PSYOP Radio Confirmed
By Nick Grace
October 8, 2001
U.S. Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, speaking to reporters from the Pentagon as the campaign was being waged yesterday, confirmed that PSYOP radio broadcasts from the Air National Guard EC-130E aircraft "Commando Solo" have already commenced. He refused to elaborate, however, on ongoing operations.
Q: As part of the effort today are you dropping leaflets? Have you begun radio broadcasts from Commando Solo and some of the other assets that you have that can do directed messages to the people who may not understand what you're doing?
Rumsfeld: Yes
Q: Both of these?
Rumsfeld: Yes.
Transcript of Oct 7 press conference:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2001/t10072001_t1007sd.html
Wind-up portable radios are reportedly part of the humanitarian packages being dropped into Afghanistan. These radios, which can last for 30 minutes after less than a minute of winding, receive only one frequency.
PSYOP radio programs are calling upon people to stay in their villages, according to Frank Sesno, CNN Washington Bureau Chief, and to remain calm. Broadcasts are promoting awareness of future air drops of food rations and medicines, which the station announces are "a gift from the American people."
The U.S. Agency for International Development crest, which traditionally graces the rations packages, has been replaced with the American flag.
Leaflets that underscore the radio station's programming are also being included with the air drops. Sesno reported that the leaflets are telling Afghanistan that the U.S. military has arrived to help them.
Psychological operations (PSYOP), including radio broadcasts in Pashto and Dari, are seen as a key element to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. With Taliban radio silenced, Commando Solo programming will reach its intended target as evidence that life will be better once the Taliban have been removed.
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