PROPAGANDA RADIO

This is a story I did not want to write because the subject is just so big. Radios have been used in every war since WWI, and not just one radio; but dozens of radio stations by all the combatants.  In WWII, the Germans had numerous propaganda radio stations as did the British and the Americans. In Vietnam, we had a half dozen and Hanoi had a large number of stations too. I finally came up with a solution. Instead of writing about the big picture, I will try and take some smaller operation in each war and just talk about one or two particular stations. As you read this, remember that we are just looking at a very small portion of any war and we have selected the segment because we thought the reader would find it interesting.

We might start with the question “Why Radio?” What is it about the radio that has made it such an important part of psychological operations since WWII? First of all, in the case of technically advanced nations, the great majority of the population will have radios in their homes and vehicles. In fact, in Germany, their government built inexpensive radios that could be purchased by all the people to assure that Dr. Goebbels’ propaganda could be heard by everyone. In those nations where only the upper classes have a radio, the political and military leaders that are always a target for propaganda will have them.

In those “Third World,” areas where radios are scarce, PSYOP units can give away free radios to the poor so that they can hear the propaganda message. In Vietnam, the U.S. airdropped cheap transistor radios, or floated them to the people along rivers and creeks. In the Muslim world, the U.S. has given gift radios to those that make the Hajj, the visit to the holy site at Mecca. If the target audience lives in deep valleys surrounded by towering mountains, satellite radios can be given that can receive the message from satellites strategically placed overhead. Some countries lack electric service to the poor and the radios are often dropped with batteries, and in some cases a more expensive type will be dropped with a hand crank. The most important thing is that the target audience hears the message. Vast study and detailed intelligence has been used to write the text in such a way that it will move an audience and cause change. If they cannot hear it, all that work and study is wasted.

The military booklet: BUILDING BRIDGES: Commander’s Guide to Face to Face Communication explains the importance of radio to PSYOP. It says in part: 

The invention of the battery-powered transistor has brought radio broadcasts into most households of developing countries. There are now over 600 million radio sets in the developing world, and the number continues to grow as technology becomes less expensive.

Radio is one of the most effective forms of communication, particularly in developing countries. In Africa for example, people listen to the radio while farming, cooking, or shopping…In addition to local and international radio stations, the U.S. military or coalition forces may have portable stations broadcasting in your local area. Well thought-out and prepared statements can reach distant targets. It is an excellent medium to convey a message to a target audience. Radio is very inexpensive to buy, operate and maintain and is ideal for illiterate audiences. One radio can be listened to by large numbers of people.

FM 33-1

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS-U.S. ARMY DOCTRINE, Field Manual No. 33-1, 1968, adds:

Radio provides for wide coverage and rapid dissemination of the propaganda message. U.S. Army PSYOP units have medium and short wave radio broadcast capabilities, both mobile and fixed, which are employed in support of PSYOP. Strategic radio operations are broad in scope and messages are developed to reach mass target audiences to support national strategy and objectives. Radio stations at lower political subdivisions are used to inform, orient, and educate the local populace. Local stations are ideal facilities for building support for local leaders and their programs. Radio is used to establish listening habits among the populace by operating on a regular schedule and programming in a consistent format. PSYOP personnel should take advantage of opportunities to vary the sequence of presentation within established program formats to maintain maximum listener interest. This medium appears to be an authoritative source and builds credibility rapidly. Radio has great flexibility and offers unlimited opportunities for the conduct of PSYOP.

PSYOP soldier prepares a radio broadcast

Field Manual No. 33-1 goes on to say this about the use of radio:

Radio broadcasts can be transmitted to local audiences, or across national boundaries, and behind enemy lines. Political boundaries or tactical situations may hinder radio broadcasts, but they are not complete barriers. Since radio can reach mass target audiences quickly, it is useful for all types of psychological operations. Where radio stations are not common and receivers rare or nonexistent, receivers may be airdropped or otherwise distributed to key communicators, public installations, and selected individuals. Public listener systems may also be set up.

ADVANTAGES

• Speed. Radio programs can be quickly prepared for broadcast. This is important when attempting to capitalize on targets of opportunity.

• Wide coverage. Radio programs can reach members of large and varied audiences simultaneously.

• Ease of perception. It requires little or no effort to visualize the radio message. Illiteracy does not prevent the listener from forming his individual image as he listens.

• Versatility. Radio is easily adaptable to drama, music, news, and other types of programs.

• Emotional power. A skilled radio announcer can exert tremendous influence on the listener simply with pitch, resonance, inflection, or timing.

• Availability of receivers. Where availability or ownership of receivers is common, listening to radio is a habit. Ownership of receivers has increased greatly with the invention of transistors.

DISADVANTAGES

• Enemy restrictions. The target group may be subjected to severe censorship, thereby reducing the effectiveness of radio broadcasts. Some countries have only single channel radios with the frequency set to the government-owned station. In some areas central receivers are connected to household receivers to control listening.

• Jamming. Jamming may prevent the target group from receiving radio broadcasts .

• Technical. Signal may be made inaudible or distorted by fading or static due to unfavorable atmospheric conditions.
  

• Lack of receivers. In certain areas, so few receivers are available that radio may not be an effective medium.

• Fleeting impressions. Oral media do not have the permanency of written media. Messages may be quickly forgotten or distorted.

United States Navy PSYOP

Blue Eagle

Although seldom mentioned, the United States Navy was also involved with psychological radio operations in Vietnam. The first "Blue Eagle" aircraft was constructed in January 1965 using a NC-121J Lockheed Super-Constellation shell. Blue Eagle I was the first project aircraft and configured to do AM, FM, and SW radio broadcast missions. A crew of naval officers and enlisted personnel was selected. Operational and flight training began in July 1965. The aircraft was sent to Vietnam shortly afterwards where in October it broadcast the World Series to American troops and became the world’s first operational airborne broadcast station. United States Navy RMC Steve Robbins told me:

I spent three of my four flight tours in Vietnam flying this bird. Blue Eagle I (aircraft 131627) was one of four Navy Project Jenny broadcast birds that we built and operated. This bird was a radio-only bird (unlike the other three which were radio/TV broadcast birds. Blue Eagle I, after doing a test flight in Vietnam which rebroadcast the World Series from the United States, was assigned to PSYOP operations.

Two Blue Eagle aircraft were based at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon to broadcast Channel 11 of Armed Forces Vietnam Television (the American Forces Vietnam Network), and Channel 9 of THVN (the official station of the Government of Vietnam) in South Vietnam until 1970.

A third aircraft was based at Da Nang Air Base to provide airborne PSYOP broadcast missions for MACVSOG off the coast of North Vietnam from 1966 to 1970. It took part in psychological operations from 1965-1967 and earned the nickname “Da Nang Dirty Bird.” John Plaster mentions the Project Jenny missions in his book about SOG and it was Blue Eagle I that flew those missions.

In Project Jenny, a U.S. Navy EC-121 aircraft broadcast SOG radio programs while flying off the North Vietnam coast, a technique that confused enemy radio direction finders and, because the radio wasn’t far away, tended to overwhelm local station signals.

Miniature Propaganda Radios

Two Types of Portable Radio Dropped on Vietnam

Another Radio Similar to the green one at the left above but with a label
New contracts were issued from time to time and that is why the radios differ.

Third Type of Portable Radio Dropped on Vietnam
Note: This is the same type of radio shown in leaflet HQ-8-68 shown below

  

A Fourth American Radio given to the Vietnamese
Notice that the label on the radio shows it was issued by CORDS
Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support

A Gift Radio

The gift of the radios is mentioned in Stars and Stripes of 18 July 1967 in an article entitled “Drop Radios on North - Psywar Experts.” The article says in part:

American psychological warfare experts have proposed the dropping of small transistor radios into Communist North Vietnam in order to get allied views across to the population. Informed sources said the idea was presented to Leonard Marks, Director of the United States Information Service when he visited Saigon recently. The said Marks reacted “enthusiastically” and asked for cost estimates on the radios in lots of up to one million, an indication that serious consideration is being given to the idea.

   

Excerpts from instruction book which accompanied the free radios

The radios would be packed in plastic cases with a spare battery, giving them 20 hours playing time. They would be dropped by tiny parachutes and fixed at a pre-set frequency which would pick up the Voice of America or the Vietnamese government’s Voice of Freedom station in South Vietnam.

 

My Personal Airdropped Radio for the Cambodian People

Notice that they were dropped within a waterproof plastic bag with a set of instructions. When opened this 7th PSYOP Group portable radio told finder was told how to use the radio, change batteries and other needed information.

My files from the 7th PSYOP Group on Okinawa mention the number of miniature propaganda radios disseminated by the United States over certain time periods. For instance, during Operation Field Goal from July 1972 to the cease-fire in January 1973, 12,921 radios were floated into North Vietnam on rafts, 3,192 radios were sent North by balloon, and 14,419 were dropped by B-52 bombers.

During Operation Prairie Lightning (formerly Field Goal), C-130 aircraft dropped 8,280 radios while B-52 bombers dropped 2,016. During the Ho Chi Minh Trail campaign against soldiers coming the trail from North Vietnam and civilians maintaining the trail in late 1972 and early 1973, 6,432 radios were dropped along the Trail by C-130 Hercules. During the Rice River Campaign (directed against North Vietnamese troops in Cambodia), C-130s dropped another 5,496 radios. And during Operation Fountain Pen (directed against North Vietnamese troops in Laos) in December 1972, 6032 radios were dropped by C-130s.

The PSYOP/POLWAR Newsletter, Volume III, No. 10, 25 October 1968 adds:

The first of three shipments of mini-radio receivers arrived in Pleiku. The radios are to be distributed throughout the western portion of II Corps to areas known to harbor VC/NVA troops, their dependents and sympathizers by US Special Forces, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, CIDG forces, and sector and sub sector advisory teams. Although the receivers can receive any standard band frequency broadcast, they are designed for peak reception performance on the frequencies to be used by Pleiku PSYOP radio. PW and Hoi Chanh interrogation reports have indicated that the VC/NVA troops prefer to listen to ARYN and FWMAF radio broadcasts rather than to Hanoi Radio. The reasons stated for this preference is that Hanoi Radio broadcasts so little music and Hanoi battle statistics are always inflated. The mini radios will provide one more method of reaching enemy soldiers and sympathizers with PSYOP messages. The PSYOP Directorate is presently studying a distribution. plan, prepared by MACY Advisory Team 21, for dissemination of the new receivers.

And speaking of the Pleiku radio station:

Installation of a PSYOP radio transmitter is nearing completion at Pleiku. The radio will broadcast news, music, and PSYOP messages to VC/NVA troops, their dependents, and sympathizers throughout the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. The operation of the transmitter will be a joint US – Army of Vietnam effort with ARVN PSYWAR personnel responsible for all programming. 4th PSYOP Group personnel will supervise the technical operation of the station. Broadcast emissions are expected to cover an area of approximately 200 miles radius.

The Communist North Vietnamese reported the finding of Allied propaganda radios on many occasions. Some of the MACVSOG reports of the discoveries are as follows:

On 2 May 1965, fisherman found large and small boxes floating in the water. The small boxes contained children’s clothing and handkerchiefs. The large boxes were sealed with green tape and wrapped in a nylon bag. When opening the eight large boxes they found radios, about 25cm long and 10cm high. The listeners noted that the radios played Vietnamese music and talk stations. Within every box was a piece of paper that said, “This radio set is donated to the people of North Vietnam. Do not allow anyone to take it from you. Keep it to follow the situation.”

During the night of 9 July 1965, rangers using rubber boats landed on the coast. They advanced 3 kilometers into the mainland near Yen Diem and laid 25 radio sets there, one of which was turned on.

The U.S. Navy discusses the radios in their Vietnam After-action Monthly Reports:

The Navy received 288 small battery powered radios for PSYOP purposes in January 1970. The radios were distributed to Vietnamese civilians in areas where radios are few in number. Radios are felt to be an excellent PSYOP medium permitting the people in remote areas to keep in touch with the happenings in the Republic.

During medical visits, USN personnel distributed radios to Vietnamese villagers. Their feelings were that of disbelief that the radios were a gift. Most recipients tuned into Radio Saigon.

During May 1970, refugees began arriving in Vietnam from Cambodia. Navy Task Force 211 has assumed responsibility for the care of approximately 300 Cambodian refugees. The refugees have been housed in barracks with adequate lighting, water, and sanitation facilities. The refugees have been provided with medical care, food, clothing, blankets, PSYOP radios, baby formula, candy, dolls, vitamins, plastic bowls, and spoons. The morale of the refugees appears high.

The reports mention dozens of such operations numbering in the thousands of individual gifts sent to the people by water.

The PSYOP/POLWAR Newsletter of February 1970 mentions the miniature radios:

On 1 January 1970, the 6th PSYOP Battalion disseminated 900 mini-radios through field teams supporting the II Field Force. The radios were distributed as part of a Medical Combined Action Program (MEDCAP), a Vietnamese Cultural Drama Team, and a Vietnamese Army band. It was a “Country Fair” atmosphere. Some radios were given as prizes, others as part of a raffle. The hamlet chief personally demonstrated installation procedures and placed the batteries in the radios. Radios were also given to people who came forward and informed on Viet Cong activities. The mini-radios are being distributed by the 4th PSYOP Group, all PSYOP Battalions, and the Navy Force, Vietnam.

The formerly top-secret report, MACSOG documentation study – psychological operations, 10 July 1970, mentions some Vietnamese fishermen finding the radios:

On the morning of 5 February 1965, while fishing, a fisherman saw several large and small boxes. The small boxes contained children’s clothing and handkerchiefs. The large boxes were sealed with a green tape and carefully wrapped in a nylon bag. Inhabitants in the source’s hamlet found eight large boxes.

Upon opening the nylon bag, they found the box inside very light and soft. If dropped in the water, it would float. When the Source peeled off the green tape and opened the box, he saw a radio-set, about 25 cm long and 10 cm high. The Source turned the knobs on but heard nothing. He saw something resembling a button with a long wire connected to one side of the radio-set. Putting the object into his ear, he heard soft music. When the button was removed from the radio-set, the voice came on loud. Full of joy, he hastily ran back home, and called his neighbors to listen to it.

Source turned a knob on the right side of radio set, and he heard many Vietnamese-spoken stations with good music, however, he did not know whether they were Southern or Northern stations. Opening a small lid underneath the radio-set, he found three batteries inside of it. Three additional ones were contained in a white box.

In every box, there was a piece of paper. The contents of which they vaguely remembered as saying “This radio-set is donated to the people of North Vietnam. Do not allow anyone to take it from you. Keep it to follow the situation.”

Like the other people, he listened to the radio-set all day long, but two days later Village Security Agents and those from the Ngu Thuy Post went to every house and said, “let the authorities make an investigation to see if there is explosive material in the radio-set. If there is no explosive material it will be returned to you!” The people waited a week and they still had not given radio-sets back to the people. 23 radio-sets were confiscated within the Tuong Lai Commune.

The PSYOP/POLWAR Newsletter of February 1970 mentions the miniature radios:

On 1 January 1970, the 6th PSYOP Battalion disseminated 900 mini-radios through field teams supporting the II Field Force. The radios were distributed as part of a Medical Combined Action Program (MEDCAP), a Vietnamese Cultural Drama Team, and a Vietnamese Army band. It was a “Country Fair” atmosphere. Some radios were given as prizes, others as part of a raffle. The hamlet chief personally demonstrated installation procedures and placed the batteries in the radios. Radios were also given to people who came forward and informed on Viet Cong activities. The mini radios are being distributed by the 4th PSYOP Group, all PSYOP Battalions, and the Navy Force, Vietnam.

The Secret Project CHECO Southeast Asia report titled “Psychological Operations against North Vietnam July 1972 - January 1973” discusses the official doctrine on U.S. miniature radios:

The general concept and rationale behind the use of mini-radios was to apply pressure on the North Vietnam leadership by threatening their monopoly on information for domestic consumption. By dropping mini-radios, it was hoped that the radio audience for U.S. and SVN government broadcasts would be enlarged, and that the party and government would become concerned that an increase in illegal listener-ship represented a growing divergence from strict loyalty and obedience to government decree. Further, the radios burdened the security apparatus by causing it to search for and retrieve them, and created resentment when an individual either voluntarily or involuntarily gave up the small but valuable item to authorities. Finally, their presence required the government to remind the populace repeatedly that their exposure to information must be restricted.

The delivery of miniature radios offered some unique problems. Saturation delivery was ineffective because the radios could easily be gathered and confiscated. Consequently, the radios had to be delivered a few at a time. Some new methods of delivery were tried including the flotation of radios to North Vietnam from offshore and balloon delivery. B-52s also successfully delivered mini-radios to North Vietnam, as did C-130s to other parts of Southeast Asia.

Retired USAF Colonel Jerry L. Thigpen adds in The Praetorian Starship: The Untold Story of the Combat Talon:

Psychological Warfare Operations was the most successful program against North Vietnam. One of the primary means of delivery of propaganda, including the delivery of leaflets, gift kits, and portable radios, was accomplished through air assets.

On 20 November 1972, part of the USAF 1st Special Operations Squadron was alerted for deployment to Nakom Phanom Royal Thailand AFB in preparation for an expanded PSYOPS campaign designed to coincide with the peace talks taking place in Paris. The operation was designated TEMPO SURGE. One special mission tasked to the 1st SOS during Tempo Surge was the dropping of packages containing small transistor radios with batteries. The radios were tuned to stations that broadcast information and music prepared by the Asian version of Radio Free Europe. The mission was effective in reaching North Vietnamese farmers, soldiers, and peasants who could not read.

The funniest thing I have read about the miniature propaganda radio is a secret memorandum written by Henry Kissinger to the President on 15 July 1972. Remember, the radios had been disseminated since the start of the Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s Secretary of State who was supposed to know everything and regularly brief the President has discovered a brand-new idea. A brief handwritten note at the end of the memorandum says:

David Sarnoff [Chief Radio Corporation of America] once strongly urged we air drop very inexpensive transistor radios in Eastern Europe. Which would pick up Radio Free Europe broadcasts. Could Helms [Richard Helms – Chief of the CIA] explore the possibility of doing this in area of Hanoi?

Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli

Summary of British tape-recorded Spanish language broadcast

STATION IDENTIFICATION
OUTLINE OF PROGRAMS

- News
- Current affairs
- Music (requests)
- “Sentimental break” with attractive girl presenter
- What the stars foretell

According to reliable reports tonight, efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Falklands conflict are on the verge of breaking down. In spite of continuing efforts by the UK at the United Nations to reach an acceptable settlement, the news is not hopeful. Opinion in the UK tonight is that an all-out attack on the Falklands is imminent. The UN Secretary-General has spoken of the negotiations being in their last hours. The UK has said that the Argentine reply to the latest UK proposals is not favorable.

Latest UK reports indicate that the British “tactical group” (task force) is in a state of readiness. Admiral Woodward has said that he is just waiting for the right moment. Softening-up of the defenses has started with bombing by Harriers from “Invincible.” The Ministry of Defense describes this as part of the plan to wear down the garrison. Later in the program there will be a review of the casualties to date and an assessment of the forces involved.

The attack on Pebble Island was carried out by the Special Air Service (SAS), using 12 teams of 4 men each; 11 aircraft were destroyed, as well as a munitions dump. The SAS is an elite force drawn from the British Army, specializing in clandestine military operations.

A British hospital ship has put in to Rio de Janeiro, with the permission of the Brazilian authorities, for treatment for a crew member suffering from concussion.

General Galtieri has appeared on Mexican TV. He said he felt the burden of responsibility for the loss of 400 men but would nevertheless be prepared to lose 4,000 or 40,000 more.

Argentine Annie - Silvia Fernandez Barrios

Of course, Argentina retaliated with a very sexy sounding lady named Silvia Fernandez Barrios. Some of her radio comments after a rousing Hollywood orchestral version of the entrance of the chariots into the Roman Colosseum from Ben Hur were:

That was a good war tune, but it belongs of course to Roman Empire days. And empires today are not what they were, are they Mrs. Thatcher?

Grenada - 1983

Map

Maurice Bishop

The Grenada story began on 13 March 1979 when Maurice Bishop overthrew the legitimate government and established a communist society. The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation (New Jewel Movement) ousted Sir Eric Gairy, Grenada's first Prime Minister, and established a people's revolutionary government. Grenada began construction of a 10,000-foot international airport with the help of Cuba. There was speculation that this airfield could be used to land military fighters and transports, threatening South America and the southern United States.

The safety of these Americans became a factor when Maurice Bishop and several members of his cabinet were murdered by elements of the people's revolutionary army on 13 October 1983. The United States reacted to the bloody coup in Grenada within two weeks. On 25 October 1983, American troops landed on the beaches of Grenada.

Some aspects of the PSYOP campaign were carried out by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Reserve and National Guard. For instance, according to Retired Colonel Alfred H. Paddock writing in an article entitled “PSYOP: A Historical Perspective,” for Perspectives, Volume 22, Number 5 & 6, 2012:

Working with the 4th Group, the Navy’s Reserve Audiovisual Unit (NARU 186) produced a cassette tape of PSYOP messages and music which the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 193d Special Operations Group (then Coronet Solo) broadcast over radio to the Grenadian people concurrent with the landing of U.S. Marines and Army Rangers. The Navy deployed its mobile 10 kilowatt radio station (AN/ULT-3) which, together with Coronet Solo, provided coverage of the island until the Army’s 50 kilowatt set could be installed.

We learn more about the PSYOP broadcasts in Operation Urgent Fury - Grenada, Ronald H. Cole, Joint History Office, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1997:

Navy Admiral McDonald requested guidance on themes for PSYOPS broadcasts to the Grenadian populace. The Joint Chiefs of Staff approved McDonald’s concept the following day; radio broadcasts began on 28 October.

The Los Angeles Times of 15 November 1983 also mentioned the radio operations in an article entitled “U.S. Psychological Unit on Offensive in Grenada” written by staff writer Rone Tempest. The article says in part:

In the hours before the American invasion of this island on October 25th, a powerful new radio station began broadcasting from a Navy ship somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. In Spanish, it asked Cubans on the island to give themselves up. In English it asked Grenadians to open their home and help the friendly soldiers find opposing soldiers.

“Help protect your hard fought freedom” one such message boomed. “Help send the Cubans back to Havana where they belong.”

Stanley Sandler says in an article printed in Mindbenders, Vol. 9, No.3, 1995:

The 4th PSYOP Group distributed leaflets giving the Grenadian population guidance and information, and a newly-deployed 50-kilowatt transmitter, "Spice Island Radio,” broadcast news and entertainment throughout the island.

The Grenada Radio Station antenna with wires cut by the U. S. Navy Seals

Radio Free Grenada was one of the first targets of American bombs. To replace Radio Free Grenada, the U.S. set up Spice Island Radio, under the overall control of the Psychological Operations Section of the Army. A twelve-man team of Navy journalists immediately flew in from Norfolk, recruited some local announcers, and Spice Island Radio was on the air. Their first broadcast called on Grenadians to lay down their arms. The head of the Navy team, Lt. Richard Ezzel, told Reuters, "We wanted to save lives.

An American radio PSYOP specialist added:

One of the first objectives was the island’s commercial AM transmitter. The Soviet Union had provided it. The control panel of the transmitter gave control functions in Russian. The locals had put labels in English below those controls. The US Navy sent in a Seal Team to quiet the transmitter just prior to the invasion. While the building exterior received a lot of light weapons damage, the transmitter was reasonably unscathed. The Navy cut the feed lines to the antenna to disable the transmitter. The US Navy’s PSYOP 10KW broadcast transmitter aboard ship off the coast of Grenada began broadcasting using a tethered balloon antenna.

The TRT-22 transmitter

The 4th PSYOP Group brought in the TRT-22 and after several days of being bounced around from site to site, finally set up near the new airport at Port Salines. It was there several months.

Donald R Wooldridge told me about putting up the antenna. He was part of a 9-man team from Fort Huachuca, Arizona that installed the 250 foot TRT-22 antenna for the 4th PSYOP Group. He said:

Everything turned out well because of our leadership. We had a lot of problems with the supported unit and ended up sleeping outside of the building and got rained on every single day. We installed it in four days with a team that had seven members who just graduated from school.

FM 33-1-1, Psychological Operations Techniques and Procedures, mentions the antenna in Appendix K: “The PSYOP Dissemination Battalion Operational Procedures.” It says in part:

The AN/TRT-22 system is a radio production and broadcast system. The 50-kw AM transmitter can broadcast on any frequency from 535 KHz to 1620 KHz to a range of approximately 120 to 150 kilometers. The system is manned by one 8-man broadcast team from the radio platoon. The 256-foot antenna tower requires a special team to erect with an installation time of 5 to 7 days. This antenna erection team, which consists of one NCOIC and five enlisted personnel from the signal/communications support element at Fort Huachuca, AZ, must be deployed from other units; the PSYOP Dissemination Battalion does not have organic capability to erect this antenna.

The complete AN/TRT-22 system consists of nine S-280 shelters with dolly sets, two 200-kw generators, a large heliax cable spool, and a prime mover (M35A2). The system requires one C-5 for air transport. The AN/TRT-22 has limited mobility in that it is designed to be deployed to one location. The 50,000-watt transmitter requires two 200-kw generators working alternately for 24 hours of broadcast power consuming 568 to 605 liters of fuel per 24 hours.

The website of the 193d Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard adds:

The EC-130 was also used over Grenada, originally modified using the mission electronic equipment from the EC-121, known at the time as the Coronet Solo. Soon after the 193rd SOW received its EC-130s, the unit participated in the rescue of US citizens in Operation Urgent Fury, acting as an airborne radio station informing those people on Grenada of the US military action.

Commando Solo

The Commando Solo's airborne radio station played an initial pre-invasion "warning" broadcast tape to the people of Grenada on 25 October, the first day of the American invasion. The tape was produced two days earlier on 23 October at the request of Army Lieutenant Colonel George Coburn, the PSYOP Plans officer of the Atlantic Command (LANTCOM) J58. A Naval Reserve PSYOP element, Naval Reserve Atlantic Fleet (LANTFLT) Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) Audiovisual Unit (AVU) 0286, drilling at Naval Air Reserve Norfolk assisted with the project.

The revised Radio Free Grenada began broadcasts within days of the invasion. Major General George Crist selected a group of local radio announcers to operate the station even before the new pro-American interim government was formed. Resistance was moderate and security was ensured on the island, opening the doors for a multilateral peacekeeping force with American and Caribbean troops to rebuild peace and stability on Grenada.

Cole says about Major General Crist:

On Grenada, Major General Crist immersed himself in PSYOP and politico-military affairs. After locating local radio announcers to broadcast on Radio Free Grenada, he worked with the Governor General to establish an interim government. By late 26 October, the ground force commanders on Grenada had provided Crist with many captured Cuban and Soviet documents. At Crist’s request the CIA sent several linguists to translate them. The captured documents included five military assistance agreements between the Bishop government, the Soviet Union, and Cuba which provided for the training of Grenadian soldiers in both countries. The documents indicated a Soviet promise of $30.5 million worth of uniforms, rifles, machine guns, antitank weapons, antiaircraft guns, and other military supplies to be delivered to Grenadian authorities over a five-year period. Crist recommended that Admiral McDonald display the weapons and copies of the documents to counter the mounting criticism of URGENT FURY in Canada and Western Europe.

The Grenada Radio Fiasco

Perhaps the most famous fiasco was depicted in the Clint Eastwood movie Heartbreak Ridge. Enemy machine-guns pinned down navy SEALs assaulting the Governor-Generals mansion. Two American gunships flew overhead but the men on the ground were unable to communicate directly with them. There were major problems with the radios of the various services and communication was curtailed. As a result, one pinned-down American actually used his personal credit card to send a collect call from the mansion to Fort Bragg N.C to request a fire mission. The message was forwarded from North Carolina to the naval ships off shore and the fire order was carried out.

THE LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY – UGANDA

A solar-powered FM radio station constructed in the Central African Republic.
Radio stations like this were established in remote villages to extend
the range of clear signals that could reach the Lord's Resistance Army.

U.S. Military Deployments to Africa: Lessons from the Hunt for Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, introduces the Lord’s Resistance Army in his report and I will use that data, although edited for brevity:

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) seems to have originated as a quasi-religious rebel group in Northern Uganda during the mid-1980s. The group is a loosely organized band of armed militants that for several years was engaged in an intense and bloody insurgency against the Ugandan government, and is now roaming the thick jungles of Central Africa. They are often described as a terrorist group by scholars, journalists and government agencies, largely because of their longstanding use of violence or the threat of violence to coerce the behavior of local populations and governments in pursuit of a political agenda.

Special Operations Command - Forward radio Station in Djemah, Central African Republic (CAR)

Major Jonathan Easter wrote an article titled “A Mission of Attrition” in the January-March 2019 issue of Special Warfare. Some of his comments on radio were:

The prominent Acholi radio personality John Baptist “Lacambel” Oryema reported that he prepared leaflets to advertise the Amnesty Statute and the subsequent Amnesty Act and carried them to rallies in northern Uganda. He also accompanied NRA military convoys into the bush to personally disseminate the leaflets. In 1996, Lacambel approached Ugandan People’s Defense Force spokesman Colonel Bantariza and asked him for access to the government radio station.

   

Messaging by family members leads to mass defections from Kony

Bantariza gave Lacambel one hour of airtime per day. Lacambel used a cassette player to transmit pre-recorded messages designed for the LRA rebels and their family members. The UPDF also began leaving small radios in places for the LRA to find so that they could tune into the programming. Lacambel’s radio program, later called Dwog Paco (‘come home’), began broadcasting messages to individual LRA fighters by name. These messages made use of family members or former rebel comrades to increase credibility and arouse a sense of nostalgia. By the middle of 2004, more than 5,000 former LRA fighters had defected and applied for amnesty.

The Ugandan People’s Defense Force had conducted operations to promote defection as early as 1988 to reduce the strength of Kony’s forces and weaken the morale of those fighters who remained. These efforts were largely supported by regional FM radio stations which still broadcast testimonials by former abductees and fighters, as well as appeals by family members of those who were still assumed to be fighting for the LRA.

PANAMA – 1989

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General Manuel Noriega

General Manual Noriega led Panama from 1983 to 1989. He was a student and graduate of the U.S. Army Psychological Operations School. Noriega rose to power in 1983 and initially served as an important conduit for U.S. aid supporting the Nicaraguan Contras. He was simultaneously shipping arms to Marxist rebels in El Salvador, passing classified information to Cuba, Libya, and Warsaw Pact states, and dealing with terrorist organizations. The United States thought he was their man, but he belonged to the highest bidder. Secretary of State George Shultz observed: "You can’t buy Noriega, you can only rent him.” By the fall of 1989, the Noriega regime was barely clinging to power.

Dignity Battalion members march in the street

Noriega's Dignity Battalions (irregular paramilitary units) also made a point of physically beating opposition leaders. Alone and trusting only his Dignity Battalions, Noriega started to harass Americans and made life unsafe for American troops, dependents and citizens. Newspapers in the United States wrote daily reports of Soldiers and their dependents being stopped, interrogated or beaten on the streets. On 15 December 1989, Noriega was given the title of Chief Executive Officer of the government by his legislature. The Noriega-led assembly then foolishly declared that a state of war existed between Panama and the United States of America. The next day Panamanian soldiers killed United States Marine First Lieutenant Robert Paz.

President George Bush

On 20 December 1989, a memorandum to the Secretary of Defense was prepared on White House stationery and signed by George Bush. The memorandum stated in part:

In the course of carrying out the military operation in Panama which I have directed, I hereby direct and authorize the units and members of the Armed Forces of the United States to apprehend General Manuel Noriega and any other persons in Panama currently under indictment in the United States for drug related offenses.

The campaign to free Panama of Noriega and his dignity battalions was named Operation Just Cause. The invasion of Panama would take place on 20 December 1989 at 0100 local time.

U.S. military units stationed within Panama also attacked. The Americans struck with overwhelming force. It was the largest American combat operation since Vietnam. Twenty-seven sites were attacked simultaneously throughout Panama. The 75th Rangers and Navy SEALS also took part. The F-117 Stealth fighter saw action for the first time. The number of Panamanians killed in the operation was estimated at 200-300 combatants (soldiers and paramilitaries) and some 300 civilians. The U.S. lost 23 soldiers killed. Hundreds from both nations were wounded. The entire operation was over within a week and the withdrawal of U.S. forces began on 27 December.

Jaret M. Tracy wrote about PSYOP radio in Panama in an article titled “Spreading the Word Fast,” in VERITAS, volume 18, number 1, 2022.

With prefabricated products in hand, PSYOP soldiers quickly transitioned to “On the spot” broadcasts and original products. For example. The PSYOP Task Force was heavily involved in preparing scripts and acquiring news items and music adequate to keep the Panama City area receiving the VOLANT SOLO’S broadcasts and the nationwide audience receiving the AM radio station’s broadcasts 24 hours a day.

RADIO LIBERTY was located at Corozal. The TAMT-10 was a shelter mounted on a commercial flatbed trailer. The shelter contained a 10-watt tunable medium-wave AM transmitter, a 1000-watt shortwave transmitter, and basic audio production equipment for programming. A trailer contained the 125-foot quick-erect antenna and ancillary gear. VOLANT SOLO and RADIO LIBERTY comprised the bulk of the round-the-clock PSYOP effort until the PSYOP Task Force main body arrived on 24-25 December 1989.

I will end this section with some loudspeaker data from the booklet Psychological Operations in Panama during Operations Just Cause and Promote Liberty, U.S. Special Operations Command, Directorate of Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs, J9, MacDill AFB, Florida, March 1994. At the time this book was published, much of the Panama operation was still classified, but there is good information on radio operations:

Prerecorded TV, radio, and loudspeaker tapes; radio and loudspeaker scripts; were developed from 1987 to 1989. Upon activation of the 10,000-watt AM PSYOP radio station and initial assaults on 20 December, the new President of Panama, Guillermo Endara, communicated with the Panamanian masses principally through this station. Among his first announcements was that anyone turning in a weapon to U.S. forces would be paid $150 for it. The Panama population listened to, and complied with instructions from U.S. military PSYOP TV, AM radio, and loudspeaker broadcasts.

Radio Propaganda

The “Little Bird” Shot Down during the Muse Rescue

An American citizen by the name of Kurt Muse living in Panama actively opposed President Noriega, secretly broadcasting anti-government radio broadcasts from his home. He broadcast on Voz de la Libertad and Radio Constitucionado (both 91.5 MHz). He was caught and arrested.

Delta operators were inserted onto the roof of the prison by MH-6 Little Bird helicopters under Operation Acid Gambit. After breaching the roof-top door, the Delta operators raced down the two flights of stairs towards Muse's cell. Muse's cell door was blown and Delta operators moved him to the roof, where they would be exfiltrated by MH-6 Little Birds back to the US base. During extraction from the prison, the Hughes MH-6 Little Bird helicopter transporting Muse crashed. Muse was uninjured. An armored personnel carrier from the 5th Infantry Division extracted Muse and the retrieval team.

Panama was besieged by American radio. The CIA was already broadcasting into Panama from Costa Rica, using their Radio Impacto. The U.S. Army broadcast on Radio Liberacion on medium wave from the U.S. Panama Canal base. The Southern Command Network increased its FM schedule at the start of the invasion. Elements of the 4th PSYOP broadcast The Voice of Liberty from a mobile transmitter from the opening of the campaign and remained on duty 24 hours a day. They claimed that 70% of the Panamanian people listened to the station for the latest unbiased news.

Safe Conduct

Safe Conduct

This safe conduct pass is for use by the Dignity Battalions and Codepadi. The bearer of this pass, upon presenting it to any U.S. Military member or Public Panamanian force, will be guaranteed protection, medical attention, food, and shelter.

For more information tune into 1160 AM on your radio.

(Signed) Major General Marc A. Cisneros, Commanding General, U.S. Army South.

Safe Conduct

Author’s note: The Codepadi are “Institutional Committees to Defend the Country.”

This same pass also was printed in a smaller version, 4 ¼ x 2 ¾ inches. The message is identical.

The TAMT-10 transmitter

 

The TAMT-10 transmitter system is a 10 KW Nautel medium wave AM transmitter with a pneumatically erected 125-foot folded monopole antenna. The estimated planning range radius is about 50 miles. It first saw action in Panama. The transmitter shelter was mounted on mobilizers for easy transport

In Psychological Operations, Air University Press, Maxwell AFB, AL, 1996, Colonel Frank L. Goldstein discusses the amount of PSYOP product used against Panama. He says:

By 8 January, The PSYOP task force had produced and disseminated over one million leaflets and handbills, 50,000 posters, 550,000 newspapers, and 125,000 units of miscellaneous other printed material. Volant Solo had conducted TV broadcasts for the first several days, the PSYOP AM radio station had been operating 24 hours a day, and countless messages had been aired on commercial radio and television stations and published in commercial newspapers. Loudspeaker teams continued to support tactical units by broadcasting advisories, interacting with the population, and providing timely PSYOP advice to US commanders.

We will end this article with a look at the radio operation used against Noriega as he hid in the Vatican embassy.

PSYOP Loudspeaker Teams around the Vatican Embassy

President Bush offered a one million dollar reward for the capture of Noriega. On Christmas Eve, the general entered a Toyota sedan flying the papal flag in a Dairy Queen parking lot near San Miguelito and fled to the Vatican nunciature (embassy) where he requested refuge and sanctuary. The United States PSYOP troops surrounded the embassy and played loud music. The newspapers and magazines all believed that this was some kind of subtle sonic torture. They had a field day. The Associated Press said:

These guys are the fingernails on the blackboard…broadcast U.S. propaganda from bullhorns and blast rock music at the Vatican Embassy where Manuel Noriega was taking refuge, hoping to unnerve him.

The Washington Post News Service said:

With U.S. troops at the Vatican embassy continuing to wage psychological warfare against Noriega by blaring rock music over loudspeakers and greeting him with a hearty "Gooood Morning Panama," the general's small circle of supporters shrank further…

PSYOP soldier speaks to the crowd outside the Embassy

There was no special selection of particularly awful mind-numbing music selected by the psywarriors to quickly drive Noriega into the open. In fact, just regular popular music of the times was played; whatever the troops had in their personal possession or whatever was requested or played by the local radio stations. A complete list of all the songs played was featured in the U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs After-Action Report Supplement, Operation Just Cause, Dec. 20, 1989 - Jan. 31, 1990.

The military radio station has stated that on 20 December 1989 they took no requests because they wanted the telephone lines kept open. The request lines were opened on 21 December. At first the requests were few, but gradually they picked up. The Marines asked for Guns and Roses' “Welcome to the Jungle,” the canine handlers requested Billy Idol’s “Flesh for Fantasy,” and the Special Forces wanted the Door’s “Strange Days,” "People are Strange," and "The End." Other calls were for patriotic songs like Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and hard rock songs like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister.

On the 25th the station played Christmas music. On the 26th, they returned to taking requests. On the 27th and 28th the station played a lot of rock and roll. The requested play list is at least 95 songs long and contains such favorites as; “Born to run,” “Bring down the hammer,” “Dancing in the Streets,” “Hang ‘Em High,” “I Fought the Law and the Law Won,” “Judgment Day,” “Nowhere to Run,” “Run Like Hell,” “The Party’s Over,” “They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Your Time is Gonna Come.”

By the 29th the station had ceased playing requests and returned to playing the “Top Forty” From Billboard’s “Top 100.” Requests kept coming in for music for Noriega but the station explained to each caller that they were no longer taking requests.

A report written at the time of the Noriega surrender stated:

SCN (Southern Command Network) Radio, which had been broadcasting for the Army Broadcasting Service since 1941, increased its FM schedule at the start of the invasion on December 20, 1989. It was primarily on the air to support troop morale by taking requests and playing Armed Forces Radio, CNN, and ABC programming, but on December 27 after Noriega took refuge in the Vatican Embassy, PSYOP began blaring it through mobile loudspeakers outside of the embassy compound.

Noriega's "Mug" shot

It is interesting to read all these comments about special music played to drive Noriega out into the open, we know that the loud music had nothing to do with harassing or chasing Noriega out of the Embassy. The noise was simply to allow delicate negotiations to continue inside without being overheard by the press, waiting outside by the hundreds with their parabolic microphones and dishes aimed at the embassy windows. In fact, General Marc Cisneros (commander of the U.S. Army South) and the highest-ranking Latino in the Army played a major role in the negotiations and was the man who talked General Manuel Noriega out of the embassy.

In conclusion, the use of the radio got most of the publicity during this short war and as we have shown, it had nothing to do with wearing down or torturing the enemy. It was a way to keep conversations inside the building private. It worked. After this operation, radio was used in many police sieges or hostage negotiations and even interrogations. The door was opened for a new experimental way to try to weaken and exploit an enemy.

OPERATION DESERT STORM - 1990

The Official Department of Defense Poster showing the Strategy of the Ground War

Saddam Hussein fought Iran for eight years. The Unites States and his fellow Arab nations backed him believing that the Islamic fundamentalists in Iran were the greatest threat to peace and security in the Middle East. At the end of the war Saddam found himself deep in debt to the Arab countries who had loaned money to Iraq. He owed 40 billion dollars to Kuwait alone. Worse, he felt that they had taken advantage of him. On 17 July 1990, he accused Kuwait of oil overproduction (which drove that price of Iraqi oil down on the world market) and theft of oil from the Rumailia Oil Fields. He claimed that Kuwaiti oil rigs were drilling diagonally into Iraqi oil reserves.

Official Iraqi Saddam Hussein Patriotic Portrait Set

At about 0200 on 2 August 1990, seven divisions of Iraqi armor, mechanized infantry, helicopter forces, and the elite Republic Guard invaded Kuwait.Rumor has it that the Iraqis hoped to coordinate the invasion with a commando attack on the royal palace. Allegedly, the goal was to capture and execute the royal family. The invasion force of 120,000 troops and 2,000 tanks quickly overwhelmed Kuwait.

United Nations Security Council Resolutions 660 and 662 condemned Iraq's invasion and annexation and called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces.

There was also a brief war of words on the radio the day of the Iraqi invasion. Radio Kuwait broadcast at 2:05 p.m.:

O sons of Kuwait, O Arab nation. If the wolf lives as a recluse he will deceive, and if he shows goodness he is only pretending. The treacherous futile lie for which Kuwait is being invaded is a kind of base barbarism and high-handed superiority. God does not like the arrogant. O friends and brethren everywhere. In the same way Kuwait opened its doors to all honorable freemen with love and affection, now the entire population of Kuwait is appealing to you with one voice, whose echo is heard throughout the world: If you value Kuwait and its freedom, then Kuwait is calling you, so come to its rescue.

Baghdad (Voice of the Masses) answered 20 minutes later:

It seems that some mercenaries of the defunct regime abroad are trying to carry out desperate activities in favor of this regime and through exposed coordination with US and Zionist quarters. The Provisional Free Kuwait Government announces that those people do not represent Kuwait. Kuwait and its people are represented by their free government that has been formed to safeguard the interests and rights of the Kuwaiti people.

Radio Kuwait came back on the air at 6:30 P.M.:

Dear listeners everywhere. Do not be fooled by extraneous radio stations. Their news and bulletins are totally false. They are broadcasting poison through their propaganda, which should not be believed. Do not pay attention to what these radio stations are broadcasting. This is our radio station. It is the sole and official radio station, which is broadcasting its programs from Kuwait and in the name of Kuwait. This is Kuwait.

Bagdad (Voice of the Masses) issued Communiqué number 4 at 7:33 p.m.:

The sons of Kuwait know the facts regarding the continued acts of plunder of the people's money by Jabir Ahmad and his clique. Their wealth reached legendary figures, squandered in their pursuit of pleasure and deposited with their suspect partners. It is high time for returning these plundered funds to their rightful owners, the sons of the Kuwaiti people. Therefore the Provisional Free Kuwait Government has decided to confiscate all the money…whether this money is found in Kuwait or abroad. Our government warns foreign banks in which they deposited their money against any tampering with this money in a manner harming the Kuwaiti people.

On 3 August Kuwait Radio broadcast slogans, appeals and patriotic songs. The last thing they broadcast was the following appeal:

In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful. This is Kuwait. O Arabs, O brothers, O beloved brothers, O Muslims, your brothers in Kuwait are appealing to you. Hurry to their aid.

The station then immediately went off the air.

The TRT-22 Transmitter was convoyed to the East to Abu Ali on the Persian Gulf
Photo courtesy Veritas Magazine Roundup January 2023

By the end of 1990 most all of the PSYOP Dissemination battalion was in Saudi Arabia with the print presses and broadcast equipment.Production was in Riyadh and the transmitters were on hold until the Saudi’s would approve sites. The TAMT-10 was moved to north central Saudi Arabia, to the airport at al Qasuma (near Hafir al Batin). The TRT-22 was convoyed to the East to Abu Ali on the Persian Gulf. These systems were part of the Voice of the Gulf.

American Secretary of Defense Cheney met with King Fahd of Saudi Arabia on 7 August. As a result of that meeting, the 82nd Airborne Division and several U. S. A. F. fighter squadrons were permitted to deploy to Saudi Arabia for the protection of the Kingdom.

On 20 August 1990, President Bush signed National Security Directive 45, the “U.S. Policy in Response to the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.” The U.S. objectives included the “immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait,” and the “restoration of Kuwait's legitimate government to replace the puppet regime installed by Iraq.” President George Bush authorized the first call-up of 40,000 Selected Reservists for 90 days active duty on 22 August 1990.

A U.N. ultimatum, Security Council Resolution 678, followed on November 29, 1990. It gave Saddam Hussein until 15 January 1991 to leave Kuwait. After that time, a coalition of American and allied troops was authorized to drive them out. Eventually, 30 nations joined the military coalition arrayed against Iraq, with a further 18 countries supplying economic, humanitarian, or other type of assistance.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

On 17 January General H. Norman Schwarzkopf said in part:

Soldiers, sailors airmen and Marines of the United States central Command…You are a member of the most powerful force our country, in coalition with our allies, has ever assembled in a single theater to face such an aggressor. You have trained hard for this battle and you are ready. During my visits with you, I have seen in your eyes a fire of determination to get this job done quickly so that we may all return to the shores of our great nation. My confidence in you is total. Our cause is just! Now you must be the thunder and lightning of Desert Storm. May God be with you, your loved ones at home, and our country.

4th PSYOP Group

Then-Major Jack N. Summe wrote an article titled “PSYOP Support to Operation Desert Storm” in Special Warfare, December 1992.  He mentioned radio operations (edited for brevity):

Broadcast operations supported strategic, operational, and tactical efforts across the theater. Initial broadcast efforts consisted of developing a multinational-power video tape which described and projected the resolve, strength and technological superiority of the coalition forces arrayed against the Iraqis. The videotape [Major Summe is talking about the tape, “The Nations of the World Draw a Line in the Sand” that showed the Coalition’s military might] was intended to encourage support of coalition objectives in the region and to degrade the Iraqi will to fight by emphasizing the futility of standing against such a force. The videotape was produced and distributed throughout the Middle East, even in inaccessible areas such as Baghdad.

Other broadcast operations were limited primarily to radio broadcasts. Programs were broadcast from two sites in Saudi Arabia, Abu Ali and Qaysumah, and two EC-130 Volant Solo aircraft flew broadcast orbits over specific areas of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Broadcasts consisted of a two-hour radio program of Arabic music, selected news items, information and various PSYOP spot announcements. The emphasis here was to attract an enemy audience through the accuracy of the program’s news items concerning the Gulf conflict.

Indications of the operation’s success were the continual jamming efforts of Iraqi ground commanders and the ban on radios in Iraqi combat units. Post-test operations also indicated that 58 percent of all Iraqi soldiers questioned were exposed to broadcast operations, 46 percent believed the PSYOP message, and 34 percent were induced to surrender or defect.

Colonel Jeffrey B. Jones discusses the Psychological operations in an article entitled “Psychological Operations in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Urban Freedom, Special Warfare, July 1994

Before the Gulf War, during combat operations, and in the aftermath, approximately 650 soldiers from the 4th Psychological Operations Group and from reserve-component PSYOP units contributed to the coalition efforts. They provided radio and TV support, broadcast tactical loudspeaker messages and produced 29 million leaflets. PSYOP messages persuaded approximately 44 percent of the Iraqi army to desert, more than 17,000 to defect, and more than 87,000 to surrender. Integrating their efforts with those of the U.S. Central Command, 21 PSYOP soldiers, working with their Turkish counterparts in Joint Task Force Proven Force in southern Turkey and using radio broadcasts and leaflets, helped cause the defection, desertion and surrender of some 40,000 Iraqis — all without firing a shot.

The 8th PSYOP Taskforce provided support to Urban Freedom, the liberation of Kuwait City, and to Task Force Freedom, the consolidation operation in Kuwait, with the mission of re-establishing radio and print activities to support repatriation and settlement of the capital.

The January 2023 issue of VERITAS, the Journal of U.S. Army Special operations History, featured an article titled, “Building the Airplane in Flight, PSYOP In operation Desert Shield, Part 2, by Dr. Jared M. Tracy. He says in part (edited for brevity):

After the Iraqi invasion, radio was identified as a key medium to reach target audiences. On 16 August 1990, the Commander-in-Chief, USCENTCOM, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., validated the requirement for multiple radio transmitters, although it took months for them to arrive in the theater and to be emplaced. The three radio systems deployed during Operation DESERT SHIELD and operational during DESERT STORM were the Transportable AM Transmitter – 10 kw (TAMT-10); the PSYOP Airmobile Dissemination System (PAMDIS); and the 50 kw AN/TRT-22.

There was an additional part of the story titled, “PSYOP Radio Systems in Operation Desert Shield.” Tracy said in part:

Owned by the Product Dissemination Battalion (PDB), the TAMT-10 was a radio production, transmission, and reception system, housed in an S-280 shelter and supported by a 125-foot antenna. Transporting the components required two M35 2½-ton trucks and a Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. Broadcast Company soldiers moved the TAMT-10 from King Fahd International Airport to Riyadh on 11 December 1990 and the next day to Al Qaisumah. The TAMT-10 was constructed, tuned, and operational within a week of arrival. 

The TV (left two), FM, and AM components of the PAMDIS.
Photo courtesy Veritas Magazine, Roundup January 2023

Joining the TAMT-10 in Al Qaisumah was a modular PAMDIS, also owned by the PDB. Transported and housed in rugged transportable cases and capable of being set up in five hours, the PAMDIS had two 40-foot antennas to facilitate broadcasting on television and FM radio. The TV system “was prepared to operate from [Al Qaisumah] but was never utilized due to the lack of a TV broadcast mission in that area.” Therefore, “only the FM system was put into operation, targeting Iraqi units in the tri-border area” utilizing programming feed from the TAMT-10 next door. The FM broadcast range was said to be as far as 60 miles.

AN/TRT-22 Configuration
Image courtesy Veritas Magazine, Roundup January 2023

AN/TRT-22 transmitter components were housed in seven (only five shown) S-280 shelters
Photo courtesy Veritas Magazine, Roundup January 2023

AN/TRT-22 Audio Control Shelter and AN/TRT-18 Receiver Shelter
Photo courtesy Veritas Magazine, Roundup January 2023

Elsewhere, construction of a 50 kw AN/TRT-22 system just north of Al Jubayl on Abu Ali Island, Saudi Arabia, began on 8 January 1991. This site was selected “due to the conductivity of the surrounding soil and the amount of water between the transmitter and the target audience,” which gave the station a range of up to 250 miles, across the Persian Gulf and into Kuwait and southern Iraq.7 AN/TRT-22 transmitter components were housed in seven S-280 shelters, each with different contents and functions, with an AN/TRR-18 receiver in a separate S-280 shelter. PDB personnel would transport, assemble, operate, and maintain the AN/TRT-22 system. However, construction of the 250-foot antenna required outside expertise in the form of an eight-man team from the 1199th Signal Battalion at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, which arrived on 12 January 1991. Powering the station for round-the-clock operations were two 200-kw generators, each consuming 150-160 gallons of fuel daily. The transmitters at Abu Ali and Al Qaisumah, and the two EC-130 VOLANT SOLO aircraft from the 193rd SOG, would form the PSYOP-run radio network known as the Voice of the Gulf.

Major Peter A. Whitenack, USMC, discusses the PSYOP campaign in his 1993 thesis “An Analysis of Gulf War PSYOP and their applicability to Future Operations.”

Before Coalition forces fired the first shots in the Persian Gulf War, a different type of force had already been assembled for months, and was engaged in a pitched battle for dominance over Iraqi forces. Far away from headlines and newscasts, PSYOP initiatives were bombarding Saddam's empire in the form of wave upon wave of leaflet and radio assaults.

4th PSYOP Group “Leaflets of the Persian Gulf War” Publication

The Central Command clandestine radio network, “Voice of the Gulf” broadcast from ground-based stations in Saudi Arabia and airborne transmitters on a pair of EC-130 Volant Solo aircraft on six frequencies 18 hours per day for 40 days reaching every Iraqi soldier in the KTO.

A U.S. Army Reserve Loudspeaker Team Attached to the Marines

PSYOP Loudspeaker Team “Charlie” of the United States Army Reserve 245th Psychological Operations Company attached to 3/3 1st Marine Division - Task Force Taro. On the ground there is a stripped down LSS-40 loudspeaker system they disassembled and mounted on a PRC-77 Radio pack. They hold a surrender flag from the Iraqi infantry.

B-52 Leaflet

General Schwarzkopf had served in Vietnam and remembered the effect of the “Rolling Thunder" B-52 raids on the enemy. He wanted those B-52s over the Iraqis, and he wanted to use PSYOP to frighten them and cause them to abandon their posts. Schwarzkopf came up with the idea of announcing to a designated Iraqi that they would be bombed on the following day. At first the Air Force was hesitant, but daily attacks on Iraqi radar and anti-aircraft sites and American electronic jamming aircraft had made the high-flying bombers reasonably safe from attack. Schwarzkopf wanted to announce a bombing attack on one day and hit the Iraqis the next. He figured they would have 24 hours of anticipation and worry. He would then drop a second leaflet that said something like "We told you we would bomb you and we did. We are going to bomb you again" As the leaflets were dropped, the Coalition's Voice of the Gulf radio station broadcast the same message. The Iraqi front-line divisions stayed glued to their radio hoping that their unit would not be designated as the next target.

 

Gulf War radio broadcast

Newsweek magazine added in an article entitled “Secret Warriors” 16 June 1991:

The 4th PSYOP Group out of Bragg set up a special radio program to woo defectors. To compete with BBC and other international broadcasts, the PSYOP team had to offer something special. What the Voice of the Gulf began broadcasting, along with prayers from the Koran and testimonials from well-treated Iraqi prisoners, was precise information on the units to be bombed each day. Iraqi soldiers began tuning in. “It's a quick way to increase your market share," said PSYOP commander Col. Layton Dunbar, with a smile. Almost three quarters of the defectors coming over the border said the leaflets and broadcasts influenced their decision to go AWOL.

 

4th Psychological Operations Group Capabilities Handbook

This 55-page booklet was issued by the 4th Psychological Operations Group prior to Operation Desert Storm to let all the combat commands know what they could accomplish as a force-multiplier. It explains their capabilities in printing, radio, loudspeakers, audio-visual, etc. Regarding radio, it says in part: 

The Pamdis is an airmobile PSYOP dissemination system capable of broadcasting AM/FM radio and television signals in the commercial bands. The Pamdis systems consists of 2 subsystems: mobile and modular. The mobile system is contained inside an S-280 shelter mounted on the bed of a 2 ½-ton truck and had has AM, FM, and TV capability. The modular system is a repaid-deployment system that is housed in ruggedized transportable cases. It is capable of FM radio and television broadcast.

The Blu-82 “Daisy Cutter” Bomb

The Giant Blu-82 “Daisy Cutter” leaflets were dropped by the 8th SOS on at least four occasions between 6 February and 16 February 1991. At the same time these bombs were dropped the Coalition radio warned the Iraqis

Brave Iraqi soldiers. Tonight some of you are going to die. Your families will miss you. May Allah rest your souls.

Coalition Radio Leaflet

The front and back of this leaflet is identical. An Iraqi officer tunes to the Coalition radio as two of his soldiers listen, and the text:

Please turn your radio to medium wave 1134 KHZ daily.

 

The Voice of Liberty Card

The folded card has The Voice of Liberty at the top and below:

Pulse cycle: Frequencies: 630 KHZ medium wave
1053 KHZ medium wave
1341 KHZ medium wave
Daily between 12 noon and midnight

The back was a calendar and there was an unsubstantiated rumor that the horizontal and vertical boxes of the calendar on the back of this "Voice of Liberty" radio card were used to send coded messages to the Underground. This is doubtful, but a lot of soldiers believed the story and one Special Forces Captain whispered it in my ear, so maybe it is true.

Flag of Great Britain

A British Joint Services Command and Staff College abstract says:

The United Kingdom’s contribution to the coalition PSYOP effort in the Gulf consisted of only 3 officers, whose energies were largely focused on radio in the form of the “Voice of the Gulf.” It has been assessed that since the Voice of the Gulf gave accurate details of forthcoming coalition air strikes, there was an overriding imperative for the average Iraqi soldier to listen. Despite the strenuous efforts on the part of the Iraqi leadership to apply brutal censorship measures, approximately 50,500 (58%) of all Iraqi prisoners reported hearing the station, with the overwhelming majority (88%) acting upon the instructions it broadcast. The success of U.S. led PSYOP in the Gulf provided considerable impetus to review and develop the UK PSYOP capability.

Philip M. Taylor in Munitions of the Mind: A history of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Present Day, Manchester University Press, UK, 2003, says that there was CIA involvement in Desert Storm.

The latter consisted of black radio transmitters posing as Iraqi stations manned by internal enemies of Saddam Hussein. Because none could supposedly detect the genuine source of messages broadcast by these stations, they were able to deviate from the official coalition line that desert Storm was about the liberation of Kuwait and not about the overthrow of Saddam Hussein…Black radio stations therefore carried messages encouraging an internal revolt within Iraq , but when signs of success in doing this appeared towards the end of the war in the form of Kurdish and Shia uprisings, no actual military support was forthcoming from the West. This was another classic example of the dangers of policy and propaganda getting out of step.

Kuwaiti Consolidation Radio Leaflet

This leaflet depicts a Radio station at left and the seal of Kuwait at the right. The text is:

Listen to Radio Kuwait on FM frequencies 92.5, 97.5, 87.9, and 98.8 MHZ

Listen to Radio Kuwait on AM frequencies 1341 KHZ, 1134 KHZ, and 540 KHZ

Iraqi Radio Propaganda

Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf
Iraqi Minister of Information

The main purveyor of audio and Television propaganda during the Gulf war was the Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf. He became quite a favorite among Coalition troops and the American public. No matter how black things were, how beaten the Iraqi Army was, or how bleak things looked for the Iraqi Air Force, he regularly came on the air to state that the news was nothing but American lies and the Iraqis were victorious everywhere. He soon earned the name of “Baghdad Bob.”

Daniel A. Castro adds in his 2007 Naval Postgraduate School thesis: Do Psychological Operations Benefit from the use of Host Nation Media:

Prior to the invasion, Iraqi broadcast capabilities included two prime-time television broadcasts, two domestic radio services – “Baghdad Domestic Service” and “Voice of the Masses” (VOM) – and shortwave radio broadcasts of VOM in Kurdish, Turkoman, and Assyrian. Shortly after the invasion, Iraq seized several Kuwaiti media centers and began operating the Provisional Free Kuwait Government Radio Program. They also implemented at least five additional shortwave radio programs destined to undermine the Saudi and Egyptian governments and the morale of Arab troops in the Gulf.

Baghdad Betty

Probably the most famous purveyors of Iraqi propaganda were radio personalities Baghdad Betty and Iraqi Jack. Iraq's anti-Coalition radio programming started in early August 1990, shortly after the arrival of the 82nd Airborne Division. The radio shows were taped and about two hours in length. The tapes were replayed multiple times during the day in the hopes of getting their message to the largest possible audience. Before each show ended the announcer would inform the listeners what time the next broadcast would be aired. This notification became more important with the initiation of the air campaign as transmissions became more irregular.

The shows were reportedly broadcast from downtown Baghdad, which was about 500 miles from the Coalition forces. Baghdad Betty first broadcast in English to Coalition troops in Saudi Arabia in early September 1990. The format for the broadcasts typically included a mix of popular top 40 hits, "Oldies" and some "Blues" music by contemporary artists.

A soldier takes a break to listen to the radio during the Gulf War

Unfortunately for Iraq, although the music selections were attractive to the target audience, the text was both silly and absurd. The Iraqi propaganda machine ignored the first rule of PSYOP, “Know and thoroughly understand your target audience.” Iraq's propaganda developers had a predetermined opinion of life in the United States and it clearly showed in their perception of American culture. Their misguided presentations clearly destroyed any credibility that they could have hoped for. Betty's efforts to broadcast morale-busting messages to troops in the Gulf were, like most of Iraq's military efforts, a failure. Her alleged comments that the American soldier's wives were in bed with Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis and Bart Simpson made Iraqi radio a constant source of jokes on late-night American television.

Saddam Hussein was similarly unimpressed. In mid-December 1990, he sacked Betty after three months of broadcasting and replaced her with a bevy of announcers who called themselves the "Mother of Battles Radio." Unfortunately for them, Mother of Battles Radio was near the top of the Allied target list and was bombed off the air in mid-January, when the mother of air wars began.

American PSYOP troops then used the same frequency, and in partnership with Saudi Kuwait and Egyptian forces, they broadcast in Arabic 18 hours per day for 40 days. They transmitted from two ground stations in Saudi Arabia, a platform in Gulf waters and a transmitter in Turkey. Jones continued:

“Thanks to Saddam we were pretty effective. The Iraqi soldier was betrayed by Saddam. Hey were ill-supported and vulnerable to everything we broadcast, which was basically just the truth.”

Curiously, Baghdad Betty turned out to be an efficient broadcaster when not reading badly written Iraqi propaganda. North told me:

In 2003 I was Senior Advisor and Journalist trainer at the Iraq Media Network in Baghdad, a radio and TV station organized by the Pentagon. The woman who had been "Baghdad Betty" was hired and under supervision became a valued announcer on Iraq Media Radio.

An Iraqi Radio Leaflet I09

On this leaflet an Iraqi soldier listens to radio marked “USA.” Saddam wants his soldiers to ignore the Coalition radio. The text is:

It is part of psychological warfare

This might be the best PSYOP leaflet prepared by the Iraqis. It is a morale leaflet for their own soldiers and reminds them that the Coalition radio is filled with lies and they should ignore it. The problem was that the Coalition was broadcasting day and night on several frequencies and telling the Iraqis the truth about the war. It was their only real source of information. There was not much chance that they would stop listening.

Somalia – 1992

Map

The United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM I) was set up to facilitate humanitarian aid to people trapped by civil war and famine. The mission developed into a broad attempt to help stop the conflict and reconstitute the basic institutions of a viable State. From November 1991, there was heavy fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu between armed elements allied to various warlords. In resolution 767 of 27 July 1992, the Security Council approved the proposal to establish four operational zones - Berbera, Bossasso, Mogadishu and Kismaayo. The first group of U.N. security personnel arrived in Mogadishu on 14 September 1992. On 3 December 1992, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 794. The Council welcomed the United States offer to help create a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid in Somalia and authorized, under Chapter VII of the Charter, the use of "all necessary means" to do so.

Radio Psychological Operations

Somalia Radio Leaflet

The U.S. did produce one radio leaflet to advertise its radio station. The leaflet is uncoded and depicts a family of five in silhouette, hand-in-hand, in front of a radio. Text on the back is:

Lieutenant General Bir, Commander of the UNOSOM Forces will make a speech to the people of Mogadishu.

Date: 7 October 1993
Time: All day repeatedly
Station: Radio Maanta –
Short Wave: 31 / 9.540 KHZ, daytime.
Medium Wave: 49 / 6.170 KHZ, nighttime.

The American Joint Psychological Operations Task Force (JPOTF) was comprised of approximately 125 members of the U.S. Army’s 4th PSYOP Group, and several of its subordinate battalions. Four days after the arrival of the main contingent of forces in Mogadishu, the JPOTF began publishing a daily newspaper and broadcasting a daily radio program — both called RAJO, which is Somali for “HOPE.”

A soldier from the U.S. Joint PSYOP Task Force produces material for broadcast over Radio Rajo

Lieutenant Colonel Charles P. Borchini told me:

I managed a radio station that broadcast daily programs, supervised and trained local employees; edited a daily newsletter, translated leaflets, handbills, posters, and handbooks; and produced mine awareness literature and recorded loudspeaker messages.

Abdi Hirad

It was not only the military performing PSYOP. One of the civilians working was a Somali named Abdi Hirad. He served in Somalia from December 1992 to May 1993 along with over 100 other translators and linguists working with the operation. The civilians were sent to Somalia in military aircraft, wore U.S. battledress uniforms, and were fed and billeted by their supported units. He told me:

For the second operation in Somalia (Operation United Shield), I was in Fort Bragg from November to December 1994, and then deployed off the coast of Mogadishu aboard the USS Belleau Wood to March 1995. My main duties included: Service as a civilian linguist with the Joint Psychological Operation Task Force; deployed with the PSYOP Group and monitored and translated daily radio broadcasting of local languages; and summarized local newspapers to gauge the sentiments of the population.

In late 1994, the United States, USOCOM, and foreign troops from numerous nations were ready to leave Somalia. There was fear that the warlords and their Somali fighters might interfere with the withdrawal. Leaflets were prepared to tell the Somalis where to listen to get the latest news.

 

Leaflet RET01I

The objective the next two leaflets were to inform the residents of Mogadishu of a new U.N. radio station. This leaflet depicts a portable radio at the center with its sound waves reaching Somalia flags implying that the Somalis should listen to the U.N. radio broadcasts. Four U.S. flags are at the corner which tells the Somalis that the Americans are behind the broadcasts. The Somalis did not fear the U.N. much, but they knew the Americans would shoot to kill. The text has the name of the radio and the frequency (to be added later), and:

Saturday through Thursday

1000-1200 and 1900-2100

News, Music, Stories, Poems

 

Leaflet RET02I

This leaflet depicts a portable radio and a microphone. The flags of Somalia and the United States represent cooperation in the radio programs. The text has the name of the radio and the frequency (to be added later), and:

News, Music, Stories, Poems

1000-1200 and 1900-2100.

In both cases the PSYOP specialists were watching the acceptance of the programs and hoping for an increased audience to show that the leaflets were making an impact.

For the second operation in Somalia (Operation United Shield), I was in Fort Bragg from November to December 1994, and then deployed off the coast of Mogadishu aboard the USS Belleau Wood to March 1995. My main duties included: Service as a civilian linguist with the Joint Psychological Operation Task Force; deployed with the PSYOP Group and monitored and translated daily radio broadcasting of local languages; and summarized local newspapers to gauge the sentiments of the population.

The 4th PSYOP Group published a book entitled

Psychological Operations in Support of Operation Restore Hope in late 1993

The 4th PSYOP booklet mentions the use of radio as a PSYOP medium:

As a compliment to the RAJO newspaper, the JPOTF established a radio station on the US Embassy compound. Radio RAJO conducted a 45-minute Somali language broadcast twice daily on AM, FM, and short wave. The program included a reading from the Koran, a reading of the RAJO newspaper articles, selections of Somali poetry and short stories, news about Africa, significant events throughout the world, and Somali music. After extensive antenna adjustments, the radio programs broadcasted over short wave eventually reached every city and town in Somalia where UNITAF forces were deployed.

The quality of the PSYOP radio improved with the arrival of Abdullah Omar Mohammed. He was a naturalized citizen who was born in Mogadishu, and a contract interpreter for the State Department. He told the Americans not to broadcast a weather report. Weather comes from Allah, and it would be presumptuous for the Americans to attempt to guess what God might do next. He also insisted that the broadcasts start with a passage from the Koran. The station then played a Somali song and the local news. After that, the station played upbeat American music, which was a favorite of many Somalis.

Radio RAJO began broadcasting with 600 watts. It was first heard on 1480 kHz but in January 1993 was heard on the short-wave frequency 9540 kHz. The humanitarian mission was multinational so the station later identified itself as the "Voice of the United Task Force." When UNOSOM II took over the station it became Radio MANTA (“TODAY”) broadcasting on both the old frequency of 9540 kHz as well as 6170 kHz. Italian psychological operations troops also broadcast Radio Ibis on 89.7 MHZ FM.

The United States Forces, Somalia After Action Report and Historical Overview: The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994 adds:

Psychological operations were also used extensively to support operations in Somalia. UNITAF established a Joint PSYOP Task Force made up primarily of elements of the 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to ensure that information operations were effectively integrated into all plans and operations in theater. PSYOP troops ran a local newspaper (called Rajo—the Truth) and set up a radio broadcasting system.

Eight Coalition missions were combat sorties flown over the streets of Mogadishu between 11 and 17 June. As part of the initial strike against Aideed, three gunships flew over Mogadishu on 11–12 June and used their 105-mm. and 40-mm. cannons to demolish two weapons storage facilities and cripple RADIO MOGADISHU, Aideed’s propaganda station, by destroying its transmission capability.

Although the UN operated a radio station and small newspaper in Mogadishu, they were used as information media as opposed to PSYOP. The aversion to the use of PSYOP within the UN civilian community may have contributed to this situation. In future operations, where PSYOP is necessary, we may need to find a new name for it. U.S. PSYOP, public affairs, and civil affairs forces should procure contingency radio stocks to enhance radio reception for future peace operations.

The Italian PSYOP Contingent

The Italian military contingent in Somalia produced PSYOP leaflets, newspapers and radio broadcasts. The Italian psychological operations troops broadcast on Radio IBIS on 89.7 MHZ FM. The station only broadcast music and messages from Italy for the Italian armed forces. The few messages that they did send to the Somali people were concerning medical treatment and vaccinations. Lieutenant Colonel Charles P. Borchini said more about the Italian PSYOP campaign in his personal monograph "Psychological Operations Support for Operation Restore Hope." He says:

The Italian forces came to Somalia confident in their ability to deal with the Somali people. Based on their historical relations, many Somalis spoke Italian, and the Italians believed that they would have a special relationship with the Somalis. This probably was true to some extent.

The German PSYOP Contingent

This German operation is discussed in a 1999 British Joint Services Command and Staff College Defense Research Paper by Chef de Bataillon, M. E. Limon. He says in part:

The German PSYOP organization is Das Fernmeldebataillon 950 Operative Information. This battalion, based in Andernach, consisted of 709 regular personnel with a Headquarters Company and a Company Two, which produced radio and television programs (live or video). The produced a weekly 45 minute radio program called Radio ANDERNACH from Andernach, Germany. Its programs targeted the Somali population to support and explain the UNOSOM II mission.

Warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed

The NY Times of 24 June 1993 mentions the United Nations military campaign against Mogadishu warlord and clan leader Mohammed Farah Aideed and mentions that the warlord had his own radio station:

American gunships bombed the clan leader’s weapon depots and Radio Mogadishu, the site used for General Aideed’s broadcasts.

Lieutenant General Anthony Zinni

American Lieutenant General Anthony Zinni noted in Battle Ready that bombing Aideed's radio station wasn't necessarily a good idea:

The months to follow would show that the UN failed to learn this lesson. Instead of countering Aideed’s hostile media blasts in kind, they tried to close down his radio station. Freedom of the press has to work both ways; we don’t shut down the radio stations just because we don’t like what is broadcast. The resulting confrontation was the opening of the violent war between the UN and Aideed.

When UNOSOM II replaced UNITAF, it broadcast on the radio and published a newspaper with a new name. Instead of Radio RAJO, UNOSOM used the name Radio MANTA (Radio Today). The radio station was operated on shortwave by the United Nations staff in Mogadishu. Radio Manta began broadcasting on 4 May 1993 following the handover of the international operation in Somalia from the US-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF) to the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). It broadcast news, inquiries about missing persons, songs, plays and poems. The station transmitted in the Somali language from two 600-watt shortwave transmitters. Their schedule was as follows: 0415-0500, 1000-1045, 1100-1145 and 1300-1345 on 9540 kHz. The station also broadcast at 1600-1645, 1700-1745 and 1900-1945 on 6170 kHz. The radio signal was not strong enough to reach all over Somalia.

SERBIA – 1992

Map

I could have picked a few different start dates for this section on the Balkans. Serbia tried to cleanse Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia from about 1992 to the end of the decade. I start with 1992 since that seems to be when the concept of a Greater Serbia began its rampage.

Slobodan Milosevic

In 1989, a nationalist leader by the name of Slobodan Milosevic took power in the Serbian Republic. He wanted to dominate all of the old Yugoslavia, but when it became clear that he could not, he decided upon the ethnic cleansing of his country and the creation of a Greater Serbia. He abolished Kosovo's autonomy. Croats and Slovenes feared that they were next in line. There were daily news reports of murders, rapes, mass killings and other atrocities carried out by the Serbs as Milosevic drove the minorities from their lands and homes, "purifying" his Greater Serbia. The problem of course, was that several portions of this new Greater Serbia were to consist of lands that had never been part of the old Serbia or populated by Serbians. This was a policy of naked aggression.

Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from the Yugoslav Federated Republic. In Croatia, ethnic Serbs and Croats begin a long, bloody conflict. Serb snipers fired on peaceful demonstrators in Sarajevo, marking the beginning of the war. The West recognized Bosnia-Herzegovina as an independent state. The UN imposed sanctions on Yugoslavia. There were new reports of "ethnic cleansing," a policy of slaughtering Muslim inhabitants of towns or driving them away in order to create an ethnically pure region. There were reports of concentration camps and mass rapes.

Operation Shining Hope Bumper Sticker

The bumper sticker above was attached to all U.S. relief supply cartons and cases. Although SHINING HOPE was a NATO venture, the U.S. senior officers wanted to ensure that relief supplies from the U.S. were clearly identified.

Milosevic’s actions forced the United Nations to deploy peacekeeping forces and begin humanitarian relief operations. Operation Provide Promise began on 2 July 1992. Twenty-one nations formed a coalition to resupply war-torn Sarajevo with food and medicine. The U.N. established "no-fly" zones over Bosnia. The United States mediated an agreement between the Bosnians, the Bosnian Croats, and the Government of Croatia to form a federation of Bosnians and Croats. This ended the fighting between these factions.

The Serbs continued to act aggressively toward their neighbors. This forced NATO to undertake an intensive, month-long bombing campaign in August 1995. These air strikes produced the desired effect. A cease-fire went into effect in October, and peace talks began on 1 November 1995. These negotiations produced the framework for peace known as the Dayton Peace Accords. US Servicemen came to Bosnia in December 1995 as part of the Implementation Force (IFOR), the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia created under the Dayton accords.

The “Rock of the Balkans” radio leaflet

A number of leaflets were prepared and distributed during this phase of the forced peace. IFOR had a radio station in Tuzla that played music, news and sports for the people. The Allies produced a standard radio leaflet that showed a radio antenna at the left and identified the station as:

Radio IFOR - Tuzla - Rock of the Balkans - 1017 kHz

'Rock the Balkans" Radio Station in Tuzla

The number and location of the IFOR/SFOR radio stations varied throughout the operations. Originally, IFOR set up five radio stations located in the five most populated cities across the country: Sarajevo, Tuzla, Banja-Luka, Mrkonjic Grad, and Mostar (struck down by a lightning on 14 September 1996). During the first six months of SFOR operations, the Combined Joint Information Campaign Task Force operated three radio stations in Sarajevo (Radio Mir), Brcko, and Coralici. In the fall 1997, the French agreed to man and operate a new station in Mostar. These radio stations operated at least 18 hours a day with music, news bulletins and messages

Radio Mir Sticker

Programming on Radio Mir consisted of: Current news five times a day; “Classic” rock and roll, “Top 40” hits, Rhythm and Blues, “Eurohits,” and local area music; Interviews with SFOR commanders and the Office of the High Representative; and Broadcast talk shows with guest radio station personalities from local stations.

A PSYOP interpreter talks with residents of Brcko,
Bosnia, to get their opinions of the SFOR-sponsored "Radio Mir"
(Photo by Henry S. Block)

Major John Mills discusses “PSYOP: Radio Operations in Bosnia,” in Special Warfare, fall 2001. He notes that from January 1997 to August 1997, elements of the United States Army Reserve's 11th Psychological Operations Battalion and personnel attached from other USAR PSYOP battalions deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina. He says in part:

After brainstorming numerous concepts, we hit on the solution - radio. Our radio-production capability was limited. Radio Mir in Sarajevo was producing various types of music tapes that contained intermittent soft-sell, radio-announcer voice-overs. We decided to use radio to broadcast translations of open-source information from existing international news media (Reuters, the Associated Press and United Press International) to supplement the information products produced by the headquarters of the Combined Joint Task Force.

A PSYOP specialist (left) and one of the local Bosnian
interpreters prepare to broadcast from inside an MSQ-85 shelter

We needed a dedicated broadcast booth and professional-quality equipment. The answer was an MSQ-85B shelter. The MSQ-85B mobile audiovisual shelter was at the time one of the primary systems of the PSYOP community. This HMMWV-mounted shelter was fielded during the 1980s. The shelter provided a complete capability for recording, editing and reproducing audio and video products. Had it been equipped with an FM transmitter, it would have been a complete broadcast studio.

Our major objective was to put out a message that would forcefully explain the Stabilization Force’s (SFOR) right, under international law and under the Dayton Peace Accords, to seize indicted war criminals. We translated press releases from the Coalition Press Information Center, or CPIC, in an attempt to counter the tirade of messages being broadcast in Serbian controlled areas. Each week, at Radio Tuzla, we produced and broadcast a 30-minute show that came to be titled "The Week in SFOR."

From January to August 1997, the information campaign in Bosnia used local radio to communicate the SFOR message to the formerly warring factions. While it was difficult to precisely measure the program's effectiveness, the success of the combined efforts of the SFOR was reflected by a lack of active hostilities. The radio program laid the groundwork for establishing long-lasting relationships with the local radio-station managers and personnel - some of the people who controlled what was being communicated in Bosnia.

A member of the PSYOP TASK Force (POTF) displays a box of the
audio tapes prepared for the distribution to Bosnian radio stations.

U.S. Army Reserve Major Thomas Bergman was a member of the 18th PSYOP Company, 10th PSYOP Battalion, 7th PSYOP Group. He was activated in December of 1995 for a tour in Bosnia. His unit provided the first U.S. Army Reserve PSYOP soldiers in Bosnia reporting to the 4th POG. In regard to the radio comments above he says:

I approached several Tuzla radio stations and pitched the idea of a weekly hourly call-in talk show where we could give out current news and answer questions from the populace. Radio Tuzla agreed and in early spring 1996 I began conducting a weekly show with the aid of my interpreter.

          

Flag of Great Britain

Chef de Bataillon, M. E. Limon discusses the British and French effort in a Joint Services Command and Staff College Defense Research Paper:

The British deployed up to 14 members of their 15th PSYOP Group to support the US led NATO PSYOP or IFOR Information Campaign. In mid-March 1996, the British troops achieved the capability to produce their own printed products. By late March 1996, the British Divisional PSYOP element had print, reproduction, audio/radio, video and other imagery capabilities and three Land Rovers and trailers. By spring 1996, IFOR had established a strong link with the independent radio station in Banja Luka, (“Radio Big”). Personnel from IFOR appeared on a weekly show that combined music, conversation and questions from a live audience to deny any rumors and misconceptions and to promote a greater understanding of IFOR’s role.

Steven Collins goes into greater detail in “Army PSYOP in Bosnia: Capabilities and Constraints” in Parameters, summer 1999.

In the Multinational Division Southwest area, controlled by the United Kingdom, the importance of PSYOP was recognized early. The UK military, drawing upon its extensive experience in Northern Ireland as well as its intimate familiarity with the region as part of the UN Protection Force, knew the critical importance of the battle for Bosnian "hearts and minds." Thus they requested deployment of US tactical PSYOP soldiers and radio broadcast equipment.

Flag of France

Multinational Division Southeast, under the control of the French, originally kept PSYOP at arm's length. The French also seemed to mistrust the motives of the US PSYOP personnel, who dominated the early effort in Bosnia. Over time, the French began to accept increased US PSYOP support, including a PSYOP radio station in Mostar and a small group of US tactical PSYOP soldiers who disseminated materials. The French frustration with the US/NATO PSYOP product approval process contributed to their desire to develop their own capability in order to influence the PSYOP context more directly. This led to the establishment of a French-run PSYOP radio station and creation of a French/Spanish/German PSYOP print product development capability in Mostar, all with virtually no oversight from the PSYOP Task Force headquarters in Sarajevo.

Flag of Belgium

Radio Horizon Flyer

Belgium has a small PSYOP Support Element (PSE) unit called the Information Operations Group (Info Ops Grp) consisting of about 30 regular military personnel and selected reservists as needed. After the loss of ten Belgian paratroopers in Rwanda in 1994, the Belgians realized the need for a PSYOP unit of their own. Their first operation was in late 1999 in Kosovo where they installed a PSYOP radio station called “Radio Horizon” in the Belgian camp called “ Center City ” in the French-occupied section of Kosovo in Leposavic.

In early 1999, the Serbs again seemed intent on purifying their lands of all foreign ethnic groups. Television reports told of thousands of ethnic Albanians persecuted, raped, or murdered. This time the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) took action. NATO demanded full compliance with UN Resolution 1199 of 23 September 1998. The resolution called for all parties to cease hostilities. At a meeting held 15 March 1999, the Kosovar separatists agreed to a cease-fire, but the government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refused. NATO warned that refusal to cease hostilities against the Kosovar civilians would lead directly to military force. After a week of Serbian refusals, the 19-member organization unanimously agreed to initiate air strikes. The first occurred at 1400 on 24 March 1999. NATO aircraft pounded military and political targets within Serbia as part of "Operation Allied Force." Fighter aircraft later attacked Serb military forces in Kosovo.

Allied Radio Leaflet

This leaflet gives the frequencies of five radio and a television channel that the people could tune in to receive NATO radio and television broadcasts. NATO aircraft dropped 1.2 million copies of this radio leaflet. The leaflet was called “Radio Ad” by NATO. The front depicts text and the NATO Symbol. The text is:

FM 87.9    AM 1003

FM 102.2    FM 106.4

TV 21

We want to talk to you.

The text on the front of the leaflet is:

Mornings in Belgrade.

Interviews with world leaders.

News: international and regional.

Messages to the Serb people. NATO policy statement.

NATO allied voice. Radio and television station.

Destination the Hague
War Criminals will face Trial

Retired Major Robert J. Jablonski, United States Army Reserve, Co, B, 13th PSYOP Battalion served in the Stabilization Force (SFOR) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from 2002 to 2003 told me:

As the Media Director I was responsible for the creation and dissemination of print, radio and video product throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina (BIH). The PSYOPS main mission was to “Create a supportive atmosphere and willingness to cooperate among the parties in conflict and civilian population in the area of operations.”

“Destination the Hague” was a PSYOP product done by Stabilization Forces of NATO by the PSYOPS Support Branch (PSB) in Sarajevo Bosnia-Herzegovina as a companion product to a one-hour documentary on the Hague Tribunal.

The program’s name was “Viking” and its main focus was to drive a wedge between the Persons Indicted for War Crimes and the local populace. The majority of the war criminals were highly regarded military and civilian leaders in the former Yugoslavia and were held in high regard by their respective people. Our goal was to discredit them in general with an inevitability theme and we paired it with the promise of a fair trial at the International Criminal Tribunal (The Hague).

Camp Bedrock Task Force Commander LTC Burch is interviewed on Radio Zivinice. Informational radio was regularly used by PSYOP to keep the people of Bosnia updated.

The entire Kosovo operation was studied in depth in Lessons from Kosovo: The KFOR Experience, Larry Wentz, The Command and Control Research Program, 2002. He said:

The KFOR information operations “weapons of choice” were public information, PSYOP, Civil-Military Cooperation, and the Joint Implementation Commission. Use of disinformation and deception were not allowed. Only “white” PSYOP was employed, and there was no KFOR-led counterpropaganda campaign in spite of extensive use of propaganda by the Serbs. The general rule of thumb was “do not react to disinformation. Instead, react to selective issues of importance and tell the truth.”

The 315th U.S. Army Reserve PSYOP company consisted of a tactical PSYOP detachment with three tactical PSYOP teams (TPT) and a product development detachment (PDD), located at Camp Bondsteel. The PSYOP team used print media, radio, television, and face-to-face dissemination. The PDD could generate print products in 12 hours or less once approved. Radio scripts could be done in less than 2 hours. However, getting product approval for dissemination could take up to 12 days.

1998 Informational Radio Leaflet

In addition to producing and disseminating fliers, handbills, posters, and other print products, the PSYOP Company was capable of producing radio and television programming. There were two Serbian radio stations, Radio Max in Silovo and Radio Zupa in Brezovica. There were seven Albanian stations under contract: Radio Festina in Urosevac, Radio Victoria in Gnjilane, Radio Iliria in Vitina, Radio TEMA in Urosevac, Radio Energji in Gnjilane, Radio Pozaranje in Pozaranje, and Radio Kacanik in Kacanik. UNMIK ran a joint Albanian/ Serbian radio station in Kamenica. The number of contracted radio stations grew from six regional stations in April 2000 to fourteen by the end of July with coverage that extended to all seven municipalities across the brigade’s sector.

Haiti – 1994

Map

Jean-Bertrand Aristide

In December 1990, the people of Haiti elected former priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide as President with 67% of the vote. He took office in February 1991, but the military overthrew him in September of the same year. The United Nations passed Resolution 970 which imposed an oil and arms embargo aimed at forcing the Haitian military to the negotiating table. As a direct result of the embargo, over 21,000 Haitians left the poverty-stricken country, many attempting to illegally enter the United States.

Haitians at Sea being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard

General Raoul Cedras

General Raoul Cedras, head of the Haitian armed forces, signed an agreement on 3 July 1993, which approved the return of President Aristide by 30 October 1993. These were known as the Governors Island Accords.

The air-dropped Radio for Haiti bought in bulk from Radio Shack

On 18 June 1994, the U.S. created a Military Information Support Team (MIST) in Washington, DC. The MIST consisted of soldiers from the 4th Psychological Operations Group and a number of Creole speaking civilian linguists. Two radio stations were created: Radio DEMOCRACY, an FM station focused on delivering Aristide's message and Radio AM 940, which carried messages designed to deter Haitian immigration. One of the problems facing the Washington MIST was the availability of radios in Haiti to make a campaign built on that medium viable. As an interim solution to the problems, SOG aircraft parachuted 10,000 small radios complete with batteries into various urban centers in Haiti.

This operation is discussed in a 1999 British Joint Services Command and Staff College Defense Research Paper by Chef de Bataillon, M. E. Limon. He says in part:

PSYOP staffs provided intelligence on regional, social and religious preferences of Haiti. Its aims were to assist President Aristide to broadcast towards his country and to fight the Junta’s propaganda. A series of 900 hours of broadcast were transmitted by the commando SOLO aircraft before any troops had landed on the island. These messages were carefully combined with popular programs of Haitian music and local news. To increase the impact of this campaign, 10,000 radio sets were sent to Haiti.

The United States military and the multi-national force eventually numbered over 23,000 troops from over a dozen nations. General Cedras and his military staff left Haiti and President Aristide returned on 15 October 1994.

The White House formed a PSYOP Working Group to decide on themes each week for radio messages. A Ft. Bragg team set up a makeshift studio near the Pentagon, which Aristide used to tape speeches for daily broadcasts. There were some that were very critical of President Aristide.

193rd Special Operations Wing

A major part of American efforts was the use of EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft for radio broadcast operations by the 4th Psychological Operations Wing working through the Air Force 193d Special Operations Group (of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard). To facilitate the effectiveness of the broadcast campaign, transmitted on three FM bands, sought to discourage the flotillas of boat people by announcing that entry to the United States would henceforth be possible only through the INS office in Port-au-Prince. A dramatic drop in boat interceptions after July 7, 1994, suggests that the campaign had the intended effect. Later messages aimed at preventing local vigilantes from taking retribution against supporters of the Cedras regime.

PSYOP Support to Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY

The 4th PSYOP Group booklet PSYOP Support to Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY adds:

Tactical PSYOP Teams would eventually conduct over 760 ground PSYOP missions covering an area from the northern tip of Haiti near Port-de-Paix to the southwestern city of Jeremie. Aerial loudspeaker teams flew 67 missions in support of ground operations, facilitating PSYOP dissemination in the rugged and mountainous regions bordering the Gulf of Gonave and in other denied areas.

One of the major PSYOP problems in Haiti was the lack of linguists who spoke Creole. The military did a quick search and found thirty-three linguists throughout the armed forces, many born in Haiti. PSYOP soldiers who had served in Haiti in the past were also tapped to serve during the intervention.

The original invasion plan called for US forces to take over intact radio stations. The peaceful landing left those facilities in Haitian hands. The Joint PSYOP Task Force had to request $750,000 to cover operating costs and material expenses over the next six months.

One of the songs that were played over the radio in the fall of 1994 by U.S. PSYOP as the American forces spread across Haiti was “Long live Peace.” The song promises democracy, work for all, education and good health.” There is no talk of vengeance, or people’s justice, since that would tear the country apart and discourage international aid. Reconciliation was the key to jobs and economic recovery.

The Radio Leaflet for Haiti

This leaflet depicts a radio at the far right with the frequency of the American-sponsored government station, a map of Haiti and the flags of the United States and Haiti at the left. The text is:

Help us to help you. Listen to Radio 1080 AM 24 hours a day

The back is all text:

The American Army has arrived to re-establish democracy. For your own and your family's safety, follow the advice below: Remain calm. Stay indoors. Keep away from windows. Do not form in groups on the street. Leave the American Army alone to work. Do not block traffic. Listen to the radio on 1080 for information. For more information tune your radio to 1080 AM.

This leaflet was dropped along with portable radios on 15 September 1994. In the Special Operations History magazine Veritas, Volume 11, No. 1, 2015, Dr. Jared Tracy wrote about Haiti in an article entitled “A True Force Multiplier – Psychological Operations in Operation Uphold Democracy, 1994-1995.” Speaking of the portable radios, Tracy mentions the radios handed out to Haitians so that they could hear the American programing several times. Some of his comments are:

An earlier airdrop of 10,000 radios had broadened the listening audience; [On 12 October] 1,300 radios were distributed around Port au Prince; [Between 12 and 14 October] 2,100 radios were distributed.

Tracy mentions that the small portable radios that were given to the local people were bought in bulk at Radio Shack. Some of the PSYOP radio messages were:

Violence is not an answer to the road to peace and reconciliation; the New Year is a chance to reconcile, start anew, and give peace a chance; Make your community a safer place to live. Support and join your community watch program.

A Haitian who was on the ground during the drop makes an interesting observation. Admittedly he is Pro-Army and anti-Aristide but he says about the American PSYOP campaign:

The Americans were broadcasting to Haitians who knew the truth. There was no systematic violence or rape. I can remember the night when low flying 130s dumped radios all over the place. Many of these were turned in to the police, while Haitians claimed to have converted others so they could listen to Radio Superstar. Loads of leaflets could be seen cluttering the streets. I saved a few.

The New York Times agreed on 16 September:

Paramilitary forces seized many of the thousands of radios that were dropped from an American plane that flew over the capital after President Clinton's speech.

Douglas Waller mentions the military-PSYOP connection in an article entitled "How a Spec Ops Campaign Saved Lives," Armed Forces Journal International, June 1995. Some of his comments are:

The Army's 4th PSYOP Group at Fort Bragg, NC, divided Haiti's population into 20 target groups. Radio broadcasts began with the crow of a rooster, the mascot for Aristide's party…Two months before the September 19 intervention, the daily Commando Solo broadcasts began - from 4 to 8 a.m. and 6:30 to 10 p.m. Market surveys showed many Haitians slept during the day because of the stifling heat.

AFGHANISTAN – 2001

Map

This will be one of the largest radio sections but that is because as I write this, the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan has gone on for 17 years.

On 11 September, 2001, terrorists of the al-Qaida (the Base), some trained and financed by Saudi Arabian exile-in-hiding Osama bin Laden, attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC. In response to the terrorist attacks, the United States launched the Global War on Terrorism.

On 12 September, the day following the attack, Tactical PSYOP Detachment (TPD) 940 began target audience analysis of Afghanistan, including the Afghan populace, the Taliban, and al Qaida. On 4 October 2001 a 95-man Joint Psychological Operations Task Force (JPOTF) was activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and placed under the operational control of the Central Command (CENTCOM). The 3rd Psychological Operations battalion deployed to Kuwait that same month to support Operation Enduring Freedom.

Leaflets and radio scripts were prepared.

This is discussed in some depth in FM 3-05.301, Psychological Operations Process Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures, August 2007.

8th PSYOP Battalion

During the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom, the 8th PSYOP Battalion became the PSYOP Task Force in direct support of the Central Command commander. The POTF’s print assets were stationed initially at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This necessitated printing the leaflets and recording the radio messages at Fort Bragg, then distributing these messages to forward locations. Just two days before the start of combat operations on 5 October 2001, EC–130 Commando Solo aircraft began to transmit radio broadcasts to Afghanistan. The first B-52 leaflets from Diego Garcia were dropped on 14 October 2001, almost a week after combat operations began.

The United States also explained the reason for the bombings and the American invasion over their propaganda radio. One of the messages was:

Dear Afghanistan,

A grave crime has been committed against the United States. Four of our planes have been hijacked, several building in our economic centers destroyed and more than 6,000 innocent people, hundreds of which were Muslim were murdered by the hand of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaida, his supporters, and the Taliban. We see these actions as acts of war. We will not sit idly by and do nothing in these times. However, we do not wish to spill the blood of innocent people, as did the cowardly terrorists. We do not blame the Muslims or Afghans for these attacks. We do not hold those who follow true Islam responsible. We will hunt down and punish these terrorists. They will pay with their blood. America is not against the beliefs of Islam, nor is it against Muslims. More than 6 million Muslims live and worship Allah in peace in the United States, a number equal to almost half the population of Afghanistan. In the United States people of all religions live side by side in peace. Muslims living in America have the same rights to worship as any other citizen of any other religion.

Readers wanting to see more of the Coalition radio messages can find them here.

The first leaflet drop took place on October 15, coordinated with Coalition radio broadcasts. EC-130-E Command Solo aircraft from the 193rd Special Operations Wing flying out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, broadcast to the Afghan people. The modified C-130 can broadcast radio or TV signals - AM, FM and HF. It broadcasts across the band from 45 kilohertz to 1000 megahertz.

AFD06

This leaflet depicts a radio tower and two radios. Text is identical on both sides in Pashto and Dari. The leaflet states:

Information radio.
0500-1000. 1700-2200 daily.
864, 1107, 8700 kilohertz.

The leaflet tells the Afghan finder what radio stations to dial in order to hear the latest news from the coalition forces. Part of the PSYOP plan was to tell the Afghan people why their country was being bombed. The radio broadcasts stress that this is simply a war against terrorism and not against the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban's main Kabul radio station, Voice of Sharia, ("Islamic Law"), was taken off the air by an American cruise missile several days earlier. 7,931,000 copies of this leaflet were disseminated by M129 leaflet bombs in the first year of the war. These leaflets were also handed out by Tactical PSYOP teams on the ground.

P.W. Singer discusses the Taliban radio station in Analysis Paper No. 5, “American’s Response to Terrorism,” Winning the War of Words: Information Warfare in Afghanistan:

The Taliban broadcasts continually stressed that the one rallying point in Afghan history has been for the various tribes to join to throw out invaders, from the Persians and the British, to most recently the Soviets. The Taliban's broadcasts painted US demands on their country as falling in line with this long procession of outsiders attempting to interfere in their own local matters. The dominant message was that the US was yet another imperial power targeting Afghanistan.

   

Afghans listening to the Coalition broadcasts

There is a lot of published information about the production of these radio leaflets. Weapon of Choice, ARSOF in Afghanistan, Charles H. Briscoe, Richard L. Kiper, James A. Schroeder, and Kalev I Sepp, authors, Combat studies Institute Press, Fort Leavenworth, KS 2003 says:

Whether it was a leaflet offering a monetary reward, providing a radio listening frequency, extolling the new government, or warning about land mines, the 30 million leaflets 2nd Platoon, A Company, 3rd PSYOP Battalion, printed were a significant contribution to the global war on terrorism. When radio broadcasts by the Air Force EC- 130 Commando Solo aircraft became possible, Donovan's [PSYOP squad leader] squad printed handbills that ground units could distribute to villages. The handbills depicted a radio tower and had various frequencies for music and news.

On 30 January 2002, the American Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, now located in Prague, Czech Republic, began broadcasting to Afghanistan in the Dari and Pashto languages. Radio Free Afghanistan (“Radio Azadi”) broadcast 12 hours a day on FM radio from Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Kandahar. The broadcasts can be heard on short wave, medium wave, and satellite radio and also on demand via the Internet.

Kaito Radio

On 17 October 2001, it was reported that small battery-powered portable radios were dropped to those without radios or electricity. Initially, several thousand KAITO brand portable radios were distributed by hand. The KAITO was a 220-volt AC radio that was battery, solar and crank (dynamo) powered. It was usable for people who lived in central Afghanistan with no electric power. AM and FM radio was only available in cities. In rural areas the people relied on SW radio. Cost was low for quantity purchased and the power source was the prime requirement. The sensitivity and selectivity were poor, and required a very strong signal to work. It was not successful in the mountainous countryside of Afghanistan.

Under the Taliban, possession of a radio was a crime, and thus few were available. More than 7,500 small battery-powered transistor radios were distributed by airdrop and by tactical PSYOP teams operating with Special Forces detachments.

A local Afghan elder is excited to receive his new radio from an 8th PSYOP Battalion member attached to the U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division in Malajat, Afghanistan. The purpose of the mission is to gather information from the local population and to distribute Psychological Operations products.

 

The Freeplay Plus Radio

A military report entitled PSYOP Radio in Afghanistan adds in part:

The US military is air-dropping Freeplay wind-up radios among the Afghan people. Unlike the Freeplay Plus Radio we offer, which has the AM, FM and most of the short wave spectrum, these specially designed Freeplay radios are locked on a frequency that automatically tunes in US military broadcasts. With these radios, Afghans will know about aid facilities in their area as well as food drops. They'll also hear messages like the one below, assuring them of the US intentions in Afghanistan, and that we're there to help them.

The Grundig FR220 radio

There was a recommendation to use the Grundig FR220 radio. It worked well in the mountainous terrain and was battery and dynamo powered. The 10th Mountain Division psychological operations officer headed the purchase of 100,000 FR200 Grundig Emergency Radios for Coalition Joint Task Force (CJTF) 180 to be delivered to Bagram, Afghanistan, between November 2003 and February 2004. Over 30,000 Grundig radios had been distributed by the time he left Afghanistan in April 2004.

Passing out radios

For a while the Americans dropped the WR-004 "World Receiver" AM, FM and short wave radio produced by the STL Group in the Netherlands under the brand name "Super Tech." They were dropped with the batteries already in the radio. The inability of the Afghans to replace the batteries was a liability. The British apparently dropped crank-powered radios at the same time. Broadcasts that same day told the people where to find the yellow cartons containing food dropped by American aircraft.

A local Afghan citizen reads a flyer handed to him by soldiers assigned to the 10th Psychological Operations Battalion, during a mission to Kuchi village, Afghanistan, May 27, 2011. The purpose of the mission was to distribute radios and flyers to local villagers, and to evaluate the needs of the locals.

Worldspace model WSSR-11 Digital receivers

During a spring of 2004 visit to Fort Bragg I was able to confirm that the US Army did indeed distribute radios to the people of Afghanistan so that they could hear the latest news from the Coalition powers. I also learned that the radios then being disseminated were Worldspace model WSSR-11 Digital receivers. They are battery-powered and allow the listener to access over 40 satellite radio services from around the world. Each radio comes with a directional line-of sight antenna. The service uses three satellites, AmeriStar, AfriStar, and Asia Star. These new radios were not without problems. They were given to Afghans selected as "key communicators." The problem was a lack of Pashto or Dari radio broadcasts on the satellites. The best broadcasts were still coming from the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Voice of America, or the local PSYOP radio stations. Many Afghans were happier with the cheaper Kaito radio because they could get all the local stations in their own language.

 

 

U.S. Psychological Operations soldiers hand out radios to children in a village in southern Afghanistan. The new radio shows on Army-run stations are seeking to reach wider audiences.

NATO distributed more than 700,000 radios in the first half of 2006. The NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency announced that eligible firms were invited to provide bids on a Psychological Operations Radio Network for the International Security Assistance Force. The US military broadcasts on short wave, the U.S. Embassy uses 23 host nation stations, and of course there is the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America.

The Special Operations System B (SOMS B) ground-based PSYOP radio in Afghanistan. The DRASH tents attached to the vehicles are the operational areas for the system set up in Bagram.

Elements of the 4th PSYOP Group set up radio stations in Afghanistan. One of the radio specialists from Ft. Bragg told me:

The Special Operations System B (SOMS B) was the first ground-based PSYOP asset in Afghanistan. There was a SOMS B in Bagram and one in Kandahar. Initially broadcasting was done on AM and FM. Eventually, all broadcasting was migrated to shortwave (SW). The three short wave radio frequencies are 9325, 9345 and 9365 kHz.The stations broadcast from 0030 to 1830 with the heading in Pashto “Da Sola Radyo day,” and in Dari “Inja Solh-e Radyoe”, (“You are listening to Peace Radio.”).

Soldiers erect the antenna of the Special Operations Media System-Broadcast (SOMS-B) capable of providing local radio and television support including editing of radio and audiovisual products

The antenna field was very crowded in the beginning because all three (AM, FM, and SW) antennas had been set up in the same small area. The AM antenna was a discone antenna supported by four masts, which were only 50 feet off the ground at the highest point.

The “Voice of Peace” Radio station building in Jabal os Saraj Afghanistan
The sign above the door reads “VOICE of PEACE.”

PSYOP soldiers had visited the Voice of Peace FM broadcast station in Jabal os Saraj a couple of times to try and improve the coverage of this station, which was supporting US efforts. The station was housed in a donated building up on the side of a tall hill. The transmitter was a 500 Watt Japanese made solid-state system that had some “repairs” done by the local welder. The civilian tech advisors working with the soldiers were able to improve the “repairs” and determine that the existing omni-directional antenna was only rated for 200 Watts, limiting the system. Replacement antennas were acquired which provided a directional coverage and increased effective radiated power to extend their coverage area.

The Voice of Peace transmitter with the station logo in upper right corner.

The requirements of the operation are such that the SW broadcasting is now done from three locations in Afghanistan. Each location has its own SW transmitter as the SOMS B systems have all returned to FT Bragg. The audio products are edited using a Deployable Audio Production System (DAPS) designed for PSYOP use by the civilian technical support in the Media Production Center, FT Bragg. Video products are edited using the Deployable Non-Linear Editor (DNLE) which was developed by the same resource.

Inside the video production and editing tent of the SOMS-B complex at
Kandahar, Afghanistan during a broadcast in support of Operation Enduring Freedom

The SOMS-B system is discussed in depth by Scott R. Gourley in a Special Operations Technology Online Archives article:

The SOMS-B system consists of two primary subsystems: the Mobile Radio Broadcast System (MRBS) and Mobile Television Broadcast System (MTBS). Each of these subsystems consists of a primary HMMWV, a cargo HMMWV, and a mission trailer carrying a 33 kW generator, environmental control unit, and Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter (DRASH) tent system. The two subsystems can be deployed together or separately.

Interim Afghanistan President Karzai had told the Americans very early that their broadcasts were found wanting. ARSOF in Afghanistan notes:

The Pashtun leader knew that radio broadcasts in various dialects would have a greater effect than leaflets. He had listened to the programs broadcast by the Air Force EC- 130 Commando Solo aircraft and told MAJ Barstow that the music was very effective, but the BBC and VOA had better-quality programs. Karzai urged Barstow [Major, C Company, 9th Psychological Operations Battalion] to make the messages more forceful. The people needed to be told what they should do about the Taliban and al-Qaeda who were still in their midst.

Inside a PSYOP mobile radio studio

Later, PSYOP soldiers in Bagram and Kandahar went on the air. They literally took over their mission on the same frequencies using the Special Operations Media System. The eight-man team now broadcasts round the clock. The Afghan programming, simultaneously broadcast on both AM and short wave is presented in the country’s predominant languages, Dari and Pashto. Using hour long formats like commercial stations, news and information is broken up by blocks of Afghan music. And of course, the news is all good. Two current messages include the reopening of Kabul University and story of two bicyclists in Kandahar training for the 2004 Olympics. They also air public service announcements about things such as the need for identification cards and polio vaccinations. What locals really like is the music, and they tell the team how the Taliban kept most music on the forbidden list. From Bagram, PSYOP radio extends about 30 miles, and begins breaking up at the outskirts of Kabul. The short wave broadcast can reach the entire country depending on weather conditions.

A member of the 8th Psychological Operations Battalion,
shows some of the Afghan music CDs that
the battalion's radio station from Kandahar Airfield.

The Stars and Stripes issue of 31 July 2002 points out that the 8th Psychological Operations Battalion is broadcasting Afghan music from the battalion's radio station at Kandahar Airfield. They regularly broadcast the music of Naghma & Mangal, Khaliq Aziz and Ahmed Zahir, some of hottest pop artists and musicians in Afghanistan. Some of the article says:

When the Taliban ruled, radios were forbidden. However, some people hid them in their house and huddled around at night to listen to the BBC or Pakistan programming. Soldiers with the 8th Psychological Operation Battalion operate the mobile 5,000-watt radio station — which has a range of about 20 miles — from a small group of tents. Ninety-percent of the programming is pure Afghan music, including some dance, contemporary and folk music. None is American. Each hour, the Army broadcasts three informational spots. The messages tell listeners such things as what to do if they come across unexploded ordnance, news about the interim government and assurances that U.S. troops are not an occupying force.

The Police give Radios to the People

A former PSYOP detachment sergeant in Kandahar and later team chief in Geresk mentioned the distribution of the radios. He said:

The radios were given to all returning Hajjis, people who went on the Hajj to Mecca. This was a good way to get the radios out since each district was allotted a certain number of people to go on the Hajj. When they returned to their remote areas with the radio, it gave the radios a status symbol quality, since going on the Hajj is such a big thing. Then we would give radios to schools, key communicators and random people in our travels. We used them as an inducement to work with us. It was a good benefit for the people and everyone wanted more than we could ever give out. People who gave us directions along the road would frequently be rewarded with a radio.

The U.S. Government released several radio broadcast texts to the public. One of the messages was:

Attention Taliban! You are condemned. Did you know that? The instant the terrorists you support took over our planes, you sentenced yourselves to death…our helicopters will rain death down upon your camps before you detect them on your radar. Our bombs are so accurate we can drop them through your windows…you have only one choice, surrender now and we will give you a second chance. We will let you live. 

In order to entice the Afghans to listen to the radio, about three-quarters of all broadcasts consist of music. The Taliban had condemned music.

The Taliban showed signs of collapse on 14 November 2001. They had threatened to fight to the death, but they surprised everyone by fleeing the Afghan capital of Kabul in the dark of the night. The war now entered a new phase as American Special Forces hunted bin Laden and his terrorist group in the mountains and caves of southeastern Afghanistan. They set up roadblocks along the refugee-filled roads. That same day the United States broadcast radio messages and dropped 1.5 million leaflets offering 25 million dollars to anyone willing to betray bin Laden.

On 7 September 2002, the Coalition Commanders discussed the PSYOP status of the war. 138 PSYOP radio programs were broadcast and 523 different scripts were written. Over 6,000 hours of radio was broadcast by PSYOP forces and close to 4,000 hours by the Voice of America. To insure that the broadcasts were heard, Coalition forces handed out 7,670 radios. In a second briefing on 2 October 2002 The PSYOP radio hours had reached 6,622 with 162 radio programs and 538 different scripts.

A survey showed that 51% of Afghans listened to the “Information Radio” on a regular basis. 57% of those approved of the broadcasts and 30% regularly complied with the instructions. Some examples of Coalition radio messages are:

Noble people of Afghanistan. Kabul University, once one of Asia’s finest institutions, has re-opened. Workers have cleared away the rubble and prepared for the new academic year...The partnership of Nations has donated window glass for several buildings. Machinery and vehicles have been repaired and donated to ensure the university’s physical plant is operational…Peace and prosperity in Afghanistan grows closer by the day. Many of Afghanistan’s regional commanders have vowed to put aside ethnic and tribal disputes. They have sworn allegiance to the Afghan national army….

Leaflet AFA04aaLF3183

This 2006 leaflet was featured in a 12th PSYOP Battalion product book where Allied Commanders could come and see it in English, so they knew what the text is. This leaflet depicts a radio and an antenna and tells the people how to dial in the Coalition station. If the commander asked that the leaflets be printed in bulk for his unit to use in a PSYOP campaign, they would be printed in Dari or Pashtun. The same image and message are on the front and back.

Some Problems with the Radios in Afghanistan

There were many problems with reception in Afghanistan. It seems little regard was given to the many mountain ranges. Retired Army Colonel Bill Gormley mentions some of these in an article titled “The failed promise: Reflections on America’s Afghanistan experience,” printed in the Small Wars Journal, 3 April 2022. Some of his comments are:

When I arrived in June 2003, there were two transmitter broadcasting PSYOP messages, news, and Afghan music and poetry. One broadcasted from Bagram in Dari while the other was based in Kandahar and broadcasted in Dari and Pashtun. Both transmitters broadcasted in AM, FM, and shortwave. The Psychological Operations Task Force (POTF) had planned to replace these systems with two new shortwave transmitters. These systems were supposed to be able to cover the entire country from Bagram.One transmitter would broadcast and the other would be kept as a spare. AM and FM broadcasts would be discontinued, which meant our broadcasts could not be heard on car radios. It became apparent to me that plan was not based on a good analysis.

Once the new shortwave system was up, my teams did a survey on where the signal could be heard and what the signal quality was. After a week, I determined that shortwave could only be heard around Bagram and sometimes in Kabul. I do not think the POTF accounted for Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain when computing the transmitter’s broadcast footprint. Bagram is in a valley surrounded by high mountains. It seems like they just took the transmitter’s advertised range and drew a circle on a map. The POTF commander became angry with me when I reported the system did not work as planned and when I requested help to fix it. He told me “Who cares, nobody listens to it anyways.” This begs the question if nobody was listening then why did we bother to do it?

The POTF commander, however, was wrong on this point. Local Afghanis did listen to our broadcasts. The governor of Kandahar asked one of my junior officers why our radio broadcast stopped. Average Afghans had also asked some of my teams where our radio broadcasts had gone as well. Many of these Afghans listened to our broadcasts on FM and AM and would not be able to listen to them even if the shortwave system worked as planned. After some agitation, a team of experts came out from Fort Bragg with some specialized equipment to conduct a survey of the signal strength around Afghanistan. They recommended the second transmitter be set up at Kandahar. They also determined the cheap Chinese made radios we gave to the locals were not good enough to get the signal. They recommend we start giving away a German made radio. These much more expensive German radios were better but did not have the small solar panel Chinese radios had. I thought this limited their utility, in a less developed country like Afghanistan. I made sure when we began to distribute the new radios, they were pre tuned to our station and had a sticker on the handle with our frequency and the station’s logo. We also started putting the station’s logo and frequency in our newspaper. These were measures I came up with and had not been done before in Afghanistan. Eventually, I got the second transmitter set up in Kandahar. Even with more expensive receivers, the broadcast footprint was less than what was required.

Flag of Great Britain

In 2012, the British 15th Psychological Operations Group was presented with the Firmin Sword of Peace for their valuable contribution to humanitarian activities. A team from the 15th POG has been continuously deployed to Helmand for six years. The unit runs a network of seven radio stations employing local Afghans as disk jockeys, broadcasts music, poetry, debate programs and even a soap opera, as well as producing graphical posters and leaflets to communicate in an area where literacy rates are only around 20%.

Flag of Canada

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported in 2006 that the Canadian military has contracted with the communications expert Ivana Previsic to teach soldiers how to become effective news broadcasters and get the military’s messages out to locals in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Another military contract won by Ottawa-based International Datacasting Corporation ensures that the first graduates will be broadcasting digital radio broadcasts from Kingston, Canada, into their Afghanistan area of operations by satellite.

In 2010, the Associated Press reported that the Canadians were broadcasting from five small local radio stations in Kandahar Province called the Voice of Panjwaii. The station has been on air since June, broadcasting news, government announcements, weather and other programs throughout the district southwest of Kandahar city where Canadians have been concentrating their efforts in Afghanistan. About 80 per cent of Panjwaii residents have radios. Canadian soldiers have handed out an estimated 30,000 units over the past two year in the province.

Flag of Germany

PSYOPS forces were an integral part of the German contingent with approximately 15 soldiers on the ground. In addition to the soldiers' radio “Radio Andernach,” the PSYOP radio station Sada-e Azadi (Voice of Freedom) was established. Sada-e Azadi broadcasts in the two main languages spoken in the country, Dari and Pashtu.

Flag of Italy

In April 2010, The Italian radio stations Sada and Azadi West, which translates to “The Voice of Freedom - West” began broadcasting. The radio station, as part of the NATO radios network, was developed with Italian funds by the staff of the Regional PSYOP Support Element (RPSE), composed of personnel of the 28th Pavia Regiment, a unit specializing in “Operating Communications." All of the programs will be broadcast exclusively in Pashto and Dari languages. The station will offer information of public interest for the Afghan people in an attempt to increase knowledge on the purpose of ISAF coalition forces present in Afghanistan. The program will include musical entertainment, local news and in-depth sections on important social issues and local culture. The radio is the main tool to disseminate information throughout Afghanistan and will reach people even in the most remote areas.

In spring 2009, the American military began attempting to prevent the Taliban from using radio stations and Web sites to intimidate civilians and plan attacks. American military and intelligence personnel worked to jam the unlicensed radio stations in Pakistan's lawless regions on the Afghanistan border that Taliban fighters use to broadcast threats and decrees. In Pakistan, Taliban leaders use unlicensed FM stations to recite the names of local Pakistani government officials, police officers and other figures that have been marked for death by the group. There are about 150 illegal FM radio stations in Pakistan's Swat Valley which allow militants to broadcast every night the names of people they're going to behead or they've beheaded.

 

An Afghan disk jockey for Radio Unity in Logar Province, Afghanistan, delivers a broadcast via Radio in a Box (RIAB), a portable radio transmitting system. The RIAB system helps communicate with local residents and counter enemy propaganda campaigns, especially in remote regions. (Photo by Sgt. William Begley, U.S. Army)

Christopher Harland-Dunley describes the “Radio in a box” in an article titled “Outside the Wire” in The Verge. Americans and Afghan DJs turn it on for the first time:

At Wafa’s right hand in the studio, sitting on a plastic-looking American flag tablecloth, was a black box. It was three shoeboxes high, with nobs, buttons, and digital readings. The top half was a commercially available Denon DN-X500 pro DJ mixer; below was a cool-gray box with blue trim. The radio transmitter was inside. The first time they fired it up, they were unsure if it worked. They flipped it on, and Jan grabbed the mic and said, “This is Kerwan FM and we are broadcasting from Gardez, Paktia.” He announced a phone number listeners could call. “If anyone hears us, please call.” The phone lines were immediately slammed with more than 500 calls.

With an antenna and the watts cranked up, it could travel hundreds of miles. It turned Wafa’s glorified shed into a radio station and turned hundreds of Afghans working for the US military into DJ warriors. The program was unassumingly called “Radio in a Box.”

In 2011, more than 20 radio Disk Jockeys in Paktika Province, and dozens more across the country, engaged in what the U.S. military considers a crucial operation, convincing residents in an area dominated by insurgents to embrace Afghan and NATO forces. They play hit Pashto ballads but never tell their listeners that they are broadcasting from studios on U.S. Army bases. Their job is to pause between Pakistani love songs and passages from the Koran to read about the heroism of Afghan and American forces, as well as the destruction wreaked by insurgents. In a region with one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, where the vast majority of families are unable to afford a television, 92 percent of Paktika residents listen to the radio every day.

IRAQI FREEDOM – 2003

Map

President George W. Bush announced the opening of the second war Gulf War at 2215 on 19 March 2003 just 90 minutes after the deadline for Saddam to exile himself and his sons from Iraq. The initial strikes on Baghdad were a target of opportunity. Intelligence reports placed senior Iraqi military leaders with Saddam at a secret meeting place. The initial salvos against Baghdad consisted of 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from six Navy ships in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, as well as precision-guided 2,000-pound bombs dropped from two F-117A Nighthawk stealth jets. Three hours after the raids began, a defiant Saddam, wearing military fatigues, appeared on state television calling on Iraqis to defend their country. Iraq retaliated by firing missiles at U.S. troop positions in Kuwait.

Daniel A. Castro says in his 2007 Naval Postgraduate School thesis: Do Psychological Operations Benefit from the use of Host Nation Media:

The start of the PSYOP campaign in Iraq started months prior to the March invasion and it consisted of a campaign of leaflet drops, cell phone text messages, emails and radio broadcasts that targeted the Iraqi leadership.

An Iraqi civilian listens to a radio broadcast

PSYOP primarily used both radio broadcasts and leaflet dissemination. Broadcasts into Iraq originated From Kuwait, Qatar-based EC –130E Commando Solo aircraft, and maritime broadcasts from aircraft carriers in the Arabian Gulf.

IZD-001c

IZD-001c is an information radio leaflet. It depicts a map of Iraq at the center and radio towers at left and right. The text is:

Information Radio

756 KHZ AM - 1800-1200,
690 KHZ AM - 1800-2300,
9715 KHZ SW - 24 hours a day,
11292 KHZ SW – 1800-1200,
100.4 MHZ FM – 1800-2300.

The same message appears on both front and back.

The 2015 Rand report: Operation Iraqi Freedom – Decisive War, Elusive Peace adds:

The coalition mounted a major PSYOP campaign in Iraq both prior to and during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thousands of hours of radio broadcasts were directed at Iraqi audiences from both land stations and Hercules C-130 Commando Solo aircraft. To cue the potential radio listeners, leaflets were dropped instructing the Iraqis about the frequencies over which the coalition’s “Information Radio” could be heard.

IZD-002a

IZD-002a depicts a radio tower in the center and small portable radios to the left and right. The text is:

Information Radio
1800-2300 daily

756 KHZ AM
693 KHZ AM
9715 KHZ SW
11292 KHZ SW
100.4 MHZ FM.

The same message appears on both front and back.

Once combat operations began on 21 March 2003, the themes changed to convincing Iraqi forces to surrender or desert: asking Iraqi civilians to avoid combat areas and to listen to the coalition radio broadcasts.

At the same time that the Coalition forces were offering a reward for helping downed pilots, Iraqi radio announced a $14,000 reward for anyone killing a Coalition soldier, and $28,000 for anyone taking a live prisoner. The announcement further reported that shooting down an enemy fighter plane would bring a reward of $55,500, a helicopter $28,000, and a missile, $5,500.

President Bush on Commando Solo TV Broadcast

From the start of the campaign EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft from the 193rd Special Operations Wing broadcast to the Iraqis by commercial AM, FM and short wave radio as well as by television. At first the aircraft flew outside Iraqi airspace. Later they were tasked with broadcasting to western Iraq, which made them vulnerable to attack. The aircraft normally trailed a 400-foot long antenna which makes a quick reaction to attack almost impossible. By April 2003, the aircraft was broadcasting a television show called “Towards Freedom TV.” It also broadcast a message from President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

IZD-061

The front of IZD-061 shows four radio antenna and the text:

! ATTENTION !

In times of crisis, tune in to “Information Radio” for important news and information.

756 KHZ AM
690 KHZ AM
100.4 MHZ FM
9715 KHZ SW
11292 KHZ SW

The reverse shows two hands clasping in front of a desert-style camouflage background. Text is:

Coalition forces support the people of Iraq in their desire to remove Saddam and his regime. The Coalition wishes no harm to the innocent Iraqi civilians.

EC-130E

Inside the EC-130E

A standard EC-130E Commando Solo radio message might be as follows:

People of Iraq. The standard of living for Iraqis has dropped drastically since Saddam came into power. Every night, children go to sleep hungry in Iraq. The sick suffer from ailments that are easily treatable in the rest of the world.

Saddam has built palace after Palace for himself and has purchased a fleet of luxury cars, all at the expense of the Iraqi people. This money would be much better suited to build libraries and schools…

Saddam and his close associates live in lavish palaces and live above and beyond the law. Saddam lives like a king while his soldiers are underpaid, and under equipped.

How much longer will this incompetent leader be allowed to rule? How many more soldiers is he willing to sacrifice? Will your unit be the next one to be sacrificed? When will the Iraqi Army become a legitimate army of the people and not serve as bodyguards for Saddam's Regime?

 

IZD-071

The front of IZD-071 depicts an antenna at left and a map of Iraq at the right. The text is:

Information Radio

756 KHZ AM
693 KHZ AM
9715 KHZ SW
11292 KHZ SW
100.4 MHZ FM

The reverse shows antenna at left and right and the text:

The Coalition stands with the Iraqi people against Saddam. For your safety stay in your homes and away from military targets. The Coalition does not target civilians. Listen to information.

The SOMS-B

Besides the aircraft, there were also the ground based Special Operations media System-Broadcast (SOMS-B). The SOMS-B consists of two primary systems: a mobile radio broadcast system and a mobile television broadcast system. Between them they can broadcast on AM, FM, shortwave radio, and television. The 4th PSYOP Group initially set up a SOMS-B in Kuwait in December 2002. The initial broadcasts were five hours a day, but by February 2003 it was eighteen hours a day. A second unit was with the 3rd Infantry Division as it raced toward Baghdad. A third unit was placed in the Baghdad International Airport once it had been taken by Coalition troops. The three systems and the EC-130 could cover all of Iraq.

Another Rand Corporation 2015 Report: Operation Iraqi Freedom: Decisive War, Elusive Peace says about radio operations:

Leaflet drops and radio broadcasts continued once major combat began. The radio broadcasts covered more of Iraq as the environment became more permissive. In addition to radio broadcasts and leaflets, tactical PSYOP teams supported V Corps and I Marine Expeditionary Force along the entire route of march. Teams also supported the United Kingdom’s division and Australian forces. Tactical PSYOP teams, three-man teams equipped with a loudspeaker, provided the commanders with a way of communicating directly with the civilian population. These teams were universally used to broadcast civilian noninterference messages. Loudspeakers were also used to communicate with and deceive the enemy.

The U.S. Arabic speakers who broadcast PSYOP messages on the Iraqis’ own military communication nets, while detectable as non-Iraqis, nevertheless had a major effect on at least some Iraqi audiences. The brigadier general who commanded Baghdad’s missile air defenses, reports that the voices that cut into his military radio traffic signaled Iraq’s coming defeat.

I would talk to my missile crews and suddenly the Americans would come on the same frequency . . . They would talk in Arabic—with Egyptian and Lebanese accents—and they would say, "We have taken Nasiriyah, we have captured Najaf, we are at Baghdad airport." It was the psychological war that did the worst damage to us. The Americans knew all our frequencies. By then, we had no radio news broadcast of our own, just the Americans talking directly to us on our radio net. I could have replied directly to those voices, but we were ordered not to, and I obeyed my own security.

The USS Constellation – CV-64

The Navy also took part in the radio war during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The cruise book for the USS Constellation mentions the leaflet printing and dissemination done on the ship. It says in part:

In an historic first for any carrier group, the USS Constellation’s Commanding Officer was assigned duties as the Information Wartime Commander (IWC) and commanded all organic airborne, surface, and subsurface Information Warfare assets. Providing expert assistance was a senior Cryptologic Officer, designated the Deputy Information Wartime Commander. The Information Warfare Team also had two officers and three enlisted personnel from the Fleet Information Warfare Center Detachment in San Diego. An Information Warfare Targeting Officer, from Naval Security Group, San Diego, created target folders in support of Strike Group electronic attack assets.

The Propaganda radio system on the Constellation

During Operation Iraqi Freedom the Constellation Strike Group Information Warfare team executed record-setting Information Warfare operations, to include transmitting over 1,000 hours of PSYOP radio broadcasting into Iraq and printing over 5 million PSYOP leaflets, with Air Wing two dropping over 9 million leaflets into Iraq. The PSYOP effort in Operation Iraqi Freedom played a significant role in the liberation of Iraq. All Constellation sailors should be proud of their role in this new form of warfare.

British Flag

15th Psychological Operations Group Patch

The British PSYOP capability is provided by the 15th Psychological Operations Group based at the Defense Intelligence and Security Centre, Chicksands. Its role is to provide PSYOP and information support capabilities. The Reserve element of 15 PSYOP includes personnel from civilian radio stations some of whom were used in the setting up of a local radio station in Basra: RADIO NAHRAIN. The group uses equipment that was bought commercially and which is therefore not designed for the rugged situation of military operations. The 15th PSYOP is supported by information officers at battalion and regimental level within the operational units.

British Forces disseminating the new leaflet

The British "Desert Rats" distributed a handbill around Basra. The handbill depicted a British soldier shaking hands with an Iraqi. The text is:

This time we won't abandon you. Be patient - together we will win.

The back is all text:

People of Al Basra, we are here to liberate the people of Iraq. Our enemy is the regime and not the people. We need your help. To identify the enemy. To rebuild Iraq. English speakers please come forward. We will stay as long as it takes. Listen to Radio Nahrain 100-4 FM (94.6 in the evenings) for important news and information.

 

IZD-8104

IZD-8104 is all text. The front is:

Iraqi commanders and soldiers

Show that you will not resist Coalition forces. Make clear your intentions.

The back tells them how to make their intentions clear:

CONTACT US ON Thuraya Ascom
HF 5102.0 KHZ – Tel # 88 216 21 12 32 39
VHF 31.2250 MHZ – UHF 381.500 MHZ

TELL US: Unit size – name – location – combat vehicles

CONTINUE to attempt contacting the COALITION on the listed frequencies until we acknowledge you.

COMPLY with our instructions and you will not be DESTROYED

British 15th PSYOP Group Radio Station in Iraq

British Radio Nahrain (Two Rivers Radio), programming is similar to Information Radio, with a mixture of Iraqi songs, job offers, western pop music, and messages to the local population. The handbill was designed by the 15th (UK) PSYOP Group. On 31 March a report on CNN said that the transmissions were being stepped up.

Radio Nahrain Poster

After the end of the war, the station continued as Radio Nahrain 96FM. The British say about the station:

The group provided a state-of-the-art, radio station, RADIO NAHRAIN, which beamed across Basra, home to more than 1.5 million people, broadcasting music, news, and public information around the clock.

Station controller, Lt Col Colin Mason said, "The set up here in the desert is similar to what you would find at any commercial radio station in the UK . . . we have been able to provide the people of Basra with vital information - warning civilians to stay away from areas of military action and advising them of distribution areas."

A British propaganda poster appeared in Basra. This poster is all text except for a British flag in full color at the top. The text is:

We are here to work with you cooperatively to make things better.
Try to get back to your normal routine.
Obey the rule of law.
Support the new interim administration.
Do not carry weapons on the street.
Follow the Instructions of Coalition forces.
Listen to Radio Nahrain 100.4 FM for important news and information.

The second British poster shows a vertical strip of five cartoons of Iraqis in a car meeting a Coalition soldier. The car cartoon is actually very interesting and represents the stages of government from the beginning of the operation through to Iraqi self-government. The text is:

Coalition forces are steering towards a better future. We are here to work with you cooperatively to make things better. Try to get back to your normal routine. Obey the rule of law. Support the new interim administration. Do not carry weapons on the street. Follow the instructions of Coalition forces. Our stay will be temporary, when we have finished our work we will leave. Listen to Radio Nahrain 100.4 FM for important news and information.

Missiles hit the Iraq Ministry of Information Building

The Ministry of Information in Baghdad was struck by cruise missiles on 29 March. The building was damaged, but not destroyed.

The Central Intelligence Agency set up a deceptive or Black PSYOP radio station called RADIO TIKRIT. Radio Tikrit was purported to have been managed by local Iraqis and at first ran news editorials that were loyal to Saddam Hussein. After a few weeks, the radio station grew more and more critical of the dictator. These efforts were designed to undermine the legitimacy of the Hussein regime and to discourage those loyal to it from fighting.

Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Collins adds:

The US Central Intelligence Agency reportedly set up Black PSYOP stations as early as February 2003. One such station, Radio Tikrit, tried to build up its credibility by claiming to be managed by loyal Iraqis in the Tikrit area and by maintaining an editorial line slavishly supportive of Saddam Hussein. Within a few weeks, however, the tone changed and the station became increasingly critical of Saddam. The hope of Black PSYOP is that the target audience does not see through the ruse and believes the information is coming from the wrongly attributed source, which it sees as more credible. The risk, of course, is that if the ruse is discovered, the trustworthiness of the entire PSYOP effort, both White and Black, is damaged.

IZD004b

Although this article is about radio, the same aircraft and stations that broadcast radio often broadcast television. Leaflet IZD004b depicts a TV set and map of Iraq at the left, and text at the right. The front and back are identical. The text is:

Information Television

Families of Baghdad
Turn your television antennas to face SSW
To receive important information from the Coalition Forces
Daily from 6 am until 11 pm
On Channel 3

IZD2601

This leaflet depicting both a radio and a television set was obviously printed much later in the war but since it also shows a TV just as the last entry does, this seemed like the obvious place to add it. The text on the front is:

LIBERATION INFORMATION

TV side:

Iraqi citizens receive important information from Coalition forces daily from
6 p.m. until 11 p.m. on channel 3.

Radio side:

Set radio devices to "information" radio
Medium wave 756 kHz from 6 p.m. until 12 Noon
Medium wave 690 kHz from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m.
Short wave 9715 kHz 24 hours a day
Short wave 11292 kHz from 6 p.m. until 12 Noon
FM wave 100.4 MHz from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m.

According to the 30 April 2003 United States Central Command Air Force Assessment and Analysis Division, Operation Iraqi Freedom – by the Numbers, the Coalition dropped 31,800,000 PSYOP leaflets during 158 missions. There were 81 different leaflets messages dropped during 32 A-10 missions, 34 B-52 missions, 24 F-18C missions and 68 F-16CJ missions. There were 58 Commando Solo sorties with 306 broadcast hours consisting of 108 different messages and 204 TV broadcast hours. If you lined up the leaflets end to end, they would stretch from Ft. Worth, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska, or make 120,454 rolls of toilet paper.

IZ-05-5228

Leaflet IZ-05-5228 depicts a large radio antenna on both the front and back. The text is identical on both sides:

There is a new station in the city today,
transmitting its program to your area on
864-756 AM
864-756 KHz

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 307th Tactical PSYOP Company conducted a campaign to influence Baghdad citizens to “increase reporting of insurgent activities.” Using billboards, posters, wallet cards, and radio and TV spots, and using local news media to publicize the program’s successes, the Tips Hotline received enormous exposure throughout the Baghdad area. Within the first months of the PSYOP series, the call volume rose from its baseline of 1 or 2 a day to a range of 6 to 8 a day, a 688 percent increase in calls.

USMC Major Andy Dietz was interviewed about operations in Fallujah. He said in part:

We did things such as tell them how much money had been allocated for Fallujah for reconstruction and why that money wasn’t coming. “We would have already been spending X-million number of dollars to repair your city with these projects and now we can’t.” The next drop would up the ante on what projects weren’t getting done, the money, so we kept doing that. Other methods we used were radio messages, some of which were generic to the Al Anbar Province, but a lot of them were targeted to the people in Fallujah. There were rumors that nobody during the day would be caught listening to one of our radio stations in public. So we would usually run most of our public service announcements as well as our radio messages at night when people would be inside their houses and had the freedom to listen to the radio.

IZD3507a

This black and white leaflet was printed and disseminated during the consolidation campaign. Both sides of the leaflet are identical and depict a radio antenna at the center and radios at the right and left. Radio station information is found at the top and the center of the leaflet.

Medium Wave 756
Medium Wave 864
FM 91.5
Information Radio

Most of the information about current operations in your areas comes from the Coalition to the radio on one of the following every 24 hours:

756 KHz
864 KHz
91.5 MHz

If you have any information about terrorist activities or violent acts report them at the following number:427-232

Flag of Poland

Polish PSYOP Loudspeaker Team

The PSYOP Unit’s name is Centralna Grupa Dzialan Psychologicznych Dowodztwa Wojsk Ladowych – The Central Group of Psychological Actions of Land Forces Command. It was headquartered in Bydgoszcz and commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Witold Klinger, a 20-year veteran of electronic reconnaissance. Candidates are required to be fluent in at least one foreign language. Psychology and Sociology college graduates are preferred as are specialists in electronics, information sciences and telecommunications. The unit cooperates closely with PSYOP units from the US and Germany. Among the sections are one that deals with Polish-language information (radio and TV), a second that deals with English-language information, A third that studies the regions where the unit deploys and a fourth that gathers information on Eastern Europe.

IZD-9587

Leaflet IZD-9587 surfaced in late 2005. At least 109 insurgents and one American soldier were killed overnight in a major offensive launched by U.S. in October 2004 in the “Sunni Triangle.” An estimated 3,000 U.S. troops moved into Samarra in what the United States called “repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces.” Possibly in support of this operation, a radio leaflet for Iraq coded IZD-9587 was distributed, which depicts a radio antenna at the left and the text:

Radio Samarra on wave length 106.1 FM

Radio Samarra for all the information

LIBYA – 2011

Map

Libya Independence Protests in Benghazi

A civil war erupted in Libya on 15 February 2011. The situation began as a series of peaceful protests. On the evening of 15 February, between 500 and 600 demonstrators protested in front of the police headquarters in Benghazi after the arrest of human rights lawyer Fathi Terbil. Protest rallies were held in Al Bayda, Az Zintan, Benghazi, and Darnah. Libyan security responded with lethal force. A “Day of Rage” was planned for 17 February inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Within a week, this uprising had spread across the country and Gaddafi was struggling to retain control. Gaddafi responded with military force and other such measures as censorship and blocking of communications.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

The rebels established a coalition named the Transitional National Council based in Benghazi. The International Criminal Court warned Gaddafi that he and members of his government may have committed crimes against humanity and the United Nations Security Council passed an initial resolution freezing the assets of Gaddafi and ten members of his inner circle, and restricting their travel.

On 23 February President of France Nicolas Sarkozy pushed for the European Union (EU) to pass sanctions against Gaddafi and demand he stop attacks against civilians. On 28 February British Prime Minister David Cameron proposed the idea of a no-fly zone to prevent Gaddafi from “airlifting mercenaries” and using his military planes and armored helicopters against civilians. On 1 March, The United States Senate unanimously passed a non-binding Senate resolution urging the United Nations Security Council to impose a Libyan no-fly zone and encouraging Gaddafi to step down. On 19 March 2011, a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to events during the Libyan civil war.

Tomahawk Cruise Missile

U.S. and British forces fired over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the French Air Force and British Royal Air Force undertook sorties across Libya and a naval blockade was carried out by the Royal Navy. The official names for the interventions by the coalition members were Opération Harmattan by France; Operation Ellamy by the United Kingdom; Operation Mobile for the Canadian participation and Operation Odyssey Dawn for the United States. U.S. EC-130H Compass Call aircraft provided more than 4,500 hours of sustained radio broadcasts on multiple tactical and approved commercial frequencies to inform Libyan audiences of NATO’s mission and to persuade combatants to lay down their arms.

More than 50 messages were disseminated throughout the first 12 days of Operation Odyssey Dawn and an additional 200 were disseminated during the seven months of the later Operation Unified Protector. Commando Solo flew its first sortie, broadcasting 11 PSYOP messages in three languages, the same day the Join Task Force dropped its first bomb. These messages were developed, approved, translated, recorded, uploaded and disseminated within a 17-hour time period.

The Canadian CP-140 Aurora

On 29 July, it was reported that Canadian surveillance planes had joined the radio propaganda war in Libya. Canadian CP-140 Aurora surveillance planes started broadcasting propaganda messages aimed at forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi. The Libyans challenged the broadcasts, talking back on the radio and in one case calling the NATO broadcasters “Yankee pig-dogs.” The Libyans attempted to jam the transmissions.

The Scud-B Missile on Transporter

The Libyan forces fired scud missiles at the rebels. It was believed they had as many as 240 Scud-B missiles, purchased from the Soviet Union in 1976.

The al-Ourouba (Arabism) station broadcast Gaddafi’s outburst in which the Libyan leader vowed to fight back and called on Libyans to rush to the defense of their capital. The message said in part:

Western intervention in an Arab Muslim country must be resisted. We would do the same for any Arab country in that situation. We have our own ways, and we are helped by noble, honest Libyans inside Tripoli.

On 27 August with the government in full retreat and the rebels searching for the elusive Colonel Gaddafi, NATO began dropping leaflets on African mercenaries he had hired to fight his war. The leaflets called for them to defect, and at the same time radio messages were broadcast saying they will be treated according to the laws of war. Gaddafi continued to broadcast defiance and reported that NATO had dropped leaflets on Sirte calling on it to surrender, but that the young men of the city had burned the leaflets. The Gaddafi government radio program Libya News said in part about these leaflets:

Mustafa Abd-al-Jalil, head of the council of NATO agents, has sent a threat to the sons of Sirte, who are resisting and entrenched in their city, perhaps thinking that they will worry, and lessen the resolve of the Libyan youth by dropping those desperate, threatening papers. NATO decided to shower the Libyans in Sirte with leaflets this morning demanding that the residents of the town surrender and threatening to kill them if they don't surrender. And they asked the leaders of the town to leave Sirte. So came the response of the young men in Sirte - gathering up, burning and tearing up was the fate of these leaflets, while the woman cried the pro-Qadhafi slogan: “Allah, and Muammar, and Libya, and that's all.”

On 20 October the transitional government claimed to have finally killed Colonel Gaddafi. It was reported that after rebels had taken the town of Sirte, and Gaddafi was in an 80-car convoy attempting to escape when he was attacked by a U.S. Predator drone and a French fighter jet. Gadhafi was wounded in both legs and his head.

Combined PSYOP Support Element Insignia – Pesaro – Italy

In December 2017, Stefano Scalabroni said that he was the commanding officer of the PSYOP Support Element for Operation Unified Protector. The PSYOP Element developed 52 different types of leaflets and produced 13,816,000 leaflets in total. Furthermore CPSE developed 58 radio products.

British researcher Lee Richards received 47 transcripts of Allied propaganda radio broadcasts after a request under the Freedom of Information Act. The full file can be found on Psywar.Org. I will show two of the more interesting broadcasts here.

Product number: LY11J02eeTC0004:

For your safety, do not engage with coalition forces, lay down your arms and return home. By engaging with Coalition Forces you ore violating a UN resolution ordering the end of hostilities by the Government of Libya against its people. Any aggressive actions taken by you or those around you may be met with deadly force.

Product number: LY11J11jbTC0001:

Radar operators: In order for coalition forces to provide you the most effective protection using our military aircraft, we need you to turn off your early warning radar, and take your anti-aircraft missiles off the rails. We cannot operate effectively with these systems in full operation. If you do not turn off your early warning radars or take your missiles off the rails, they are in danger of being destroyed. For your safety and ours, turn off your warning radar and remove your missiles from the launcher.

The Flag of Sweden

In March of 2017, I received information that the Swedish PSYOP unit played an important role in the war against Libya, managing a radio station and producing about 1,000,000 propaganda leaflets. In a 2007 Swedish Armed Forces report, their Ft. Bragg-trained PSYOP commander Anders Johansson said:

We can do almost everything, distribute flyers, print newspapers and posters, transmit radio broadcasts from our own radio station and make announcement via loudspeakers.

When I asked someone knowledgeable about the Swedish contingent he said:

The Swedish 10th PSYOPS unit did play an important role in the Libyan Campaign. A small unit comprising Dutch, British, Italian and Swedes fought a great little campaign ensuring leaflets and radio messaging found their target audiences and kept civilians away from NATO airstrikes.

  

NATO Radio Leaflet

This leaflet asks the Libyans to listen to NATO radio. The front depicts a radio tower and radio beams. The text is:

Libya is one and its people are one, turn the dial to station 104.1 FM.

The back depicts a stylized satellite dish and the text:

The freedom of information is the basis of the freedom of the people. Claim your lawful rights by obtaining information freely (without paying). Turn the needle of the radio and listen to 104.1 FM. Libya is one and its people are one. Turn the needle of the radio to station 104.1 FM.

Richard de Silva mentions the Radio propaganda from the sea in “NATO PSYOP in Action, Defense IQ: May 2014. He says in part:

All maritime units have been used to broadcasting information messages within the framework of the Embargo. Some of them were also employed as PSYOP platforms, disseminating messages on maritime VHF channels or other military VHF channels. More than 8,000 PSYOP messages were broadcast, with 52 distinct messages, in order to prepare and influence the battle space. One ship was even fitted with a 300w commercial FM transmitter capable of transmitting within the international standard FM commercial base band (88MHz - 108MHz). This radio emitter proved to be able to reach in-land audiences (up to more than 20 km), enabling the maritime PSYOP to expand its direct audience to include these civilians.

A Joint Committee of the Red Cross/Libyan Red Crescent leaflet warning
people not to touch any suspicious objects and to report them to the authorities.

After the new government was installed, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Libyan Red Crescent launched radio campaigns to raise awareness of the risks of explosive remnants of war among the population. Five radio stations broadcast the messages six times a day. The radio spots were part of a larger campaign to educate people about the risks of unexploded devices.

ISIS

ISIS Flag

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) officially known as the Islamic State and by its Arabic language acronym Daesh is a jihadist militant group that follows a fundamentalist, doctrine of Sunni Islam. It gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive, followed by its capture of Mosul. The group is widely known for its videos of beheadings and other types of executions of both soldiers and civilians, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites.

In Syria, the group conducted ground attacks on both government forces and opposition factions and by December 2015 it held a large area in western Iraq and eastern Syria, where it enforced its interpretation of sharia law. The United States formed as coalition and with the help of Kurdish troops attacked ISIS positions. Syria was helped by Russian and Iranian troops. In July 2017, the group lost control of its largest city, Mosul, to the Iraqi army. Following this major defeat, ISID continued to lose territory to the various states and other military forces allied against it, until it controlled no meaningful territory by November 2017. In December 2018, U.S.-led Kurdish fighters captured Hajin, the last major town held in Syria by ISIS.

A U.S Marine Trains an Iraqi Soldier to operate a long-range
Acoustic hailing device on a Humvee in 2018

In December 2018 it was reported that in October 2016, U.S. cultural advisors assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), approved 25 separate audio messages that American forces wanted to blare out at ISIS. CJTF-OIR is main U.S.-led coalition fighting the terrorists in Iraq and Syria. Messaging has apparently focused primarily on urging fighters to abandon a futile cause and calling on civilians to support U.S.-backed authorities. Darker audio broadcasts, included simple recordings of crying in an attempt to confuse, unsettle, and perhaps convince militants they’re going crazy. The internal control codes for the 25 audio messages that month begin with “OIR” and “SY.”

Message OIR16A024vaTC0005 is:

Do you regret choosing this life with Da’esh? You probably miss your family at home… Or, perhaps you long for some of the comforts of your life before Da’esh… Electricity that works all day… Or being able to watch television, or freely use the internet…Join your comrades now that have already saved their lives by leaving Da’esh.

Message SY16A02aaTC2000 is:

I don’t know whether to laugh at you or pity you, Brother. You joined Da’esh to fight and be part of something. But look! The foreign fighters get paid more than you; they get better food, better places to live, and the spoils of war. What do you get? Honestly, my friend, you have been cheated! Da’esh would be nothing without you, and look, you are barely treated better than they would treat a nonbeliever, and enemy prisoner. Is this what you signed up for?”

Messages OIR16A02vaTC0008 pretends to be ISIS fighters in a battle calling over the radio:

Fall back! They are everywhere! (Pause w/ static) Why is no one answering me? You need to move back! We cannot hold our position if you do not fall back you will be overrun! (Pause w/ static) If you can hear me fall back, I cannot hear you. You must fall back now or you will be killed! Is there anyone there? (Static that fades out).

Message OIR15A02aTC0008 is just endless crying.

At present, the U.S. military has a mix of fixed radio broadcasting systems, vehicle-mounted speakers and so-called “acoustic hailing devices” and a small number of specially configured PSYOP EC-130J aircraft assigned to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 193rd Special Operations Wing. The 193rd’s main aircraft are six EC-130J Commando Solos, which are unique platforms that can function as flying radio or television stations as required. Coalition forces have, on occasion, dropped leaflets with the frequencies of numerous “approved” radio stations, which could include Commando Solo broadcasts.

TRAINING AND WAR GAME RADIO 

In 1962, the 3rd PSYWAR Detachment of the 1st PSYWAR Battalion, (Broadcasting & Leaflet) produced a booklet entitled The Pictorial Story of the Psychological Warfare Soldier. There were about a dozen images of PSYOP soldiers at work. The one above was captioned:

Psychological Warfare units have technically trained personnel capable of operating captured enemy radio stations.

Training PSYOP is an interesting subject because by definition, it will be cruder and less finished than products produced by a psychological operations unit during a war. In wartime, the unit will have the best artists, translators, writers and radio equipment. The training exercise is generally a simple test given to students asking them to prepare a script and broadcast on some subject. It might just be one or two students and they are expected to do all the work with whatever data or instruction they have on hand. They are still in school and have not yet perfected their military occupational specialty. Because the training products are so crude, they would generally never be used against a real enemy where credibility is important.

War game PSYOP is similar, except the PSYOP troops will have graduated and joined a unit. However, since the war game is just for play and training by combat forces, to test their mettle and strategy, there will be just a few PSYOP people involved and they will make some simple and meaningless leaflets and broadcasts as part of the general “horse and pony show.” In other words, everyone knows it is a war game and the 82nd Airborne Division is not going to convince the 101st Airborne Division to surrender by implying their wives are lonely and seeing other men. So, it is an opportunity to produce propaganda in the field, to show what a PSYOP team can do, but it is understood that it serves no purpose except to train the troops.

Meet “Combine Connie”

This COMBINE leaflet was prepared by the 5th L&L Company to get the enemy to listen to its radio broadcasts. The back lists five different propaganda stations where you can hear Connie’s seditious messages. Combine Connie was Dorothea Kovelas who broadcast on American Forces Network Europe. She asked the men to visit “Connie’s Inn,” because she hated maneuvers but loved soldiers.

Lorelei

The United States always wants the enemy to listen to its broadcasts during wartime. That is one way to get them to hear the surrender messages and eventually defect. In this 2nd Loudspeaker and Leaflet Company training leaflet used in Exercise Southern Pine in August 1951, a Lovely woman is depicted at the left with a microphone. The girl was a local named Gladys Mathews. The text is:

Listen to Lorelei
The velvet voice of aggressor in her nightly broadcasts…
Just for you!

The back of the leaflet is in the form of a handwritten letter. It says in part:

Hello to all you fellows in the U.S. Army…I do so want to please you, to comfort you, maybe to recall a memory or two of time you used to know…I’ll try to help you fellas, help you to maybe get away from all this sweat and dirt and the bugs, if you’ll only let me. How about it? Will you listen for me each night….

An Informal history of the 1st Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Battalion adds:

In the summer of 1951, the 2nd Leaflet and Loudspeaker Company participated in the first maneuver in which a psychological warfare unit was deployed. This major maneuver, Operation Southern Pines, took place in the Ft. Bragg area. Local girls were recruited to record and type the L&L’s nostalgic appeal, “The Velvet voice of Lorelei,” the L&L’s answer to the Axis Sally and Tokyo Rose broadcasts of WWII.

Exercise Flintlock

This training leaflet for Exercise Flintlock depicts a rather odd looking dragon and tells the enemy where to find the radio station WIZZ that broadcasts four times a day. Eurock (European Rock) was apparently a popular form of music for young men at the time.

Russian Training Propaganda Messages for Interoperability 2016

Many of the leaflets above mention radio broadcast and tell the enemy what stations to listen to. In 2016, the Russians held a war game where they broadcast anti-NATO messages. I thought it might be interesting to add their training broadcasts here. The training exercise was called “Interoperability 2016” and combined the forces of Russia and its old colonies; Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The message was transmitted in several languages, including Russian, German and English:

NATO soldiers! You are being deceived! You are not peacekeepers! Lay down your weapons! You are fighting on the foreign territory. With your treacherous invasion, you have interrupted the peaceful life of an innocent country. You will be brought down by a just revenge and an anger of the people that have never been defeated in war. Drop your weapons and stop being puppets in the hands of your leaders!

This has been a short look at the use of propaganda radio in wartime. Any reader wishing to comment is encouraged to write the author at sgmbert@hotmail.com.