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The Leaflet Drop
The Newsletter of the Psychological Operations Veterans Association (POVA)
Founded 1988
1 December 2019
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Fellow Psywarriors,
We're sending this a few days early so we can convey our greetings and good wishes for a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
On behalf of POVA, we also wish you a wonderful and joyous Christmas Holiday season; if you don't celebrate Christmas, then we wish you a safe and happy "end of year" season.
The month of November has seen real highs and lows. We have experienced strong membership enrollments, which have pushed our strength over 500 total members. Five (5) new POVA Life Members! We now have 186 Life Members enrolled. We are doing something right, and our fellow Psywarriors recognize it.
The other side of the coin, however, is the suicide of two of our fellow Psywarriors. Our nation's veteran suicide epidemic continues unabated, and the tragedy has struck "close to home" twice within a matter of a couple of weeks.
November started sadly with the funeral of POVA Member James Twist of the 321st Tactical PSYOP Company. A combat veteran with the 82d Airborne in Afghanistan, James was a Michigan State Police Trooper, and loving husband and father. Such passings are deeply saddening indeed.
We then learned of the suicide of SSG Robert Campbell of the 324th PSYOP Company in Aurora, CO, on 2 November. POVA Ambassador Ian McKnight, our local POVA Ambassador and also a friend of SSG Campbell, will help the family and represent POVA. These are sad times.
Preparation for the 2020 POVA Biennial Reunion continues, and it appears this will be a very unique reunion from our past experiences together. You're now able to register for the Reunion on our POVA website. As it will happen almost contemporaneous with the Memorial Day holiday, we will participate in celebratory activities with the Army at Ft. Bragg. Conversations with our sister organization, the PSYOP Regimental Association (PRA) and the PSYOP Association (POA), have begun with the intent of creating joint activities for all in attendance.
Welcome Home,
Chad Spawr
President
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Lest we Forget.......
Please remember that American men and women are deployed in many places around the world and are in constant danger. Please save a thought and prayer for our fellow deployed Psywarriors, and for all Americans deployed. They are our Brothers and Sisters!
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New POVA Life Members
POVA is very pleased to welcome new Life Members who joined with us in October and November:
Chad T. Alexander
Jeremy T. Mushtare
Michael Underwood
Vinh Hoang
Alfred Lunt
You can view our entire Life Member roster on POVA’s website at
www.usapova.org/pova-life-members
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POVA Life Member Ray Hackler's New Business Venture
Psywarrior Ray Hackler recently retired from the Army, and has opened an environmental consulting firm that specializes in air cleaning and air sanitizing technologies. To see the scope of these excellent projects, visit his website at:
If you visit the "sales" page, you'll find the UVAIRx Ux105 Air Purifier units Ray's firm offers. These are currently being examined at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. Ray helped the PSYOP Branch establish an IDIQ contract, which is now worth over $150M annually for USSOCOM, and by 1st SF Command. These units are not the cheap $2 plug-ins that smell nice for a few days and then disappear!
POVA is happy to advertise these extremely high quality air cleaning units in support of Ray's business. Ray plans to be available at our 2020 Reunion in Fayetteville, and has offered to donate a portion of sales proceeds to POVA in support of our ongoing charitable activities.
Anyone who wishes to purchase can do so through the website and enter the code "POVA20" for the POVA discount of 20% off the listed prices.
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Don't Get PSYOPPED by Scammers
We hear a lot about telephone and internet scams via the news, social media, local conversation, but the truth is that it is very common, and apparently getting worse. Scammers are gutless thieves, liars, cheats, cowards, and whatever other pejorative descriptors apply. They'll knock on your door, call you at all hours, pretend to the police or IRS agents, and threaten you if you don't "play along."
These people actually use a form of Propaganda Development to identify potential victims, who are often elderly, college students, and (too often) people in the military. They tailor their message to appeal to the victims, often using threats and intimidation to steal their assets.
The link below was published in the Jackson, MS,
Clarion
, a local newspaper. It is a good article, and will help keep this economic threat in mind, especially as we enter the holiday season.Be aware, don't get PSYOPPED by these cowardly criminals.
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POVA Name Change a "No Go" Proposition
When POVA was first created in 1988, we called ourselves the "4th Psychological Operations Group 'Mindbenders" Viet-Nam Veterans Reunion Association." We thought we had described exactly who we were in the 1980's and 1990's....our "Mindbenders" nickname was taken directly from the name we used to describe ourselves in Viet-Nam.....along with "Professional Litterbugs," "BS Bombers," "KaKa Commandos," You get the point!
The picture above is the spare tire cover on the Jeep assigned to MAJ Clarence A. Binkley, commander of the 246th PSYOP Company at Bien Hoa in 1966-67. When the company was redesignated the 6th PSYOP Battalion, the cover, battalion HQ sign, and unit mindset kept the nicknames......we were proud of who we were.
In 1998, over some determined internal opposition, we changed our name to the PSYOP Veterans Association (POVA) to overcome objections from the 4th PSYOP Group at Ft. Bragg. We wanted to expand and improve our relations with the Active PSYOP world, but the 4th Group CO would not speak to us as long as we were the "Mindbenders." Despite a chorus (not repeatable in polite company) from some retired senior PSYOP officers and NCO's, we recognized that our Association of Viet-Nam veterans would fade away, and we wanted to begin a legacy of inclusion of ALL PSYOP soldiers. A long-term future required a name change. We did it, and it has worked for POVA. Mission accomplished!
There has been some sentiment recently to consider another name change. As a result, President Chad Spawr proposed the concept to our Board. The response was very solid in opposition to a change. One thing became very clear....POVA is becoming a well-recognize "brand" in the world of military PSYOP and in the Special Operations community, in particular in our Reserve organizations and at Ft. Bragg. Our contacts and communications continue to expand, with members coming from Allied countries as well.
So....in quick summary....POVA is POVA, and for the foreseeable future, we will continue to be POVA. We are increasingly well-known, we are respected, and we stand for our Regiment, our soldiers, our veterans, our Gold Star families, and our special friends!
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POVA Visit to Ft. Bragg
President Chad Spawr and VP Rich Hosier visited our PSYOP organizations at Ft. Bragg between 5-7 November. Here is a quick synopsis of our activities during our visit:
- Met with 4th PSYOP Group Commanding Officer COL Jason Smith and Command Sergeant Major Jabir Muhammad. We shared POVA's unique perspective on the Group's history, but most importantly, new relationships were commenced that we hope will benefit all our fellow Psywarriors.
- Met with 8th PSYOP Group Commanding Officer COL Maycross Baez and Command Sergeant Major Jody Needham, and members of the Group staff. We discussed the Group's operations and POVA's commitment to the unit and its soldiers.
- Met with 6th PSYOP Battalion Commanding Officer LTC Timothy Manton. We discussed the battalion's storied history beginning in Viet-Nam and reviewed its current operations in Europe.
- Met with 8th PSYOP Battalion Commanding Officer LTC Aaron Southard, and discussed the battalion's current operations and deployments.
- Met with the US Army Special Operations Recruiting Battalion (SORB) leadership focused on recruitment of soldiers into the PSYOP career field and Regiment. Operations Officer MAJ Nathan Diaz and Delta Company CO MAJ Yllan Maxwell discussed how POVA could partner with SORB recruiters at various US locations to support recruitment efforts by providing historic and personal insights to potential Psywarriors. This meeting, although very impromptu, was very animated and will bring POVA in strong support of our PSYOP branch recruiting.
- Attended the World Wide PSYOP conference held at USACAPOC. This was an excellent opportunity to meet PSYOP leadership from around the country, introduce many of them to POVA, and learn more about their operational activities and deployments. This was followed by the Regimental annual Birthday celebration, sponsored by the PRA.
- Finally, we met with PRA President Neil Heupel and VP Ed Burley (also a POVA Life Member) to identify areas in which both POVA and PRA might find common ground for future mutual projects and partnership activities. The PSYOP Association (POA) was represented in this discussion by Board Member Chad Spawr.
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**
POVA CONTACT INFORMATION **
PRESIDENT & NEWSLETTER EDITOR
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT/CHAPLAIN
JOHN CHENEY
chen77jc@gmail.com
VICE PRESIDENT FINANCE
VICE PRESIDENT MEMBERSHIP
VICE PRESIDENT AT LARGE
VICE PRESIDENT MARKETING
ILYA NEMTSOV
ILYA.NEMTSOV@GMAIL.COM
GATEWAY CHAPTER PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT EMERITUS & BOARD MEMBER
POVA HISTORIAN
POVA ARCHIVIST
POVA TRUSTEES
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