The Leaflet Drop
The Newsletter of the Psychological Operations Veterans Association (POVA)
Founded 1988
1 October 2020
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Fellow Psywarriors,
The time has come to resume planning for our 2021 Reunion in Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg. Interest is strong for this reunion, and we may have an "embarrassment of riches" in the range of things we can do while together. Details will be provided via the newsletter as they develop.
POVA's "community" endeavors involving both the PSYOP Regimental Association (PRA) and the PSYOP Association (POA), have been very cordial and productive; we have identified several areas of common interest and purpose, and have begun identifying mutually-cooperative and supporting areas for our future activities. I am pleased to report that both PRA and POA will participate in the planning and operation of certain parts of our June 2020 Reunion. In addition to broad cooperation, new friendships have developed between the three Associations that can only be good for our larger PSYOP Regiment and community.
POVA is proud to announce creation of our "pinnacle" award, the top honor and award POVA can award to a fellow POVA member. Named in honor of POVA Co-Founder John Henry "Jack" O'Neil, any POVA member can be nominated by any other POVA member to recognize long-standing and superior contribution to Psychological Operations, our Regiment, POVA, and our larger PSYOP community. Jack was an inspiration to so many Psywarriors from Viet-Nam and in the several engagements in which US PSYOP forces served. His passing many years ago still evokes sadness in those who knew and loved him. I am not ashamed to say that Jack O'Neil was my best friend, and I miss him every day.
This month's issues sadly reports the passing of two Psywarriors: Winston Groom, Viet-Nam veteran and author of "Forrest Gump;" and CSM-Ret. Rudy Whittaker, the first Honorary Sergeant Major of our PSYOP Regiment. While Winston Groom's obituary was sent by POVAcomm message last week, CSM-Ret. Whittaker's obituary is excerpted below.
RIP, Psywarriors.
Chad Spawr
President
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Remember Everyone Deployed
Please remember all our fellow Americans deployed around the world. Most of us know what that is like.
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New POVA Life Members
POVA is very pleased to welcome our new Life Member who joined with us. POVA now rosters 200 Psywarrior soldiers, veterans, and Gold Star Families:
John A. Lindblom
You can view our entire Life Member roster on POVA’s website at
www.usapova.org/pova-life-members
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"Spirit of Jack O'Neil Award" approved by POVA
As mentioned above, POVA has approved and is now distributing information on this new "pinnacle" award. It will be the highest honor POVA can afford a worthy nominee.
Jack O'Neil was many things, among which included ardent advocate for PSYOP, mentor, coach, creator, and friend. During his Viet-Nam tour with 6th PSYOP Battalion, Jack was quickly recognized as a young NCO able to quickly train and orient PSYOP team members and leaders to their challenging "combat PSYOP" assignments. He was one of POVA's 5 founders, our 2d President, a Hero of the PSYOP Regiment. In Viet-Nam, he helped coach and develop field team leaders to lead PSYOP teams with our combat units. He worked training PSYOP team leaders for the 1st Cavalry Division, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, and 82d Airborne Division. Jack was a hard-headed Irish guy who was loyal to his country, his Army, his fellow Psywarriors, family, and friends.
Any POVA member can nominate any other POVA member using the information which will be shared on our POVA website (www.usapova.org). The award(s) will be made at the Biennial reunions.
POVA will soon publish a POVAcomm mesage with nomination information, application process and deadlines.
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POVA Biennial Reunion Back on Track
As you'll recall, our biennial Reunion scheduled for June 2020 was postponed until 2021 due to the current COVID-19 emergency.
The good news is that our POVA leadership team is recommencing planning for the reunion. While details are still being worked out, here is the current update so you can begin planning to attend and join our fellow Psywarriors, friends, and families:
Dates: 9 June through 13 June, 2021 (Wednesday through Sunday)
Location: Fayetteville, NC and Ft. Bragg
Reunion HQ and Hotel: Baymont Inn and Suites, 1707 Owens Drive, Fayetteville
(hotel contact information and reservation code coming shortly)
While not yet scheduled, we are planning several events and activities, including:
- BBQ and Picnic
- Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament (all proceeds support our charitable activities)
- Special Panel with expert speakers on Russia and China
- the PSYOP Regimental Birthday celebration (separate, but scheduled with the reunion
- the POVA Reunion Banquet
- POVA's Business Meeting
- Visit to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum (ASOM) in Fayetteville
- at least one and perhaps more activities with our serving PSYOP units and soldiers at Bragg
There is much to be be done, and we hope all our members, friends and families will help to make this one of POVA's best Reunions ever.
More details to follow.
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POVA Life Member to serve as Docent at new National Museum of the US Army
Homer T. Hodge, a POVA Life Member who earned the Silver Star Medal while serving with the 7th PSYOP Battalion in Viet-Nam, will serve as a Docent at the National Museum of the US Army, which will open later this year. Here is Homer's note about his new role:
The National Museum of the United States Army will open later this year. The museum is located on an 84 acre campus at Fort Belvoir, in Northern Virginia, right off of the Fairfax County Parkway, and about 30 minutes from Washington DC. The main building is about 185,000 sq.fit, and has three main galleries - Soldiers’ Stories, Fighting for the Nation, and Army and Society - plus an Experiential Learning Center, a Medal of Honor Garden, and a rotating Special Exhibition Gallery.
In 2011, when the Army announced plans to build the museum, I became a Founding Sponsor., Last year when the building was finally completed, the call went out for volunteers to work in the museum once it opened. Because of the huge interest, applicants had to go through a series of two interviews, including a brief demonstration a demonstration of briefing skills.
Those selected who were interested in being docents, i.e., guides and gallery experts, underwent six day-long classes covering everything from safety requirements to proper ways to present artifacts, plus an orientation on each of the galleries. Upon completion of the training, we were scheduled to undergo certification as gallery docents by giving short briefings of two artifacts of our choice. Due to the pandemic and closing of Fort Belvoir, our certification was postponed.
Since I am an historian specializing in military history, I asked to be assigned as a gallery docent covering WW1 and WW2. As a gallery docent, I must become familiar with each of the artifacts and their background and be able to answer questions from visitors.
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Meet POVA Ambassador Ian McKnight
CSM-Ret. Ian McKnight is one of POVA's Ambassadors who supports our Association in Colorado. A long-serving career Psywarrior, here is Ian's career history:
Command Sergeant Major (Ret.) Ian R. McKnight is originally from Colorado. He enlisted as an Infantryman in the United States Army on 17March 1989. He attended basic and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon graduation, he was assignedto the 87thInfantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division. Later, he served as a PSYOP Sergeant, 324thPSYOP Company, 12th PSYOP Battalion, 7thPSYOP Group.
He has deployed in support of Operations DESERT SHIELD, ENDURING FREEDOM,and IRAQI FREEDOM.His last assignment was Battalion Command Sergeant Major for14th PSYOP Battalion, 7thPSYOP Group responsible for training and readiness posture for rapidly deployable Ready Force X insupport of National policies. Previous assignments include -Battalion Command Sergeant Major for 2nd Battalion, 346th Infantry Regiment, 177th Armor Brigade,First Army Division-East,Camp Shelby, MS; PSYOP Course Manager, 5th Battalion, 108th Regiment, 100th Division, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina; Senior PSYOP Sergeant, United States Special Operations Command responsible for strategic PSYOP supporting the United States European Command priorities countering trans-regional violent extremist organizations.
He concurrently worked during these assignments as a civilian contractor at United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) as a Strategic PSYOP Planner for the Central Gulf region within the USCENTCOM area of responsibility.
His military education includes the Primary Leadership Development Course, Basic NCO Course, Advanced NCO Course, Jungle Operations Training Course,Airborne School, Air Assault School, Pathfinder School,Squad Designated Marksmanship and Close Quarters Marksmanship Courses, Individual Terrorism Awareness Course, Anti-Terrorism level III, Joint Information Operations Planners Course; Joint Cyber Operations Planners Course; and theU.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice with a Certificate in Homeland Security,graduating Magna Cum Laude from Saint Leo University in Tampa, Florida.
He retired from the Army on 26 July 2019 and is currently working as an Army Instructor for a Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program at John F. Kennedy High School in Denver, Colorado.He is also the founder and operator of a veteran non-profit called The Veterans Pride Organization, a 100% donation-based 501(c)3 organization that provides handmade shadow boxes with Soldier’s awards and decorations to honorably discharged veterans(www.veteranspride.org). His military awards and decorations include Legion of Merit Medal; Bronze Star Medal (1OLC), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (OLC),Army Commendation Medal (2OLC), Army Achievement Medal (3OLC). Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, and Air Assault Badge. He is married to the former Tonya S. Dietschof Ohio.
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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.
Excerpted from POVA Archivist Ed Rouse's excellent website, www.psywarrior.com.
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Passing of CSM-Ret. Rudy Whittaker
We regret to report the April 2019 passing of CSM-Ret. Rudy Whittaker, the first Honorary Sergeant Major of the PSYOP Regiment. Appointed in 1999, CSM-Ret. Whittaker was a strong leader who provided excellent leadership during his entire military career, and in the years afterward.
If any POVA members have reminiscences or pictures of CSM-Ret. Whittaker, please forward them to Tim Fitzpatrick at
Here are several excerpts of his life as he wrote it several years before his passing:
My father was a park ranger with the California State Park system, so I grew up in a variety of state parks, as my father's career took him around the northern part of the state. I wound up graduating from Sonora High School, and started college at Stockton College where I completed requirements for the Associate of Arts degree before enlisting in the Army in February, 1957, at age 19. I was still undecided about a major field of study, but knew that it would entail having demonstrable foreign language skills, so language school seemed like a way to make military service academically productive.
After completing Basic Infantry training at Fort Ord, California, I reported to Two Rock Ranch, California for two months of TDY until my German class started at the Presidio of Monterey, in June 1957. The Army Language School was an entirely new and challenging learning environment for me; much more demanding and intense than any of the language classes I had taken in high school and at community college. And the social and physical surroundings were very stimulating to a country kind of kid. Most of my classmates had completed their undergraduate studies before joining up, so had much more highly developed sense of self and purpose than most of the rest of us, and some of that rubbed off as we made our way together through the course.
I graduated in December 1957, and after spending Christmas and New Years at home, reported to Fort Dix, New Jersey, early in January 1958, for overseas assignment. A bout with pneumonia delayed my departure considerably, and I didn't arrive in Frankfort until mid-February. Only a week after my arrival, I was sent on to Berlin, one of the luckier things that happened to me while in the service.
Berlin, as it was for most of our Kameraden, was for me a powerful learning experience. My skill with German increased exponentially and I gained an introduction to the world of art and classical music, and some exposure to literature. A solid liberal education at the hands of daily associates is not an experience to be undervalued.
There was considerable time wasted, too, of course. I have occasional regrets about the time spent playing cards, drinking truckloads of beer, being a typical twenty-year-old with a modest disposable income, but those were learning times, too. I also have some regrets about not traveling around more in Europe, but leave was tight until a few months before I left, and by that time, my main interest was to get into the mountains. Charley Stevens and I had a couple of terrific hiking leaves in the Alps, and maybe those memories are even more vivid today than any more conventional travel might have been.
So Berlin was a marvelous time for most of us, I suspect. It really shaped many of us into the people we finally became, our careers, our interests. I have maintained life-long friendships with a few of our colleagues, and a life-long interest in what they became. John Hanft, with his perseverance, has kept us in touch a little, and this venture will do some more to keep us interested.
After my separation, I worked and went to school part time, until attending a summer German language program at the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies, in 1961, and then enrolled at the University of California, at Berkeley, California, majoring in German. Unfortunately, about 4 weeks into the semester, I received a little letter from Uncle Sam, directing me to report to Fort Devens, Mass., for assignment to a Reserve Military Intelligence battalion that had been activated for the Berlin Crisis. It was mostly a wasted year, though a group of us did make it to Fort Meade on TDY status. I did get to see a number of Kameraden again, both at Devens and at Meade, but I'm afraid it was small consolation for what was otherwise a waste of time. I was separated again in time to re-enroll at Berkeley that fall, and this time I managed to make it through to graduation in June, 1964, without military interruption.
Oddly enough, I went back into the Army Reserve in 1974. I was coaxed into it by some unit members I had worked with; the bait being the opportunity to teach German to soldiers in a reserve ASA company_ I eventually moved to a Detachment Sergeant position in a tactical MI detachment, then became First Sergeant of an MI company, moved to the same position with a Psychological Operations company, then on to a tour as Operations Sergeant Major of a Psychological Operations group, and, finally, a tour as Sergeant Major of a battalion.
After retiring in 1998, I was appointed Honorary Sergeant Major of the Psychological Operations Regiment. I had a number of trips to Germany, activations in 1992-93, 1994-95, and 1995-96, in support of operations in Haiti and Bosnia.
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Passing of "Forrest Gump" author, Psywarrior Winston Groom
POVA reported recently the passing of Winston Groom, who served in Viet-Nam with the 245th PSYOP Company in 1966-67. If any of our members have reminscences, pictures, or other recollections of time spent with Groom, please contact Tim Fitzpatrick. Efforts are developing to have him honored and recognized by our PSYOP Regiment. Tim's email address is:
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**POVA CONTACT INFORMATION **
POVA TRUSTEES
POVA’s Website.....www.usapova.org
Ed Rouse’s Psywarrior Website.....www.psywarrior.com
COL-Ret. Larry Dietz PSYOP Blog.....www.psyopregiment.blogspot.com
Howard Patrick’s Blog.....www.howardpatrick.weebly.com/blog
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