The 8th POG (A) personnel (soldiers and civilian) include regional
experts and linguists who understand the political, cultural, ethnic, and religious
subtleties of the target audience. They also include functional experts in technical
fields such as broadcast journalism radio operations, print, illustration, interrogation, and long-range tactical communications.
The 8th POG (A) is capable of providing PSYOP support ranging from propaganda
and product development, to media production, to strategic, operations, and tactical
information dissemination. The 8th POG's organic media assets include light-to-heavy print
production; audio production; amplitude modulated (AM), FM, and shortwave radio
broadcasting stations; audiovisual production and dissemination; and tactical loudspeaker
dissemination.
The 8th POG (A) is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and is a part of the 1st
Special Forces Command (Airborne), under the United States Army Special Operations
Command. (USASOC). The 8th POG was activated August 26, 2011 at Fort
Bragg.
8th PSYOP Group (A) Beret Flash
A bottle green shield-shaped embroidered item with a semi-circular base 2
1/4 inches (5.72 cm) in height and 1 7/8 inches (4.76 cm) in width overall,
divided diagonally from upper left to lower right by a black bend charged
with a yellow lightning bolt flanked by a pair of bendlets each 1/16 inch
(.16 cm) on either side silver gray and white; all within a 1/8 inch (.32
cm) black inner border and a 1/8 inch (.32 cm) smoke outer border. The
beret flash was approved on 20 December 2013.
8th PSYOP Group (A) PARACHUTE WINGS OVAL
A bottle green oval-shaped embroidered item 1 3/8 inches (3.49 cm) in
height and 2 1/4 inches (5.72 cm) in width overall, divided diagonally
from upper left to lower right by a black bend charged with a yellow
lightning bolt flanked by a pair of bendlets each 1/16 inch (.16 cm) on
either side silver gray and white; all within a 1/8 inch (.32 cm) black
inner border and a 1/8 inch (.32 cm) smoke outer border. The background
trimming was approved on 20 December 2013.
The 8th POG (A) was initially comprised of a Headquarters Company, 3 Regional
Support Battalions, and a PSYOP Tactical Battalion. With about 1100 soldiers and 57
civilian analysts in the entire group, the battalions are small with generally fewer than
200 soldiers, compared with a standard infantry battalion of about 750 soldiers.
The 2 Regional Support Battalions (RSB) are the 1st Psychological Operations
Battalion (Airborne), which supports Central and South America (SOUTHCOM) and the 5th
Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) which supports the Pacific area covered
by Pacific Command (PACOM). The 9th Psychological Operations Battalion is the
Tactical Battalion. Tactical PSYOP is that associated with "face-to- face"
operations in support of maneuver units within the theater and is conducted by the Corps
PSYOP Support Element (CPSE), Division PSYOP Support Element (DPSE), Brigade PSYOP Support
Elements (BPSE) and by Tactical PSYOP Teams (TPTs). These elements enable tactical
commanders to communicate directly with the enemy and foreign civilians. Tactical PSYOP
elements disseminate products normally developed by the regional battalions or by the
Psychological Operation Task Force (POTF). The 9th POB has worldwide responsibility for
all tactical assets including loudspeakers, helicopters and vehicles.
Regional PSYOP is conducted at the strategic and operational levels and
operates under the staff proponency of the Theater/Joint Task Force (JTF) J3. The regional
PSYOP battalion commander develops and executes the CINC-JTF Commander's PSYOP campaign
plan, and when directed by the Commander, 8th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne),
provides the Joint PSYOP Task Force Commander.
Each Regional Battalion consists of a Headquarters Support Company, a PSYOP
Development Company which is further broken down into a Plans Programs Detachment, a
Target Audience Analysis Detachment and a Test Evaluation Detachment, and a Strategic
Studies Detachment which includes civilians with language and cultural expertise in the
region supported by the unit. The civilians provide long-term regional analysis and may
deploy on missions.
The 8th POG (A) provided PSYOP in support of named and classified
operations to include Operations Sword of Honor, Enduring Freedom, Inherent Resolve, and
Freedom Sentinel with more than 115 Soldiers deployed to more than 15 countries in the
U.S. South Command, Africa Command, Pacific Command and Central Command areas of
responsibility. These deployed Soldiers provide PSYOP expertise to Special Operations
Forces, combatant commanders, U.S. Embassies, and other government agencies throughout the
world. The Soldiers are employing their expertise at the national, strategic, and
operational levels in support of the National Commands’ communication strategy.
On 19 June 2020, the 4th PSYOP Group (A) resumed responsibility for the
1st and the 5th PSYOP Battalions (A).
Designing the
Insignia
We have a dozen articles on PSYOP units and all of them start the
same way with the insignias and crests. We have never talked about the
artists from the unit that designed them. In this case we can tell you a bit
more about the designs.
Staff Sergeant Patrick Smith
Staff Sergeant Patrick Smith was kind enough to tell me how
everything was initially designed:
I wanted to include the original artwork drawn by SSG Roger Buswell
of C Company, 9th PSYOP Battalion (POB) along with the other prototypes we
toyed with. The overall team
behind the Flash/crest was Lieutenant Colonel Rob Sterbutzel, the Executive
Officer of the 8th PSYOP Group, MSG Ken Ramos, 9th POB; Staff Sergeant
Patrick Smith, C Company, 9th POB; Staff Sergeant Roger Buswell, C Company 9
POB; and Staff Sergeant Stavros
Glitsos, C Company, 9th POB.
I was originally encouraged to work on a flash by the 9th Battalion
Commander Lieutenant Colonel Blas-Irizarry during a chance after returning
from one of our combat tours in 2011. This was followed by 4th Group Command
Sergeant Major Fernan Castillo when I ran into him during my PSYOP Advanced
Leaders Course graduation at Fort Bragg. Roger Buswell, Stavros Glitsos and I were talking to him about an
idea we had been discussing about a PSYOP qualification/organizational
beret. He was doing a census
session on creating a PSYOP badge/tab. While he loved the idea of a distinct organization headgear, CSM
Castillo thought we would have better luck if we initially pursued a crest
and flash for the 8th Group.
Two Beret Flash
Drafts
Draft One explanation From Smith: Bottle Green is the one of the
traditional regimental colors of Psychological Operations; it has a further
allusion to the regiment’s direct lineage to the OSS, as well as green being
traditionally associated with U.S. and British special operation
Draft Two explanation from Smith: Both Bottle Green and silver gray
are traditional regimental colors attributed to Psychological Operations;
the color bottle green has a further allusion to the regiment’s direct
lineage to the OSS, as well as the color being traditionally associated with
U.S. and British special operations.
The yellow lightning bolt represents Psychological Operations’
ability to strike anywhere in the world. It further alludes to the speed,
efficiency, and impact Psychological Operations forces
After working on the flash and getting the opinions of Roger and
Stavros on design, I reached out to Lieutenant Colonel Rob Sterbutzel. We
met quite frequently in his office and paid visits to Dr. Jared Tracy over
at the United States Army Special Operations Command historian's office for
his input. You see the result above. Ken Ramos wrote the motto. Except for Lieutenant Colonel Sterbutzel, the 9th PSYOP Battalion
Non-Commissioned Officers developed the design of the 8th PSYOP Group flash
and crest!
An early draft of the
8th POB Crest
Crest explanation from Smith: The crest in pewter. A vertical
Scottish Sgien Dubh (Skin Doo) boot knife at the center, bracketed by a
Shofar and a lit torch. Below is a Scottish belt sash and above two curved
lightning bolts.
The lightning bolts represent the primacy of thought and the
instant transmission of ideas. The Shofar and Torch reference the Biblical
story of Gideon. The Shofar represents the broadcast of messaging to
inaccessible peoples. The Torch represents truth and perception. The hidden
knife represents the versatility of the 8th Group. The sash and knife
together represent the Scottish heritage of Cumberland County, North
Carolina, the home of Psychological Operations.
As an alternate, the lightning bolts and flames could be bronzed.
I thought the Scottish influence was odd and asked Smith to explain:
As far as the Scottish influence, it was a few factors. One was
influenced by the creation of the Scottish PSYOP tartan at the time, as well
as General McClure’s heritage. The other was we thought there was a
tradition of unconventional warfare in Celtic cultures that hadn’t really
been represented in comparison to the Native American; or Greek and Roman
allusions we see on other crests. Additionally, with Cumberland County
having a strong presence of Scottish and Irish colonists we thought it was
an opportunity to be different, by connecting the regiment to North Carolina
and Celtic heritage in the same way the Special Forces is connected to
Native American Iconography with the crossed arrows; and the U.S. Army
Special Operations Command to British heritage with the Fairbairn-Sykes
dagger.
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for
assistance in evacuating 124,000 civilians from Kabul in
August 2021
The Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for VIETNAM 1967-1968
The
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA
1990-1991
The
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ASIA
2002-2003
The
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for WAR ON TERRORISM 2005-2006
The Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class
for VIETNAM 1967-1971
CAMPAIGNS
The 8th Psychological Operations Group received campaign participation credit for:
Vietnam: Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase
III; Tet Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase IV; Counteroffensive, Phase V;
Counteroffensive, Phase VI; Tet 69/Counteroffensive; Summer-Fall 1969; Winter-Spring 1970;
Sanctuary Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive Phase VII.
Southwest Asia: Defense of Saudi Arabia;
Liberation and Defense of Kuwait.
War on Terrorism: Global War on Terrorism
This ends our very short look at the history of the United States Army’s 6th
PSYOP Battalion, a unit that has deployed to numerous nations to support legal
gove
8th PSYOP Group (A) Beret Flash