c»n wqQ bullets f >' words MISSION a brief presentation of the AIMS AND TECHNIQUES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE 7 PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE DIVISION • DIRECTORATE OF PLANS, DCS/O bullets or words There are only two powers in the world—the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword is always defeated by the spirit... Napoleon Bonaparte. To fight and conquer in battle is not the supreme ex¬ cellence; the supreme excellence consists, in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting . . . Sun Tzu, Chinese military writer, 6th Century B. C. The basic theory behind the use of psychological war¬ fare as a military weapon is simple—kill the enemy’s will to fight without destroying his body. Bullets and bombs will not change the enemy’s mind. It is true, he can be physically beaten and forced to surrender, but you have not captured his mind and PEACE becomes extremely difficult. Words in psychological warfare, on the other hand, are aimed at the enemy’s mind—which controls his body. There¬ fore, if you are able to capture his mind—you capture his body as well and the establishment of PEACE becomes easier. DRAWINGS COURTESY OF MILTON CANIFF The American Indians were masters in the use of psychol¬ ogy. They painted their bodies with weird colors, used blood-curdling war whoops to strike terror in the hearts of their enemies. :aniff The ancient Greeks, in addition to waging psychological warfare against their enemies, built up morale amongst their own people by the adroit use of colorful costumes, patriotic and martial music. PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE IS NOT NEW! That psychological warfare is not a new¬ fangled idea is illustrated on these pages by a number of historical instances of its use in ancient as well as in modern times and how efforts were made to exploit the psychological potentials of military weapons and combat operations. Everyone is familiar with the ancient legend of how the Greeks used a wooden horse, better known now as the “Trojan Horse,” to infiltrate and capture the impregnable city of Troy. Long before 225 B. C., the Chinese developed gunpowder which they used in firecrackers to create more fear than actual damage. Hannibal created terror in the ranks of stalwart Roman soldiers when he appeared at the gates of ancient Rome with troop-carrying elephants. The ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Romans attached scythes and swords to their war chariots to scare the ene¬ my’s foot soldiers. The Greeks made use of burning oil in their Naval opera¬ tions. The psychological effect of this weapon terrorized the crew of enemy ships. 1 PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE HAS THREE MAJOR AIMS: Persuade the enemy to stop fight¬ ing and give up ... destroy his will to fight. DRAWINGS COURTESY OF MILTON CAN IFF Induce enemy groups to turn on their own political system and au¬ thorities by resistance, sabotage, and rebellion. (%iA0&'da£tO7*, Seek and obtain the cooperation of enemy population behind our front to protect our supply lines, com¬ munication system, troop bases, and support our military efforts. 2 this is how MODERN PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE is waged! Radio broadcasting is one of the quick¬ est means of reaching other peoples of the world—even behind the Iron Curtain. During wartime, one of the surest means of communicating with the enemy is by leaflets dropped from planes. A universal medium for transmitting ideas, rumors, and news by the age-old technique of conversation. This person-to-person transmitting proc¬ ess is very effective with all races. DRAWINGS COURTESY OF HERB BLOCK PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE IS AN EFFECTIVE MILITARY The full recognition of psychological warfare as a military weapon represents a great advancement in military science. Both during World War II and the pres¬ ent Korean conflict, it was discovered that every mili¬ tary operation can be assisted by psychological war¬ fare, which is of extreme importance when used prior to and in conjunction with our other weapons and com¬ bat operations. In order to get the best results from destructive actions such as bombing, strafing, and artillery barrages, it is necessary to give the fullest possible consideration to their psychological impact on the enemy and develop and exploit every opportunity to our benefit. In fashioning new psychological weapons, it is necessary to base them on sound scientific principles and an understanding of psychology, cultural anthro¬ pology, sociology and other allied fields of knowledge. WEAPON PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE IN KOREA Since the beginning of the current conflict in Korea, from June 1950 to mid-September 1951, more than 600,000,000 leaflets were showered upon com¬ munist forces and communist-held territory. Psycholog¬ ical warfare is being used with telling effect, an effec¬ tiveness well demonstrated by the fact that an actual count of prisoners of war taken by the United Nations forces shows that approximately one-third of them sur¬ rendered to this weapon. When it is considered the enemy suffered that many casualties — reducing the number of enemy troops that fire guns at our troops— and reducing that number without having to go out and kill or capture these enemy soldiers on the battlefield, it becomes obvious why psychological warfare has won the wholehearted support of everyone in the field—from our top commanders to the soldiers on the front lines who must accept the surrender of the enemy troops. TEAMED FOR DEFENSE Your United States Air Force is working very closely with the other Services in the development of new techniques, equipment and media to make our mili¬ tary psychological warfare efforts more effective. The USAF psychological warfare program is designed to provide maximum effectiveness to Air Force operations, both in peace and war. Responsibilities are assigned to combat- ready Air Force units and to specially trained officers and men on active duty holding AFSC’s in USAF psychological warfare specialties. For further information concerning USAF psychological warfare, write or call the numbered Air Force Headquarters in the area in which you reside. *SYKE-AIR . . . The U. S. Air Force word for Air Psychological Warfare Activities. /