Down the Rabbit Hole | The History of PSYOP with Dr. Tracy

Did you know we can trace the Psychological Operations Regiment to a single person?

Did you know PSYOP played a role in the Office of Strategic Services?

They were there at the landings of Normandy, in the planning for Desert Storm, and remain a critical component to military victory in the modern age.

Join us as we host Dr. Jared Tracy, the Army Special Operations Forces' Deputy Command Historian, as he dives deep with us on the nuances and facts of the PSYOP Regiment and its history.

About the guest:

Dr. Jared M. Tracy, PhD served six years in the U.S. Army, and became a historian at the US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) in December 2010. He earned an MA in History from Virginia Commonwealth University, an MDiv in Theology from Liberty University, and a PhD in History from Kansas State University. Dr. Tracy is now the deputy command historian for USASOC at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. He previously concentrated on PSYOP history, but now he researches and writes on a wide range of ARSOF-related topics. His writing has appeared in Military Review, NCO Journal, Southern Historian, and Veritas: Journal of Army Special Operations History.

About the hosts:

Maj. Ashley "Ash" Holzmann is an experienced Psychological Operations Officer who served within the re-established PSYWAR School at the United States Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School. He is now transitioning to attend grad school at Arizona State University with a follow-on assignment at West Point's Army Cyber Institute where he will research misinformation.

Sgt. Maj. Derek Riley is one of the most experienced Civil Affairs Non-commissioned Officers in the Army Special Operations Regiment. He has incredible deployment experience and serves within the Civil Affairs Proponent at the United States Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School.

From the episode:

Victory Through Influence (Dr. Tracy's first book):

https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781648430343/victory-through-influence/

The ARSOC History website:

https://arsof-history.org/about.html#tracy

Dr. Tracy's dissertation is publicly available here:

https://krex.k-state.edu/items/333a90d2-6c98-4ac2-aa90-0e33a46c9e3f

His writing on the history of PSYOP and PSYWAR has even been posted to the main army website:

https://www.army.mil/article/199431/100_years_of_subterfuge_the_history_of_army_psychological_operations 

Article on rebuilding the PSYWAR capability:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v7n2_intro_page_1.html

Is Taylor Swift a PSYOP (featuring Dr. Tracy)?

https://www.wired.com/story/taylor-swift-psyop-conspiracy/

The Guardian article referenced about Panama (featuring Dr. Tracy):

https://www.theguardian.com/music/audio/2021/feb/03/reverberate-episode-2-rick-astley-versus-the-dictator-of-panama-podcast

What did PSYOP do during Operation Just Cause in Panama. Ash disappointedly was not able to find the interview of the captain, but the ARSOF Historians have covered this exact operation in detail:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/21feb_psyop_just_cause_page_1.html