PSYOP: HORN OF AFRICA

Abstract

The training agenda included tips and tricks for mamtaining the Psychological Operations Print System light the workhorse of the PSYOP product detachment and how to properly set up, operate and store the Product Distribution System, a satellite communications system used by PSYOP teams to transmit and receive communications products. D. Col. Robert SentelL the commander of 17th PSYOP Battalion the higher headquarters of 345th PSYOP Co. explained that two maintenance specialists from the 4th Military Information Support Group and two Soldiers from 10th PSYOP Bn. with experience fixing POPS-L were essential.

LEWISVILLE, TEXAS - AS THE 345(TM) PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS COMPANY PREPARES TO DEPLOY TO THE HORN OF AFRICA, THE FOCUS WILL REMAIN ON AN EXPANDED MISSION REQUIRING MORE THAN 20 SOLDIERS.

Our team is triple the size of the PSYOP team we are replacing, said Maj. Matt Perritte, the detachment s commander and an Austin, Texas, police officer who deployed with the 344th PSYOP Co. to Afghanistan in 201 1 . Our mission will expand and morph once we get there, but we 11 conduct atmospherics, analysis of local attitudes pulse of the people, so to speak and assist in communicating as appropriate with the local population.

The unit will deploy to the Horn of Africa for roughly nine months following 10 days of theater-required training and PSYOP collective exercises at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., early this summer.

Perritte explained that because of the increased size of the team and the fact that the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa hasn t had large PSYOP assets in the past, the mission will have to grow to allow for fully functional tactical PSYOP teams. We may have to take comfort in knowing that we are setting up the next group for success, he quipped.

in the past, much of the 345th's deployment training would have taken place at a Regional Training Center away from home. But now most of it will be conducted as home station training at the Reserve oenter just prior to deployment. By conducting the training at a unit s home location, the Army saves costs as well as allows Soldiers to spend more time with their Families and preparing to be away from home. Now that regional training centers have been closed, this is the new deployment training model.

As with any deployment, there will be periods of downtime.

Keeping everyone busy and focused is the key, said Staff Sgt. Reginald Pinkney, the tactical PSYOP detachment s noncommissioned officer in charge. Pinkney, who deployed with the unit to Afghanistan a couple of years ago, is a former active and Reserve Marine who transitioned to the Army Reserve to take advantage of greater opportunities to expand into new career fields. "The Army Reserve had a lot more MOS [military occupation specialties], he said, and I chose PSYOP because of the unique mission.

Our mission in the Horn of Africa is unique in that everyone is really working under the State Department, noted Pinkney. So, how do we integrate PSYOP? It will be a challenge and at times we may have to find stuff to keep our Soldiers busy."

One of the challenges the team anticipates is operating and maintaining sophisticated equipment. The training agenda included tips and tricks for mamtaining the Psychological Operations Print System light the workhorse of the PSYOP product detachment and how to properly set up, operate and store the Product Distribution System, a satellite communications system used by PSYOP teams to transmit and receive communications products.

D. Col. Robert SentelL the commander of 17th PSYOP Battalion the higher headquarters of 345th PSYOP Co. explained that two maintenance specialists from the 4th Military Information Support Group and two Soldiers from 10th PSYOP Bn. with experience fixing POPS-L were essential. Having them there was a safety net for us, he said. We could train on them and learn to repair them. But if we did break them, they could fix them before the detachment deployed."

These guys have worked with these systems more than us, said Perritte. There was nobody here, really, who could teach us the ins and outs. We ve always fallen in on these systems and they were maintained and repaired by someone else. Ours will be the first into HOA and there isn t a maintenance contract or technicians there. So, we'll have to know how to fix them."

CpI. Jaime Bailey, a newly trained psychological operations specialist, agreed that the hands-on training was key.

I want to make sure I know what I m doing, she said. The tips and tricks they showed us will be really helpful. I just don t want to mess up.

With six more weeks of training ahead, the Soldiers of the 345th PSYOP Co. are sure to learn a few more tricks to best prepare for thennew, expanded mission.

Sidebar

PHOTOS LEFT TO RIGHT: Members of the 345th Tactical Psychological Operations Company watch as Sgt. Clinton Cook, a maintenance specialist with the 4th Military Information Support Group, demonstrates print system troubleshooting tips and techniques. The Soldiers will deploy to the Horn of Africa this summer and utilize the psychological operations print system to print everything from flyers to posters used to communicate with the local population.

Spc. Bryan Tran (left) and Spc. Dakota Lawrence, psychological operations specialists with the 307th Tactical Psychological Operations Company in St. Louis, review the operations manual for the RISO HC5500 print system. Tran and Lawrence helped train members of the 345th Tactical Psychological Operations Company on the Psychological Operations Print System - Light. The two were selected to be trainers because for most of the past year, the two worked on the system in Afghanistan and became experts in maintaining it in extreme conditions.

Pvt. Steven Bunch, a psyop specialist with the 345th Tactical Psychological Operations Company, disassembles a Product Distribution System - Light. Bunch just completed his military occupation specialty and is deploying for the first time with the unit to the Horn of Africa this summer.

"...WE'LL CONDUCT ATMOSPHERICS, ANALYSIS OF LOCAL ATTITUDES- PULSE OF THE PEOPLE, SO TO SPEAK..."

- MAJ. MATT PERRITTE, COMMANDER, 345TH PSYOP CO.

LOWER RIGHT: Staff Sgt. Reginald Pinkney, left, troubleshoots a psychological operations print system during pre-deployment training in Dalias, March 29, 2012, with the assistance of Sgt. Clinton Cook, a system maintenance specialist. Pinkney, a member of the 345th Tactical Psychological Operations Company, will deploy to the Horn of Africa this summer and will rely on the system to print everything from leaflets to posters used to communicate with the local population.