[infowar.de] WorldNetDaily 22.10.02: PSYOPS battalion heading to Iraq?

[Georg Schoefbaenker <schoefbaenker -! - aon - at>]

Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29361

TUESDAY
OCTOBER 22
2002

EYE ON THE GULF
PSYOPS battalion
heading to Iraq?
Source says psychological-warfare troops preparing for action

Posted: October 22, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Jon Dougherty

In another sign that the United States could be gearing up for war against 
Iraq, the U.S. Army's 10th Psychological Operations Battalion is gearing up 
to deploy overseas, probably in support of anticipated military action 
against Iraq, WorldNetDaily has learned.

"They will finish getting their overseas shots, get all their paperwork 
such as wills and insurance papers squared away, and in about two weeks 
leave for combat," said a source familiar with the deployment schedule who 
asked not to be identified.

While a deployment is nearly certain, the source said, the unit may be sent 
to Indonesia or "an unnamed African nation," though Iraq is most likely.

Moreover, the source said, the unit may be up to 20 percent under-strength 
by the time of deployment because "some of the females are bailing out."

And, the source said, "most" of the men "and virtually none of the women 
can pass" the Army's "reduced standard" physical fitness test. Finally, 
said the source, the unit itself has had "virtually zero field training 
exercises" this year.

According to the Army Reserve's most recent unit deployment list, two 
personnel from the PSYOPS unit were called up in support of ongoing 
operations March 2.

Ben Abel, a spokesman for the Army's Civil Affairs and Psychological 
Operations units, told WorldNetDaily the Department of Defense "had not yet 
published an order calling the unit up for active duty."

PSYOPS units are responsible for demoralizing an enemy's will to fight by, 
among other things, encouraging an enemy population to withdraw support for 
enemy forces. The Bush administration and the Pentagon have said an 
important part of any Iraq war strategy would be an attempt to demoralize 
regular Iraqi troops as well as better-trained and equipped Republican 
Guard forces.

The 10th PSYOPS Battalion is a unit of the Army Reserve. It is made up of 
the 307th and 318th PSYOPS companies based in St. Louis, as well as the 
308th PSYOPS Company based in nearby Belton, Mo. It is part of the 7th 
PSYOPS Group, based at Moffett Field in Calif.

The unit was constituted in the regular Army Nov. 7, 1967, and formally 
activated a few weeks later, on Dec. 1, operating in the Mekong Delta.

It was deactivated at Fort Lewis, Wash., April 17, 1971, but was 
reactivated in the Army Reserve Oct. 30, 1975.


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