Uncle Sam Wants 'Nerds': US Army Seeks More Psychological Warfare Recruits

New military recruitment video has the feel of a Hollywood trailer to raise awareness of little known Army role

Uncle Sam Wants You
A wax replica of Uncle Sam centers the "Madame Tussauds Wants You!" U.S. Army recruiters say they are seeking more 'nerds' to work in psyops projects. Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Madame Tussauds

The U.S. Army is working to find more people for their psychological operations groups to carry out psychological warfare.

Recruiters released a new video called "Ghost in the Machine 2" that has a music industry meets Hollywood name and movie trailer feel as shadowy figures and haunting images fill the screen.

The video is the second released in the hopes of raising curiosity about the unit.

The effiort attempts to glamorize the kind of work the psyop soldiers do to influence public opinion and wage the war of words overseas, according to the Associated Press.

Psychological operations
A new recruitment video hopes to get more people interested in the U.S. Army's Psychological Operations Group. Psychological Operations Group

The Army says it is looking for psyop soldiers who are "selected for their intellect, critical and analytical thinking skills, adaptability and mental resilience."

The soldiers analyze operational environments, physical targets and target audiences. They also advise the Army on psychological effects, plan influence options, and develop actions and messages targeting psychological vulnerabilities.

They also assess influence effectiveness.

A member of the 8th Psychological Operations Group based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina made the video.

"We're all nerds for sure," the Army major told the Associated Press. "But we're all nerds in different ways."

A recent report found there were "burnout" issues among current psyop soldiers.

Army Special Operations Command leaders and special forces recruiters hope that the new video will help bring in new recruits to the often unseen and little known job.

Tags
U.s. military, Cyber warfare, U.S.
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