--- Arthur Schopenhauer

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts. But if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.

--- Francis Bacon

Definitions

from AFDD 2-5 Influence operations are focused on affecting the perceptions and behaviors of leaders, groups, or entire populations. Influence operations employ capabilities to affect behaviors, protect operations, communicate commanders intent, and project accurate information to achieve desired effects across the cognitive domain. These effects should result in differing behavior or a change in the adversarys decision cycle, which aligns with the commanders objectives. The military capabilities of influence operations are psychological operations (PSYOP), military deception (MILDEC), operations security (OPSEC), counterintelligence (CI) operations, counterpropaganda operations and public affairs (PA) operations. Public affairs, while a component of influence operations, is predicated on its ability to project truthful information to a variety of audiences. These activities of influence operations allow the commander to prepare and shape the operational battlespace by conveying selected information and indicators to target audiences, shaping the perceptions of decision-makers, securing critical friendly information, defending against sabotage, protecting against espionage, gathering intelligence, and communicating selected information about military activities to the global audience.

Comprehensive Assessment of Department of Defense Human Factors Analysis (HFA) Methodologies - Statement of Work Director of Central Intelligence Directive (DCID) 7/3 defines HFA as, The psychological, cultural, behavioral, and other human attributes that influence decision-making, the flow of information, and the interpretation of information by individuals and groups at any level in any state or organization.



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Influence Operations

Influence Theory