
Hundreds of Army PSYOP Specialists to be promoted this month - scottlocklin
https://taskandpurpose.com/army-psyop-promotions
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djsumdog
PSYOPs sounds like their operations are funny, but what has been leaked is
actually quite chilling and terrifying.

I highly recommend the book The Men Who Stare at Goats. Don't bother with the
movie; they fictionalize a lot of it and changes the names of the very real
military operatives.

One theory proposed by people interviewed in the books goes back to Abu
Ghraib: the soldiers seen posing with the sexually abused Iraqis were pawns.
Others reported plain clothes operatives in the facility encouraging the
photos and the interrogation techniques.

The various people the book's author interview suggest that it wasn't because
of a lack of procedure leading to abuse, but the opposite: intentional abuse.
Photos were encouraged to be taken and intentionally leaked to the public, in
an effort to scare Iraqis by showing how they could be humiliated in prisons.

This is a terrifying military division that probably does operations similar
in ethics to MK Ultra. (The book I mention even suggested one of the suicides
in MK Ultra may have even been a coverup for more bizzare PSYOPs operations).

~~~
gowld
That doesn't seem possible. The US are the good guys.

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verizonuser
This is the second time that this article (from May 2019) has been on the
front page of HN in the past 24 hours.

Presumably this is due to the news about the Army being on alert for
Involuntary Celibates planning a mass shooting in US theaters for the
screening of Joker. [1]

[1] [https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/army-warns-
soldiers-a...](https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/army-warns-soldiers-
about-incel-threat-joker-movie-report-83451)

~~~
cwkoss
Why are domestic threats related to incels relevant to the Army whatsoever?
This should be entirely within FBI/law enforcement's purview.

Are they worried they are coming from incel service members?

~~~
ryanmarsh
As a former service member I can tell you the US Military is pretty much
defined by involuntary celibacy. This is especially true in the lower ranks.
If you know of an incel, please encourage them to sign up for the military.
The structure, discipline, and sense of purpose the military gives you is the
greatest inoculation of the anger that comes from involuntary celibacy in
young men.

~~~
djsumdog
What?! That's the opposite. Not to be crass, but people in uniform are the
least likely to go periods without reciprocation from advances. Both being in
uniform plus the fitness aspects of being in the military make officers and
enlisted personal incredibly attractive. It may be anecdotal, but people I
know in the military talk about how they often clean up any time they're in a
bar.

~~~
ryanmarsh
There are definitely guys that clean up when they're in a bar. After all, most
soldiers are young, fit, and horny. They are, however, likely describing
experiences when they aren't near the base, such as being home on leave, or on
vacation. I'm sure you're aware of the propensity for some guys to exaggerate
stories of conquest.

When you're on base, or deployed, it's another story. There is a severe dearth
of satisfactory partners. Bases grow small, civilians tell their daughters to
avoid soldiers, available females line up for the top 10% of males and
completely ignore the remaining 90%. The reality is most male soldiers are not
having much sex. Now think of a deployment, sailors on a boat (where
consensual sex with another service member can get you in trouble), or some
mountain top in the middle of nowhere (the goats start to look cute). Those
periods last a year or more, and can be very tough.

Why do you think prostitution and strip clubs are so rampant around military
bases? It's not because the guys are "cleaning up at the bar" I can tell you
that.

If you want to experience the tension created by a room full of drunk
undersexed young incels in peak fitness take a trip to any bar outside a
remote military base. It's frightening. Good thing they only take that
aggression out on each other in a ritual of tribal fist fights and
reconciliation by the base MP (military police). Better that than at home
polishing their AR-15 while they watch Hentai. On base we keep the guns under
lock and key.

------
leroy_masochist
I don't really understand how this is news -- not because of the date of
publication, but because this is basically just a gimmicky HR stunt being
pulled by the Army to increase retention. They're telling PsyOps soldiers, hey
you're so special that we're going to promote a big chunk of you so you can
have higher status in the Army. The Marine Corps has done this a few times in
recent years with the HUMINT community; it's a kind of intuitive thing to do
when you have an MOS community with relatively low numbers, a selective and
long training pipeline, and worse-than-expected retention. I'm sure they're
giving out great reenlistment bonuses too. What totally bewilders me is why
the HN community thinks this is interesting and upvoting it.

~~~
captainredbeard
> What totally bewilders me is why the HN community thinks this is interesting
> and upvoting it.

Must be psyops ;-)

------
cwkoss
I wonder if the Army is currently conducting any PSYOPS on domestic targets,
particularly via social media.

Influence bots seem quite rampant, I'd be surprised if they weren't working on
this - but would be quite the scandal if their operations also targeted
Americans, even incidentally.

~~~
alrs
It was legalized in 2013, so the answer is "yes."

[https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/07/14/u-s-repeals-
propaganda-...](https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/07/14/u-s-repeals-propaganda-
ban-spreads-government-made-news-to-americans/)

~~~
pp19dd
To be fair, social advertising accidents do happen all the time, everywhere.

But USAGM (VOA/RFERL/etc) broadcasting to America is still barred today as it
was then. That cited law was a modernization to Smith-Mundt recognizing that
internet works very differently than the old method of pointing a shortwave
antenna toward somewhere and bouncing the signal off the atmosphere.

There was a relaxation clause for affiliates that often gets misinterpreted
and intent of that relaxation was to permit any private news agencies to
request and use VOA material. For example, a Minnesota radio station can use
VOA Somali material, but that part is up to the free market.

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Eire_Banshee
For those that don't know, Specialist is a rank in the army.

Each of the individuals being promoted are _already psychological operations
soldiers_. They are just going from the rank of specialist to sergeant or
corporal. This is honestly a non-story. Soldiers are being promoted all the
time, this is just a single large ceremony to account for an organizational
reshuffle for the PSYOPS corps, Im assuming.

~~~
frickinLasers
Clearly you haven't read the article. They are all either E-5 or E-6 and being
promoted because 'the current rank authorizations were "inadequate to account
for Soldiers' extensive training and education in influence theory, human
dynamics, psychology, sociology, language, culture, and politics," per the
release.'

~~~
ryanmarsh
Still, the service branches are always shuffling the deck to maintain the
appropriate mix of senior and junior service members, especially in the more
technical fields (such as psyops). This could represent an uptick in the use
of psyops capabilities and the need for additional senior NCO's, or it could
reflect a crop of senior NCO's that are retiring and need to be replaced.
Sometimes a field can become bottom heavy, thus they reduce the points
necessary for promotion (yes they use a point system), and when a field is top
heavy they will offer early retirement, re-classing, and other options.

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swayvil
>Involuntary Celibates planning a mass shooting in US theaters for the
screening of Joker.

This sounds exactly like PSYOPs

Heck, this whole "mass shooting" wave sounds like PSYOPs

Which means those guys deserve their promotion

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LinuxBender
I am curious if they are open to some friendly competition, like an Army vs.
Civilian PsyOp Hackathon.

e.g. Pick a soft target, get points for manipulating people into doing {x}.
Get points for identifying the other sides psychological attempts and
neutralizing / countering them. etc.. I would imagine that civilian marketing
companies should be some good competition for the Army.

~~~
djsumdog
and how many points for encouraging depression or suicide? Facebook teams
would probably score higher than anyone.

~~~
LinuxBender
I think that would be out of bounds for a friendly competition. Those types of
PsyOps occur on some of the lower echelon forums (chan sites) daily. That
would not be much challenge either, as many folk there are already struggling
with issues.

