Psychological Operations: Air Force Doctrine Document 2-5.5

Abstract

Historically, psychological operations (PSYOP) have played a key role in military campaigns. Today, PSYOP are considered an integral part of US joint military operations. As such, PSYOP are a responsibility of all US military commanders. Modern PSYOP are enhanced by our ability to communicate massive amounts of information to target audiences with the intent of influencing their attitudes, emotions, objective reasoning powers, decision making processes, and behavior. Examples of PSYOP include: promises, threats of force or retaliation, conditions of surrender safe passage for deserters, or support to resistance groups. Successful and effective PSYOP depend on several factors such as: the intended message we are trying to convey; the message form and format; the degree of integration with other efforts; cultural differences; probability of reception; timely action; and the target audience's perception of our credibility and capability to carry out promises or threatened action.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 22, 1997
Accession Number
ADA331241

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Department of the Air Force

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Combat Operations
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Command And Control
  • Command Control Communications And Computer Systems
  • Deployment
  • Employment
  • Information Operations
  • Information Systems
  • Logistics
  • Military Operations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Operations Security
  • Psychological Operations
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Systems Analysis and Design