Did you Know?
Here are some interesting historical facts about the deployment of military PSYOP, going back to its use in the earliest times in history. This history is reported on Life Member Ed Rouse's Psywarrior website (
www.psywarrior.com
)
Modern PSYOP has three basic dimensions: tactical, strategic, and consolidation. It would be easy to conclude that these distinctions are relatively modern adaptations of PSYOP, but they were well known to commanders in antiquity.
Psychological Operations is not new, and certainly not solely contemporaneous with modern civilizations. Our past "Did You Know?" items looked at historical applications of PSYOP targeting both tactical and strategic audiences. Evidence exists that Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader, used PSYOP for both tactical and strategic purposes.
So, did you know...........
Mongol leader Genghis Khan was widely known for leading hordes of savage horsemen across Russia and into Europe. While not totally unfounded, the Mongols' image of total, barbaric domination was greatly enhanced by Khan's use of PSYOP, deception, operational security (OPSEC), and targeting his adversaries' decision-making process.
"Agents of influence" were sent in advance of his armies to do face-to-face PSYOP, telling of brutality and large numbers in the Mongol army. Khan also used deception to create the illusion of invincible numbers by using rapid troop maneuver, making his army look larger than it really was.
He had a network of horsemen called "arrow riders" to communicate quickly with his commanders, and he targeted enemy messengers to prevent enemy commanders from communicating with each other. When the Mongol warriors traveled, they dragged large objects behind their horses to create dust storms. The dust storms made the advancing troops appear to be much larger than they were. Genghis Khan ordered his soldiers to burn hundreds of extra fires at night, which also made the armies appear larger. Mongol soldiers fired arrows with a small hole in them, which made the arrows whistle as they traveled through the air. The whistling sound was intended to terrify the opponent.
All these actions caused a weakness in their enemy's psyche, and the Mongols were feared wherever they went.
