Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin - Federation of American ...

derstand what they do, and after an eight month
deployment with a Tactical PSYOP Company I can
tell you this is mostly true. Like any major military
change it takes time, especially for veteran Soldiers,
to relook the way they see the fight. This transformation
has made significant progress over the last
five years as reflected in current stability, counterinsurgency
and operational field manuals, but there
is still much work to be done. The PSYOP and intelligence
community must embark upon integration
training that focuses on change, with a mutual respect
for what each branch brings to the table. The
success of PSYOP depends in part on its ability to
integrate with the intelligence community and this
integration depends primarily on good leaders who
recognize the necessity and are diplomatic enough
to integrate and move forward.
Educating the Support
Intelligence analysts at the lowest level of PSYOP
units are a legitimate and necessary asset. PSYOP
specialists are effects-based and really no different
than maneuver in terms of their support needs.
They do not have the time to read every situation report,
track trends, gather imagery and conduct pattern
analysis. At the very least, intelligence analysts
free up PSYOP specialists to plan and operate. For
far too long PSYOP specialists have been forced to do
their own intelligence analyses in addition to the already
demanding target audience analyses. There is
much value added in cross training Soldiers but MI
professionals will not get better at analysis by conducting
operations and operators will not get better
at executing by doing analysis. Intelligence support
to PSYOP is unique but it is still by definition a support
element and for the sake of providing world
class PSYOP should be trained on all facets of IO.
The disconnect here is often in defining needs
and requirements from top down. For example,
when TPTs need special equipment they request it
through their headquarters element, which in turn
tasks supply. It is not up to the supply sergeant to
anticipate a special need any more than it is up to an
intelligence analyst to tell the commander what information
needs his operators will have. Doctrinally
speaking, intelligence drives maneuver and the commander
drives intelligence. This type of guidance is
traditionally generated through priority intelligence
requirements and information requirements but it
can be done in any capacity that defines and artic-
ulates the commander’s objectives. Analysts need
to be given areas of focus, especially when dealing
with a theater of operation as complex as Iraq or
Afghanistan. The real danger in not giving adequate
guidance regarding information needs is unnecessarily
risking lives of Soldiers in TPTs to disseminate
ineffective or even inaccurate products.
A Product Development Detachment packages products for a
leaflet drop.
The Code
Essentially intelligence support to PSYOP provides
the tools, in the form of information, necessary to understand
and eventually influence behavior. Cracking
the code on intelligence support to PSYOP cannot be
done in one rotation but that is not to discredit the
aggressive efforts that are underway to integrate, educate
and ultimately improve the support. A crucial
part of this solution is getting intelligence analysts integrated
with the PSYOP process and the evidence of
this is the 4 th PSYOP Group’s ability to provide trained
analysts with a broad, and when necessary, in-depth
understanding of IO in terms of function, capability
and application. The more each branch understands
the intricate details of the other, the more likely they
are to maintain successful longevity in meeting worldwide
missions. Long term success for both elements
is interdependent–support to PSYOP is not a success
until PSYOP leaders wouldn’t conceive of going to the
planning table without all resources available to them,
and this includes intelligence assets.
First Lieutenant Katie Winwood currently serves as the 9 th
PSYOP Battalion (A) S2. She deployed with D/9 th PSYOP
Battalion as the Company Intelligence Officer attached to
the 5 th Special Forces Group in support of CJSOTF-AP, OIF
IV. Lieutenant Winwood graduated from Liberty University
with a BA in Government and was commissioned out of the
University of Virginia in 2006.
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