Product Description

"Villages of the Moon" offers a unique perspective into the challenging role of a U.S. Army Psychological Operations team working in Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. From tiny firebases scattered along hundreds of desolate miles of "moonlike" territory, PSYOP teams spread information through face to face communication, radios and printed products which were passed out to local civilians. In tandem with Special Forces, far from the security of an American military base, these self-contained, small units traveled the back roads and trails of the Afghan countryside to assess the needs of the people, help influence local leaders and inform people of the tremendous changes coming to their country. This is the story of how those operations were carried out in one small area on a global field of battle. The book consists of the author's Journal, letters and background notes to inform the reader of what PSYOP is and how soldiers live and operate under these harsh conditions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #382732 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 207 pages

About the Author
M. E. Roberts served nine months in Afghanistan. He is a 1984 graduate in History from the University of Hawaii-Hilo and is currently working on a Master's degree from the University of North Texas at Denton. Eddie spent 11 years active duty in the Army serving in Germany, Desert Storm, Somalia, and two tours in Korea.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction

On September 11, 2001, I watched the jagged video frames on my computer as the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center. I knew instantly I would be deploying because of that attack. Even during peacetime, Psychological Operations (PSYOP) in the Reserves are known as "Active Duty lite" due to the number of deployments they are called upon to serve. My company, the 345th PSYOP, had sent soldiers to support the first Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo, and numerous overseas exercises. They were also the first Reserve PSYOP Company called to active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Because I was still awaiting a security clearance renewal, I had to watch as my buddies went off to war. I knew that the nature of this war would mean that PSYOP would be fully engaged, and I would still have the chance to deploy, though.

The initial campaign plan for Afghanistan called for Special Operations Forces (SOF) to link up with Northern Alliance forces in October and November 2002. They would then spend the winter training and equipping the Afghans while concurrently conducting Direct Action missions against Taliban forces in the South. It was hoped that by April or May these Special Forces-trained Northern Alliance forces would be ready to begin an offensive.1 In the end, the weight of US power tipped the balance, and the Taliban collapsed much quicker than expected. This meant that when the Al-Qaeda took refuge at Tora Bora in December, there were very limited US forces on the ground and almost no logistics capability to support large conventional ground forces. The SOF Forces had to rely on Afghan Militia Forces, many of whom had just switched sides. PSYOP was used during this phase to broadcast radio, drop leaflets, and to provide tactical loudspeaker support, such as when Team 940 jumped with the Rangers into Objective Rhino on October 19th 2002 .2 Because things had moved so quickly, and groups of AQ and TB had escaped, the second phase of the campaign involved trying to round up these remnants who had gone into hiding. By the fall of 2002, some of these groups had re-constituted themselves as "neo- Taliban," "Anti-Coalition Militia," or "Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)" and began to conduct operations in the south to prevent the institution of a free and modern Afghan central government. PSYOP teams were utilized to spread the word about this new government to remote areas with no electricity, newspapers, or radio and support the government’s legitimacy. PSYOP was also used to undercut support for the TB and encourage people to come forward with information.

Our opportunity to deploy came, ironically, in September 2002. The remainder of the 345th PSYOP was called up to support our sister company out of Atlanta, Georgia. We spent the 12th driving out to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, trying to accustom ourselves to becoming full-time soldiers and listening intently to the president’s speech to the United Nations. In processing through the "temporary" World War Two barracks, which had seen men deploy to wars throughout the 20th century, I reflected on what those men had gone through and wondered what the future held for us. It was miserably hot, and thankfully, only a week before we moved to a local Ramada Inn for the duration of our stay at Fort Bragg. Six weeks of training, weapons fire, live fire exercises, packing and unpacking equipment, and a thousand and one changes along the way left us chomping at the bit. I flew out on Halloween aboard a C5 to Frankfurt and a C17 to Bagram, Afghanistan. I began this journal when we landed.

Customer Reviews

Villages of the Moon
Review from: Special Warfare
Few writings exist regarding contemporary psychological operations, or PSYOP, and virtually none cover tactical PSYOP, until now. Villages of the Moon: Psychological Operations in Southern Afghanistan presents a firsthand account of tactical PSYOP and its employment in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2002.

The author, Sergeant First Class M.E. Roberts, draws upon an extensive knowledge of PSYOP history and interaction with foreign cultures to provide his understanding of the challenges faced by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the role PSYOP plays at the tactical level. This book highlights the importance of PSYOP in civil and military operations and its usefulness in combating the cultural barriers and mistrust that exist between U.S. forces and foreign populations.

Most of the book is written as journal entries composed during Roberts' deployment to Afghanistan. Regional maps, photos and samples of PSYOP products are displayed at the end of each chapter, but they are clearly subservient to the author's descriptive portrayal of PSYOP missions.

The work is also supplemented with an initial chapter titled "Fighting Terrorist and Tyrants: Thoughts on the Grand Strategy," which showcases Roberts' knowledge of insurgency, counterinsurgency and the role that PSYOP plays in supporting combat operations. This chapter provides both an historical background of PSYOP and an outline of the essentials for effective personnel and teams. Roberts further discusses the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of PSYOP, providing context useful in understanding his journal entries.

Roberts deployed to Afghanistan as part of a PSYOP team and encountered a society that is distrustful, and in many cases, ignorant of U.S. culture. His journey through southern Afghanistan while supporting numerous civil and military operations shows the utility of PSYOP teams in a variety of situations, including calming potentially hostile crowds, preventing misunderstandings between U.S. troops and the Afghan population, and ensuring that the U.S. message reaches the people and is not lost to enemy propaganda.

Roberts' accounts are intelligently written with insight into the challenges faced in integrating a tactical PSYOP team with multiple U.S. units, developing trust among the population, and reaching out to the most isolated areas of Afghanistan - the "villages of the moon."

Villages of the Moon: Psychological Operations in Southern Afghanistan is an excellent book and a smooth read. It provides much-needed context for understanding the role PSYOP plays in supporting military operations. Roberts effectively portrays the challenges of a PSYOP team deployed in a region that has mixed feelings and often deep misgivings regarding the presence of U.S. forces. The variety of missions and skill sets required of PSYOP teams is seen throughout this work in the daily accounts of Roberts' journal.

The book gives an appreciation of the complexity and thoroughness of PSYOP teams during the execution of their missions, which are often overlooked, misunderstood and underappreciated by elements outside PSYOP. Roberts' book is strongly recommended for members of the PSYOP community and those outside it who wish to better understand PSYOP.

A Valuable Contribution to the Study of the War on Terrorism
This is a well-written account of an often overlooked, but vital aspect of warfare - Psychological Operations, or PSYOP. The author - a PSYOP soldier - spent 9 months with a small PSYOP team which often worked with US Special Forces teams in southern Afghanistan. The team traveled the desolate "moonlike" landscape to reach the most isolated people and villages in an effort to "win hearts and minds" by assessing their basic human needs, helping organize the local leaders, and letting them know about the changes that were taking place across the country. They did this through face-to-face meetings, printed leaflets and newspapers, and solar-powered radios which they passed out to the villagers. To say such efforts are purely "propaganda" is to do these teams a disservice. They truly get up and personal with the local population in an effort to change things for the better. This book is a MUST READ for anyone interested in how the US is conducting the war on terrorism in small remote areas of the world. But hey, don't just take my word for it - READ THIS BOOK!

Illuminating and Insightful
I particularly enjoyed this book as my son has just enlisted for the same PSYOP MOS as SFC Roberts. If you are looking for first hand knowledge from someone that had boots on the ground then this is the book you want. His raw journal entries make the reading unique (however, sometimes tedious) and offers an insight into his thoughts at the time. This is not a book about big guns, drone planes or getting captured behind enemy lines. This is a book about how psychological operations can help schools, hospitals, radio stations and local officials make their corner of the world a little more livable.