One Dollar

Ten Dollar

When military paymasters are in training they are tested in various difficult situations. Banknotes go missing, soldiers or civilian employees try to pass through the pay line more than once, people are paid too much or too little and other problems that their instructors think will be beneficial to the paymaster's career. The notes above are a front and back of a training banknote series used in Vietnam dated August 1964 to help train paymasters that might be involved in paying U.S. Troops or Vietnamese guerillas. The U.S. Army Finance Corps insignia is depicted at the lower right on the one dollar note. The code to the side of the note indicates: Army Field Printing Plant, work order 974, August 1964, 15,000 copies.

Army Finance School $10 Dollar Bill

Another banknote to teach the students at the Army Finance School how to safely pay troops and assure accuracy when handing out or taking in cash. Notice the character in the center. That is the famous character “Sad Sack,” a woeful Army draftee that never did one thing right in his whole career. Sad Sack is a comic strip and comic book character created by Sergeant George Baker during World War II. Set in the United States Army, Sad Sack depicted an otherwise unnamed, lowly private experiencing some of the absurdities and humiliations of military life. The title was a euphemistic shortening of the military slang "sad sack of shit", common during World War II. The phrase has come to mean "an inept person" or "inept soldier." The U.S. Army Finance School moved to Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, on 1 June 1951. Fort Benjamin Harrison was closed as part of the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Training Troops about to be deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq

The Training Note for the Afghanistan Scenario

American troops about to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan often need to be trained up, especially if they were reservists that had not served in the active Army for several years. The Joint Readiness Training Center, formerly at Ft. Polk, now named Ft. Johnson, did that training by using various scenarios to place the troops in situation they might face in real time. The money above was used in these scenarios.

In addition, during the United States occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11, they had to teach American and Afghan paymasters how to handle banknotes. As we have said, often the training would include people trying to go through the line twice and cheat in other ways. These banknotes are clearly marked “JRTC Training Purpose only” (Joint Readiness Training Center) on both sides so they could not be passed in the PX or Afghan bazaars.

The Genuine Afghanistan 10,000 Afghanis banknote

This 10,000 Afghanis banknote was declared obsolete in 2002. Notice there is some similarity between the training note and the genuine note. The biggest difference is the absence of the face on the left side. The Muslims consider the use of individual portraits on such items as heresy or idol worship. In 1996 the Taliban, the Islamist government, took power in Kabul, and soon after they started cleansing the land of many things that they deemed not to be “truly” Islamic. They kept the 10,000 Afghani note in circulation because it was devoid of human images, so it did not conflict with their ideology. Today, this note has been christened the man-less currency because it did not have a human image as we are used to seeing in other currencies. On the front of the note, there is the image of a mosque, and on the back, there is an arched stone gateway set before a city on the hills.

The Training Note for the Iraq Scenario

More Training Notes for Iraq.

The Genuine 1000 Dinar Note

The Training 1000 Dinar Note

Three more banknotes were used to train paymasters in Iraq. They were all 7 x 3 3/8-inches in size. They were printed on plastic or vinyl in the denominations of the current 1,000 5,000 and 10,000 Dinars. Each note was overprinted FTPO which stands for "For Training Purposes Only."

Training Leaflets using the Korean War Banknote Image

During the Korean War the Unites States parodied Korean banknotes with safe conduct messages signed by Ridgway, Van Fleet and Clark. It is interesting to note that long after the end of the Korean War, American Special Forces were still using the Korean safe conduct pass format as a training aide. One green safe conduct pass banknote has the following message in English and Esperanto:

This official certificate guarantees your safety by the Aggressor Nation. You may present this certificate to any Aggressor soldier when you decide to cease fighting. The Esperanto statement at the left is my official order to my troops to give you safe passage and reads as follows . . . (Signed) Wolfgang Francois Umberto, Field Marshall, Aggressor Army, Commander-in-Chief, Northeast Asia Forces.

It is doubtful that any of the young soldiers finding the pass knew of its Korean War origins.

A War Game Leaflet using the Cuban Invasion Banknote Image

Just as the PSYOP personnel were familiar with Korean War safe conduct passes, they had also worked on counterfeit money for the Bay of Pigs invasion and probably still had all the images in their files. As a result, for years afterwards various war game currencies were prepared using the image of the Cuban 20 peso note. This war game note is similar to the counterfeit except for all the additional text and the changing of the title from “Banco Nacional de Cuba” to “Banco Nacional de Red.”

A Training Leaflet using the Cuban 5 Peso Note

Since much of the American war game training was against Communist nations in South and Latin America, it was common to use a Cuban currency facsimile. I have at least six different of this specific image in my files. The banknote is a safe conduct pass from the Republic of Costa. The war game was usually between the nations of Costa and Ventura. It is also interesting to point out that a real American propaganda leaflet banknote using this image was used in Grenada where there were Cuban troops and construction people building an air field for the Communist nation.

 

 

A Group of Cuban 5 Peso Notes used in Various Exercises

We see that the propagandists liked this 5 peso note and used it over and over with minor changes to the text on the front and back.

A Mock 10 Peso Note

This one features not Che Guevara, but Che Martin. Perhaps they were second cousins. More likely that was the name of one of the main characters in the training exercise.

 

A Safe Conduct pass in the form of a 25 Cents Military Payment Certificate

This safe conduct pass is party a reproduction of the 25 Cents U.S. Military Payment Certificate, Series 692. These were first introduced into circulation on 7 October 1970 and withdrawn on 15 March 1973. These notes were therefore in use at the end of the Vietnam War. This is the last official series of military payment certificates ever issued by the United States and used only in Vietnam. We don’t know who reproduced this note as a safe conduct pass, but we assume it was either for training purposes or for use in a war game. Curiously, the blue back of the safe conduct pass is a perfect replica of the real note.

$5 and $50 Banknote Souvenir Leaflets from a POVA Reunion

These probably don’t belong here because they were not used for training or a wargame, but they were produced by PSYOP people, and it was an exercise to make something that could be handed out at a convention and saved as a souvenir. I have seen these notes in $5 and $50. They are almost identical with just one image different. This was sent to me by the very generous retired Army Colonel Larry Dietz. He told me that they were used in a Psychological Operations Veteran’s Association reunion in 2018 in Cleveland. POVA had a reunion ever two years in the past but missed one due to the COVID pandemic in the early 2020s.

Exercise ROBIN SAGE

8th PSYOP Battalion Exercise Robin Sage - Pineland Cartoon

Pineland is a fictitious country located in North Carolina, developed by the United States Army Special Forces Command to train Special Forces, PSYOP and Civil Affairs in unconventional warfare. The basic scenario of Pineland is that the government has been overthrown through a violent coup and US forces are now assisting a guerrilla force that aim to overthrow the de facto government and restore order to the nation. Around eight times a year Special Forces soldier infiltrate into Pineland via parachute, vehicle, helicopter and foot and link up with their guerrilla forces. The guerrilla forces are comprised primarily of Active Duty soldiers and volunteer civilians who participate in the exercise often referred to as Robin Sage.

Robin Sage, derives its name from the town of Robbins, N.C., a central area of operations for the exercise, and former Army Colonel Jerry Sage, a World War II veteran and an Office of Strategic Services, or OSS officer who taught unconventional warfare tactics. Steve McQueen’s character Hilts in the film “The Great Escape” was based off Sage.

Fun in the woods - Need we say more?

The guerrilla forces are comprised primarily of Active Duty soldiers and volunteer civilians who participate in the exercise often referred to as Robin Sage. There is a fake currency known as Don which can be used to pay guerrilla forces, transportation and even food in some of the participating restaurants. This is excellent training in how to manage and safeguard funds used to pay guerrillas.

Pineland Resistance Forces Flag

Thousands of residents in North Carolina have participated in Robin Sage for years acting in various roles from town mayors to CIA contacts all designed to help train the Special Forces soldiers. There are a great number of documents and printed material that have been prepared for this exercise.

The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) wrote about the operation in an article titled Role Players Teach Lessons in PSYOP Exercise. The article says in part:

On the continent of Atlantica, between Europe and America, lies the rural village of Pine Branch, in the northern part of the Republic of Pineland. The villagers were in the middle of “a little civil war” and the U. S. Army had arrived to stabilize the region. Pastor Bowen Scott was on hand to mediate and counsel. Scott had settled in Pine Branch from Franklin, Tennessee, was set apart from the locals by his southern accent and black cowboy hat. But that’s not the least of his differences. He’s also been a terrorist and a mullah.

“He” is actually Edward Hudson, the man who pretends to be Pastor Scott. Hudson is a civilian role player, hired by the Valbin Corporation, to provide realistic training for the Psychological Operations students taking the class offered by the 80th Training Command several times a year. Hudson is actually from the town of Lockwood, and Pine Branch is in a Fort Hunter Liggett training area.

At least a dozen other role players, most from the local area, took on personas of villagers in order to challenge the Soldiers with situations they may encounter on real missions…

Pineland Government Flag

The missions that take place within Pineland include everything from hostage rescue to building a bridge for the local populace. Special Forces soldiers conduct raids on bridges and emplace fake explosive charges after killing or capturing UPA (Unified Provinces of Atlantica) or they meet with underground forces to gather intelligence on enemy movements and operations. The goal of the exercise is to train the resistance forces to a point where they can successfully overthrow the UPA government and restore order. This is done through ongoing training of the resistance forces while in Pineland and an operations plan where the SF soldiers gradually pass the responsibility of training and operations to the forces to the point where they can operate unilaterally. This is designed to train Special Forces, PSYOP and Civil Affairs soldiers for real world scenarios such as Afghanistan where they are conducting similar operations. In many ways the Special Forces soldier’s job is to train themselves out of a job and leave behind a fully operational force that can conduct ongoing operations without the help of US personnel.

  

We Are Your FRIENDS

  

CITIZENS of FONTANA

Years after I wrote the comments above, I was contacted by David Williams who said:

The first deployment of the "Green Berets" occurred right here in our area.  The clans and families of this area was as close to the indigenous peoples of the Vietnam highlands they could find to test their strategy.  SF soldiers came into the area to assist in Guerilla warfare.  They spent months building relationships and working on farms before the 82nd Airborne Division was sent in to root them out. This is an example of leaflets dropped by the 82nd to gain the local’s trust. This was in the early 1960s.

I knew that was about right because the 1st PSYWAR existed from 1960 to 1965. I asked him where the game was played and about the name of the operation and he said:

It was in Southwestern North Carolina. It was a huge exercise, the precursor of Robin Sage. I don't know the name of the exercise, but I do know they came back several times on smaller scale. One of which was Operation Goblin Lark.

My pal Ray Ambrozak mentioned Pineland in a recent email:

The Pineland Exercise happened at the end of the PSYOP and Special Forces courses. It took place in the small towns, farms, and countryside near Ft. Bragg. The PSYOP students were the Pineland government. Special Forces students were an insurgent force trying to overthrow that government (and made a jump into the local territory). The 82nd Airborne provided the government army, and the exercise citizens were for the most part the folks who lived there. Some of the locals supported the Pineland government, others the insurgent Special Forces teams. A minister let his church be used for secret meetings. Farmers housed the insurgents in their barns. Public gatherings in the town squares were attended mostly by townsfolk and tourists who listened attentively to the speeches of Pineland government officials (played by PSYOP students).

Ray found out quite by accident that the Special Forces play for real, even if it is a game:

As an instructor, my function in the exercise was that of a controller. Generally, this meant you kept the exercise moving, but contained within parameters that would steer the students towards confronting problems that helped achieve teaching objectives. On one of the exercises, I inserted myself into a problem as a local insurgent leader. It seemed just some harmless role playing to add some realism at a critical point in the exercise. This did not go unnoticed by the 82nd Airborne troops who raided our meeting, taking me prisoner and spiriting me off to Headquarters. for further questioning. I decided to continue to role play under questioning from the 82nd lads as there were two Special Forces students in the room. Since I was not being cooperative, they said I was forcing them to use stronger methods of interrogation. At the time, I did not know what water boarding was, but I soon found out. I was on my back on a table with my head hanging back over the edge. Two of the 82nd’s finest sitting on each arm. My loudest protests and telling them I was an instructor, fell on deaf ears. A wet washcloth was placed over my face which made breathing a struggle. Each intake of breath caused the wet cloth to be plastered to my face, further restricting air flow. As suffocation became a thought, they began pouring water over the washcloth which I was not prepared for, so the water went up my nose, down my throat and now the thought was about drowning. Eventually, someone called an end to it, and I went back to controller status. When asked about this later I managed enough bravado to say, “It was damn fine training.” I did not do any more role playing in future exercises.

It is a fact that to some people a game is a game and to others it is dead serious. I told my buddy retired Major Ed Rouse about a war game where they put a prisoner in a big 20-gallon drum, filled it with water right up to his nose, put the lid on and then banged it with batons until he spilled his guts.

He told me about a Pineland he attended, and a guerrilla shown a big 6-foot diamondback rattlesnake in a glass aquarium tank. The prisoner was blindfolded and questioned. When he refused, the interrogator said, “Get out the rattler” and then took a big friendly black snake out of a gunny bag and put it on the guerrilla while shaking a rattler on a stick he bought from a roadside tourist store. Ed said that the guerrilla would have confessed to killing John F. Kennedy once that snake started crawling over him. Wargames can really be fun!

Pineland Currency

The Anthem of Pineland is as follows:

This is the Land of the of the Tall Pine Tree
Where All of Us used to Live so Free
THIS IS PINELAND

A Place to Live and a Place to Play
But the UPA took it all away
THIS IS PINELAND

A Place where we are all free to Work Together
Where our Crops can Grow and the Sun will Shine Forever
A Beautiful Land with Much to Give
This is where we’ll Always Live
THIS IS PINELAND

Before we end this discussion of Robin Sage and Pineland, we should remind the readers that although these are called exercises and war games, they can be deadly.

In February 2002, as part of Robin Sage, two soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission when Deputy Randall Butler pulled them over in a traffic stop. The soldiers were driving in an unmarked vehicle and dressed in civilian clothing. Butler was unaware of the military exercise, while the soldiers believed the deputy was part of the training exercise. One soldier, believing the officer was playing the part of policeman, attempted to disarm him, while the other attempted to draw his military weapon. Local civilians are enlisted in role-playing, as are non-special operations soldiers from the U.S. Army base. All ammunition used in the exercise is blank, so there was no safety risk to civilians or their property. The deputy believed that the two individuals intended to kill him. The soldiers thought he was putting up a mock resistance. The deputy shot both suspects in self-defense, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

The Sheriffs’ Office said:

Moore County had never participated in such an exercise and was never told of any such training scenarios. This is a tragic incident, and our heart-felt prayers go out to the families of all involved.

The Army later said:

It's clear that it was a breakdown in communications between the deputy sheriff and the soldiers involved.

Students and Cadre of the Psychological Operations Qualification Course Class conduct a nighttime combat equipment airborne infiltration operation to kick off their culmination exercise (CULEX). The exercise tests the students in their ability to apply their skills and knowledge they have gained during the MOS Phase of their training in the Pineland scenario.

Joint Training Exercise Solid Shield 1977

Why Risk Needless Injury…

This handsome leaflet was prepared by the 6th PSYOP Battalion based at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. The back warns of increased military activity in the area and asks the families to stay inside their home for their safety.

U.S. and Blue Allied for Victory

Armored Soldiers of Red

Although I have about a dozen leaflets from this exercise, most are in black and white. I add two that were printed in color here.

A Safe Conduct Pass 

This leaflet depicts a tank on the front, the flag of the Blue Forces and an American flag and tells of being printed by the 6th PSYOP Battalion. The back is a safe conduct message promising good treatment.

Identification Card from the Civil Affairs Battalion

There are many similarities between a PSYOP and a Civil Affairs Battalion. Sometimes their duties can get confused. In the simplest terms the PSYOP unit has to do with battle, lowering the morale of the enemy and raising the morale of the friendly peoples, and sometimes helping in relief operations. The Civil Affairs is more in line with peace operations, getting the people food, water, a stabile system and generally raising their standard of living. In some areas one can move slightly into the area of authority of the other. In the case above we have an identification card designed and requested by the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, printed by the 6th PSYOP Battalion. The term “DPRE” on the card usually means “Displaced Persons, Refugees, and Evacuees.” [Note: Both the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion and the 6th PSYOP Battalion were part of the 4th PSYOP Group at that time.]

Solid Shield was an annual massive military exercise that lasted one week each year. It emphasized command and control in a unified environment. More than 50,000 personnel from the U.S. Army's Forces Command, the Navy's Atlantic Fleet, the Marine Corps' Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, TAC MAC and the Coast Guard joined in the massive exercise.

 

Will you Ever Return to Her?

This Solid Shield leaflet depicts a lonely woman thinking of her man. It is the kind of leaflets that is always used in every war. The back is also interesting since it shows the insignia of the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.

The VII Corps Exercise Reforger 77 

Warning the German People of the Reforger Exercise

To the population in the maneuver area

The combat exercise "REFORGER 77" will reach this area in the next 24 hours. During this time there will be an increased presence of wheeled and tracked vehicles

Important information from the instructors:

Make children and older people aware of the increased danger in road traffic.

Do not park private vehicles on main roads

Keep livestock in stables or other areas under supervision wherever possible during hostilities

Report any damage caused by the troops during the exercise to the responsible local authority immediately

We ask for your understanding of any noise disturbances and traffic disruptions that may occur.

VII (US) CORPS
STUTTGART-MOEHRINGEN

The Reforger 77 exercise consisted of a Command Post Exercise (CPX), and a Field Training Exercise. The FTX is called Carbon Edge. The exercise was held from 13 to 24 September 1977. The G5 Section was responsible for psychological operations, consolidation missions, and tactical noise deception. German Army loudspeaker assets assisted the corps.

For ten grueling days, a mock combat raged in southern Germany between two opposing powerful military forces: the "invading" Orange and the defending Blue. Code-named Carbon Edge, the "war" was a NATO military exercise involving more than 50,000 troops, 4,000 tanks and armored personnel carriers. 7,500 other vehicles, 90 fixed-wing aircraft and 500 helicopters. Carbon Edge was by far the biggest single event of REFORGER 77, this year's edition of NATO’s traditional fall training extravaganza. West German, British, Canadian, Dutch and Belgian troops and American forces based in Europe were mobilized for the event, and 14,000 G.I.s were airlifted across the Atlantic. (Reforger, in fact, is an acronym for return of forces to Germany.) To the north, a special all-NATO defense team battled British and Danish “enemy” troops, while in the Mediterranean the alliance conducted a massive naval exercise, culminating in an amphibious landing along the Turkish coast.

In Carbon Edge, the orange force (played by some U.S. and West German units) took the role of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. Reflecting its impressive firepower advantage on the Central European front. Orange quickly penetrated the blue lines, raced 40 miles and crossed the upper Danube. After falling back and regrouping, blue counterattacked: its main forces hammered away across the invader's broad front, while airborne rangers hit orange from behind. When the exercises ended. Blue had clearly triumphed.

Two weeks before the orange "attack," the U.S. 1st Infantry Division was airlifted from Fort Riley, Kansas, the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division arrived from Fort Carson. Colorado, and the 2nd Battalion (Ranger) of the 75th Infantry came from Fort Lewis, Washington. No shots were fired. Instead, 1,900 umpires—sporting white armbands and riding in Jeeps flying white pennants —clambered about the battlefield.

The leaflets were of different quality, some crude, most black and white, but almost all the German German-language leaflets had some color, and most printed by the 6th PSYOP Battalion. Some leaflets also had “For Training Purposes Only” printed on the front or back. Because the German Army was involved some leaflets were printed in German. A few were tactical in nature and called out various members of the enemy by name. These soldiers knew each other and were not afraid to throw some insults around.

The Wallet Cards

  

The military is always handing out small wallet cards to the troops. I have a dozen of them in various scrapbooks. These were apparently for Solid Shield and possibly for Reforger 77. They were both in the Reforger file formally owned by the G5 who was involved with Psychological Operations in both exercises.

The Documents

This is an interesting document. It was prepared for use in the Exercise by Loudspeaker Teams. This must have been a draft because you can see where the information was entered in pencil.

THE THEME of the loudspeaker message is that the tide has turned and the Russian (orange) attack has been stopped. THE TARGET GROUP is the enlisted personnel of the third infantry division, obviously acting as Russians in this exercise. THE SUSCEPTIBILITY is that the Russians have been mauled by the blue forces and frustrated by the experience of battle defeat. The Russian forces have suffered reduced morale. THE EFFECTIVENESS will be proven if the frontline soldiers submit to friendly capture and/or their fighting capacity is reduced. THE REMARKS will be broadcast when friendly blue forces have successfully stopped the Russian orange advance.

There is a similar document for leaflet requests. I only have a hand-written copy of that one. The categories have been changed to: PRINT MATERIAL.

Type of Material:
Colors: Front___ back___.
Quantity:
For public dissemination: yes___ no___.
Request originated by:

The Leaflets

You are Not alone.

The first leaflet uses a common theme. In Vietnam and later wars, the enemy was told that they were being always watched and could be killed at any time. Many such leaflets would show a pair of menacing eyes.

 

Lonely.

This leaflet depicts a young girl and an eye with tears dropping from it. Being away from one’s love is also a good theme for a leaflet when you want to destroy morale. I love the back. There is a long message on the back telling how lonely she is and how much she misses her man. Then the hook is pulled tight. The very last line turns this into a “Jody” letter. She says:

Your friend Harry dropped by last night. He was sensational!

TAKE A BREAK

A little sex is always a popular theme in leaflets. Of course, they do not work. Instead of having low morale from such leaflets, the soldiers will collect and trade them trying to build a complete set. This one has an attractive girl on the front offering a soldier a good time. These are the more tactical leaflets I mention at the top of this section where individuals and even units are called by name. Some of the individual and units are: Lt Avarado, baby; Sgt Johnson, sweetie; Sgt Dowry, doll; Lt Lathem, darling; and the entire 1-15th Infantry, Company C.

  

ORANGE FORCES

This all-text leaflet warns the orange forces that they are fighting the best infantry division in the world. It says they are number 1. When the leaflet is turned over, we see the patch of the legendary U.S, Army 1st Infantry Division.

THERE IS NO GAS MASK FOR HER

This leaflet depicts a little girl and warns that there are no protective gas masks for her. When we turn the leaflet over, we are reminded of the many wars where chemical weapons have been used. The leaflet says:

You have been unable to achieve victory by conventional means and have resorted to the use of chemical agents. Chemical agents do not harm only soldiers, but old people, wives, friends and children. All human beings. Refuse to fight the unjust war against innocent civilians.

 

BREAKFAST MENU 

Sometimes when you see these training leaflets you realize that the training was needed. You never ridicule or insult an enemy. That makes no friends for your side and if anything, makes the enemy fight harder. The leaflet tries to use humor but fails. One joke that civilians might miss is “Soldier on a shingle,” which is a parody of a soldier’s occasional breakfast, chipped beef on toast, loving known as “Shit on a shingle.” Then, this blue force leaflet insults the entire orange army by making fun of them, “They are pulpy and full of juice, the result is messy boots and a maneuver damage problem.” This is like Patton’s statement, “We will use the enemy to grease the treads of our tanks.” Notice also, the 1st Infantry Division patch on the boot squashing the orange. 

  

WHICH WAY HOME? 

This leaflet shows the orange force in a maze, wondering how to get home. The back points out that as invaders they are hated by all. Everyone is against them and wants to kill them. It tells them to get out quickly while they can.

THE TIDE HAS TURNED!

I said above that many of the German-language leaflets have a bit of color. In this first leaflet we see troops of the Orange Nation walking along a wall while in the background we see burning cities and a wrecked tank. The back just has an image of an armed soldier on a horse. The short text on the front is:

THE TIDE HAS TURNED!

Look Mommy! What is that?

They are only cannon fodder from Orange.

WHILE YOUR OFFICERS ARE HAVING A GOOD TIME…

The type on this leaflet is orange so I assume this is another anti-orange leaflet. The front shows two officers getting drunk on the left, and a graveyard with helmets on rifles stuck in the ground. The text is:

WHILE YOUR OFFICERS ARE HAVING A GOOD TIME…

YOU DIE.

The back is all text:

Good times…Think about it!
You must die while your officers drink it up!
You must face the bullets, the cold, the forces of Blue!
You keep your officers dry, happy, and warm.
TAKE A STAND. REFUSE TO FIGHT!
The Blue forces will assist all men refusing to fight under these conditions.
DON’T DIE NEEDLESSLY.

DO NOT DIE IN THE COMING BATTLE

I have often said that if American PSYOP is known for anything, it is the use of big bombers on leaflets since WWII. Here is such a case. Two B-52 bombers drop endless bombs from overhead and the bottom of the leaflet is full of explosions and burning buildings. The text on the front is:

DO NOT DIE IN THE COMING BATTLE

The back depicts two soldiers from the opposing armies shaking hands. The text is:

Unite with the forces of freedom before it is too late.

Soldiers and Tankers of the Third Infantry Division

I should mention here that some of the leaflets are in both English and German. The above is an example. It depicts a tank in the cross hairs on the front and on the back a soldier in the cross hairs. This leaflet was printed in both languages, and contains no color.

These two interesting leaflets were dropped during an early exercise using U.S. Army Special Forces. The local clans and families in Southwestern North Carolina were considered similar to the indigenous peoples of the Vietnam highlands, very tight-knit, and the Special Forces hoped to use them to test their strategy in building and training a guerrilla movement. They built relationships by helping the locals and working on their farms, “fish in the ocean” as Mao wrote. Then, the United States sent the 82nd Airborne Division in to root the insurgents out.

  

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

This is an interesting training leaflet. It was used as a reference and a training aid in the 1962 class for Psychological Operations students at Ft. Bragg. The front is fairly standard showing an unhappy G.I. and the text:

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

The back is more interesting. It is designed to destroy the morale of the soldier at the front. In a clever way, it never mentions promiscuity of infidelity but it hints at it in such a way that the soldier is led to believe that his wife or girlfriend (she is never actually identified) is about to cheat on him. She explains that she has been lonely and a male friend down the street has taken her to dinner and now a movie. What is next? It appears that sex is on the horizon. One wonders if his name is Jody? I think the message is cleverly written and could be effective on the right person.

Ray and Ann Ambrozak

A member of the Psychological Operations Veterans Association told me that this leaflet was the product of the 1st L&L Company in support of 82nd Airborne Division and Special Forces at a field Exercise Ft. Bragg, N.C. The young lady was the wife of the publications platoon leader 2nd Lieutenant Ray Ambrozak, and 60 years later she still is, and is still supporting that lucky retired platoon leader in PSYOP efforts through the Psychological Operations Veterans Association. Her name is Ann Ambrozak. I asked for a picture of her today (in 2019) and she was kind enough to send me one.

Various Leaflets...

Speaking of 1962, that same year the 3rd PSYWAR Detachment of the 1st PSYWAR Battalion, (Broadcasting & Leaflet) produced a booklet entitled The Pictorial Story of the Psychological Warfare Soldier. There were about a dozen images of PSYOP soldiers at work. The one above was captioned:

Various types of leaflets produced by Psychological Warfare sections are designed
to gain sympathy toward our cause.

Four leaflets were displayed with the titles:

Danger – Fallout
Danger! your water is contaminated
Cease Resistance – Cross to Safety
Arise Loyal Citizens – Take up arms against the Aggressor – Help Yourself by Helping Us.

The booklet does not mention the fact that these were clearly training leaflets. We recognize that fact because the images were very basic, and the language was English in every case.

VIP Visit Leaflets

The John F. Kennedy “visit” leaflet

One of the traditions at Ft. Bragg is when a particularly important person visits the post, the PSYOP unit photographs him, usually upon entering, and then prepares leaflets while that individual tours the base. At some point aircraft fly overhead, usually while the visitor is giving a speech, and drop leaflets depicting the VIP, showing the ability that PSYOP units have of reacting to an important event quickly.

A Film made During the Visit depicts the Leaflet Drop

I believe the first time was when President Kennedy visited Ft. Bragg on 12 October 1961 and the president made his vision for a dedicated counter-insurgency force clear in a letter penned to the school’s commander, then Brigadier General William Yarborough. The photo above depicts the leaflets from an L-19 “Bird Dog” dropping commemorative leaflets upon the assembled caravan of cars. Specialist Four Bruce R. Armstrong, 3rd PSYWAR Detachment (Reproduction) of the 1st PSYWAR Battalion (Broadcast & Leaflet) did the artwork on the leaflet dropped during President John F. Kennedy’s visit.

  

The Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson Visit

On 9 January 1965, Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson visited Ft. Bragg and once again a leaflet was made and dropped to show him what the PSYOP Unit could do on short notice. Once again, the 1st PSYWAR Battalion produced the leaflet.

Talking to other soldiers after I first wrote this, I was told that one day a week back about 1968-1969, there were tours and a display at the Ft. Bragg Gabriel Demonstration Area. Photos of the crowd in the grandstands were taken by members of the 1st PSYOP Battalion, the negatives forwarded to a mobile printing van and quickly turned into a leaflet. At the end of each demonstration, the leaflets were disseminated to amaze the visitors. It would appear these visitor leaflets are not as rare as I believed. Major Ed Rouse, the webmaster of this site told me that in the early 1970s when he was a member of the 1st PSYOP Battalion they were still doing these demonstrations. By the way, the Gabriel Demonstration Area was featured at the start of the John Wayne movie, The Green Berets.

The Only Way a Leg…

Leg is an insulting term used by airborne troops for any soldier that is not airborne. The Airborne trooper can blouse his Class A pants inside his jump boots while the non-airborne qualified soldier cannot. I found these training leaflets in a file from Okinawa and I thought they were for a war game at first, but I now believe they were being used as a recruitment tool by the 7th PSYOP Group headquartered there. There are four different backs. The messages are mixed, some pro-Special Forces, others anti-Special Forces. In order of length of message the first is:

LEGS ARE ALWAYS LOSERS

JOIN THE WINNERS – THE GREEN BERETS

The second message is:

As wise investors, we would sure like to buy several Special Forces soldiers for what they are really worth and then be able to sell them for what they think they are worth.

The third message is in the form of a safe conduct pass.

SAFE CONDUCT PASS

ARE YOU –

Working more but enjoying it less? Misunderstood? Understood? Underfed? Overfed? Treated unfairly? Treated fairly? (But who wants to be treated fairly? You deserve a head start, right?

If so, come over to our side where you will be treated as you desire and deserve. All are welcomed except Special Forces types. We are all out of peanuts.

The 7th PSYOP Group

The final message is rather long and basically congratulates soldiers for their high scores in the PT tests and in an IRONMAN contest.

We Are Your FRIENDS

These leaflets were produced by the 1st PSYWAR Battalion for the 82nd Airborne in an attempt to gain the locals trust. We know the 1st PSYWAR Battalion existed from 1960 to 1965 so that dates the leaflets. The first leaflet depicts a member of the Airborne Division shaking hands with a local. The text on the front is:

We Are Your FRIENDS

The back is a text message that says in part:

CITIZENS of FONTANA

The men of the 82nd Airborne Division, America’s Guard of Honor, have come to your great nation as friends and protectors. We ask that you cooperate with us in every way possible to put down the guerrilla movement in your land…Please help us to help you. Each piece of information you supply to the 82nd Airborne brings you one step closer to that peace which we all so dearly seek.

We Are YOUR Friends!

The second leaflet bears the “All American” patch of the 82nd Airborne and depicts paratroopers dropping from the skies. The text on the front is:

We Are YOUR Friends!

The back is a long text message that says in part:

People of Fontana:

The 82nd Airborne is capable of handling any situation which it might face, but there are two ways of executing any job. There’s the hard way and the easy way. We think you will agree people choose the easy way whenever possible. That is why we are making this appeal to you. We are seeking your help so that our job of freeing your country of subversive elements will be swifter and less painful for all concerned…If you hear of a planned raid or something of that nature, don’t hesitate to tell us about it. It may quicken the enemy’s downfall. It is your patriotic duty as loyal Fontana citizens to assist the 82nd Airborne, your friend in time of need, just as soon as you gain any information which may be of value to us.

The 82nd Airborne Division

Looking at this article today there are 17 mentions of the 82nd Airborne Division. Since they were part of the war games on so many occasions, I thought I might add some of the tactics that the PSYOP units used against them. All of these are comments directly from PSYOP troops. It just shows how serious their efforts were, and curiously, also shows that some members of the enemy forces gave them information to see how it would work on their own people:

My favorite mission against the 82nd on Bragg: their Company Commanders and Personnel Section (S-1) gave us detailed personal information. We got some amazing feedback because one of our troops happened to get separated from us and ended up in the middle of their movement and radioed back the reaction to the personal tidbits we used. It was highly effective, and they sent people to try and stop the broadcasts by catching us. We managed a high-speed exit without getting detected or stopped.

On a few training missions we went through their dumpster down in the 82nd to get Intelligence on the unit we were to aggress against. Other times we would try to get close to their encampment and glean intelligence that way. The senior Non-Commissioned Officers loved it but the officers and lower enlisted hated it. In fact, during the run up to operations and during planning, it was the senior NCO's from the 82nd that provided valuable information that we could use during our broadcasts while keeping a not so comfortable distance. We did the same sort of stuff to Ranger students during techniques training (swamp phase) down in Florida.

On one mission a radio telephone operator fell off the back of a truck with a full CEOI (Communications-Electronics Operation Instructions – “Code book”). We hit them by loudspeaker and on their secure nets. It stymied them for days. Our vehicles with the full list of Passwords and challenges walked right in the front door and we were able to broadcast and wreak havoc in their perimeters.

I never took part in such high-tech operations. I go back to the 50s, where you lined up against each other and fired blanks or sometimes just said “bang.” There were cases when the two sides would argue about who fired first and who was dead and that might lead to a fistfight on the battlefield. When in the Headquarters tent, I saw bird colonel told his unit was destroyed and throw a hissy fit with “I did not move my unit 2000 miles to be told I was decimated on day 2 of this wargame,” win the argument, and his unit returned to the battle. When I was training troops and acting as the aggressor, I pulled some little tricks on them. American kids are not born killers and rather than pull the trigger immediately, will sometimes argue. When asked a password, I would give a false one and when challenged tell the sentry that he should have been told it was changed an hour ago. I “killed” many a kid while he argued. Once I did a cartoon trick when we got them to pop up and defend their location on a pitch-black night. You literally could not see your hand in front of your face. I backed into their formation as they returned to the foxholes walking backwards, I was just another defender. When everyone was settled down, I popped a “Flashbang” grenade in the middle of them and wiped them out. The oddest thing we did as aggressors was drive out in the dark in a truck marked with a big Russian star and call “chow.” A bunch of the kids learning infantry tactics came out of their holes to get fed. We killed them all of course. One kid said, “I would have come out if you had yelled “pizza.” I remind the readers, these were young soldiers just learning their trade, not hardened veterans.

Too Hot?

Another leaflet that mentions the airborne troops is aimed at the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, part of the 82nd Airborne Division. Its subordinate units currently constitute the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. This leaflet actually uses a little humor on the front, something not often seen. A trooper tries a taste from a boiling pot made by the mess sergeant and his face explodes. The sergeant innocently asks:

Too Hot?

The back of the leaflet discusses the next few days of the maneuvers and how boring they will be. The PSYOP unit promises to send “reading matter from out of the blue and voices in the wind.” The unit that prepared this war game leaflet is the 3rd Reproduction Company of the 1st Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Battalion based at Ft. Bragg, NC.

This is what your life can be like…

Leaflets that promise sex and good treatment are always popular. One war game leaflet that just barely uses a sexual theme is coded “Army Ft. McPherson Ga 1277 / 51.” It depicts a young man in a swimming pool talking to a pretty girl on a diving board. The text on front is:

This is what your life can be like in an Aggressor Rest Camp. It's up to you.

The back is all text and tells the American troops how to defect to the aggressor side where they will be sent to a "rest camp" to meet young women. One of the more interesting lines of text is:

How about a Holiday?

This hand sign [Two hands up in surrender] is your “ticket” to an Aggressor Rest Camp.

And don’t forget to bring some ready cash. Remember, you can buy beer, cokes, cookies and other snacks at an Aggressor Rest Camp…

While you could be enjoying a holiday

A similar leaflet obviously made by the same unit using some of the same people is “Army Ft. McPherson Ga 1277/51” in that it shows the same pool on one side but with two men and two women sitting under an umbrella and the test:

You could be enjoying a holiday…like this…at the Aggressor Rest Camp. How about it Soldier? The choice is yours.

The back depicts a tired and dirty soldier in the field with the text:

Why sweat your guts out day after day under a burning sun – crawling through the brush and sand and dirt…

Vacation on Vieques

Another war game leaflet that uses sex as a theme was prepared for use on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. This island was used for naval training for several decades since about 1941 and the eastern end of the island was used for live training exercises, ship-to-shore gunfire, air-to-ground bombing and US Marine amphibious landings. There is a roughly 11,000-acre Eastern Maneuver Area for Marine Corps ground exercises. Puerto Rican nationalists demanded that the U.S. Navy stop using the island for live firing exercises and the Navy agreed.

The front of the leaflet is coded “TID 3- 2” (Tactical Information Detachment 3, leaflet 2?) and depicts two beautiful girls in bathing suits. The text is:

Vacation on Vieques

Beautiful Caribbean isle but…

The back of the leaflet is all text and says:

Not for you soldier. Only heat, barracuda, sharks, bad chow, mosquitoes, poison cactus and Aggressor, a first class fighting man. Remember – aggressor treats prisoners right!

Instructional Leaflets

Sabotage

Sometimes leaflets can be used to train the troops on various survival methods and military knowledge. This training leaflet depicts a Special Forces Staff Sergeant on the front wearing his Green Beret with a belt of ammo and a rappelling rope over his shoulder. He points at the leaflet reader and says: WATCH OUT. The back of the leaflet is a discussion of sabotage with information on Molotov Cocktails, arson and hand grenades.

 

We're Getting Combat Ready Too

This training leaflet is instructional and tells the soldier about the Field Service organization designed to make life in the field just a bit easier. It doesn't hurt that the leaflet shows a pretty blond girl in a jeep on the front. The text on the back explains that the teams will go into the field to help run "rest camps" so that the men need not be sent back hundreds of miles. The teams need training too so they are taking part in the maneuvers. Each unit has books and magazines, a snack bar, beer, and when weather permits will sponsor dances for the troops. I have never heard of this organization so am not sure if this is propaganda or legitimate. I have my doubts…

Atomics

Not many of the training leaflets use the atomic bombs as a threat. This one does. It shows what appears to be a mushroom cloud on one side and the other is all text. The leaflet was printed on very thin paper so the text bleeds through the picture. We don’t know who prepared this leaflet, but the code is FPP-USARAL-761-53-(C). We have no idea what that means but it seem to be an Army Reserve unit in 1953. Some of the text on the other side mentions “Cease resistance” and that is interesting because it seems to be using WWII American leaflets for Japan as inspiration. The mention of secret weapons seems inspired by German WWII propaganda. The text is:

REMAINING RESISTERS –

We have bad news for you today. A large number of our secret weapons have arrived. We have tried to point out that your lives will be forfeited if you did not cease resistance. You have not heeded our words.

SURRENDER OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES.

You are probably saying, “What are the consequences.” That, only we know. We control your destiny. We will not tell you if death will come fast or slow and agonizing. But, come it shall if you do not

CEASE RESISTANCE.

Cold Pine 1

Red Liberation

This 6th PSYOP Battalion leaflet depicts a prison camp and a graveyard. On the back the text is:

RESIST

You have nothing to loose. This is what the red liberators have in mind for you.

There is one error in the spelling that makes the leaflet virtually worthless. Propaganda language should be perfect, but this one uses the word “loose” instead of Lose.”

Soldiers of the Red Army

This sort of leaflet has been very popular among military forces for decades, I call them “death and disfigurement” leaflets, and they are generally considered to be ineffective because the people that study the field claim that it appears to the enemy that the maker is bragging and shows no mercy toward his foes. I have seen them in every war and usually they look worse than this with the dead soldier horribly burnt or scared. Military field manuals warn against their use, but the PSYOP troops just love to make them.

The back of this leaflet warns that the enemy is facing an elite U.S. Division and they are dying for nothing:

How can you continue to fight for leaders who consider you expendable? Give up this needless bloodshed; sling your weapons muzzle down and resist this incompetent leadership.

I have a large group of leaflets prepared for Cold Pine 1, but I am unable to find any data on the exercise. I do see that one leaflet is addressed to the citizens of Charleston, so I assume this game was played in South Carolina. If any reader can tell me more, I encourage you to write.

Leave…before it’s too late

This 9th PSYOP Battalion training leaflet is from the early 1980s. The message is very modern and warns the enemy that aircraft can follow the radar beams right back to the source and send rockets to destroy them all.

Iraqi Freedom Leaflet IZD-1006

During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 the Iraqis were warned about turning on their radar. The leaflet depicts a Coalition aircraft attacking a radar position. The text is:

Before you engage coalition aircraft, think about the consequences.

Bright Star

Bright Star 1977

Operation Bright Star started about 1981; a biannual 10-day war game with the United States and Egypt working together. This went on until 1991 when Operation Desert Storm occurred and there was no need to play at war. The war games returned after the end of the Persian Gulf War. The leaflet depicts a face in the clouds blowing against Soviet tanks and aircraft and protecting Allied tanks and aircraft. The text on the front and back is:

The Bulletin of Bright Star 1977: With the strength of the Khamsin winds. The Allies of the Green Country have arrived in Egypt.

The International Alliance promises to end the aggression of the Orange country. You are now about to meet the strongest military in the world. You will surely suffer defeat.

6,000 American troops took part in this exercise with the Egyptians, Italians, French, Kuwaitis, British and United Arab Emirates. The Khamsin is a hot, dry, dusty wind in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that blows from the south or southeast in late winter and early spring. It often reaches temperatures above 104° F, and it may blow continuously for three or four days at a time

A Vietnam Practice Leaflet

As I said above, PSYOP troops believed that leaflets showing dead enemy would destroy their morale while psychologists believed it would make the enemy fight more intensely. Here is a practice leaflet drawn during the Vietnam War. This particular leaflet was never perfected and disseminated, but a dozen others very similar were prepared and airdropped over the Viet Cong. The artist also drew a leaflet with rats eating a freshly killed corpse but it was considered too controversial to be placed on a leaflet.

 

Without seeing them Again

The training leaflet was prepared by the 1st Leaflet and Loudspeaker Company, probably in Korea. It depicts a dead American soldier bleeding from the head on the ground. Near him is his M1 carbine. The back of the leaflet depicts a mother with two young children.

The 1st Loudspeaker and leaflet company was sent to Korea in 1950 and officially authorized in January 1951. The M1 carbine was an issue weapon during the Korean War. The language is in English. The only logical reason would seem to be that it was prepared by our own people prior to or during the Korean War as a training exercise. Perhaps at some later date the text would have been translated into the Korean or Chinese language and the dead soldier would be dressed in a Communist uniform with a Russian or Chinese-made weapon.

Surrender and Stay Alive

This training leaflet was prepared in Korea, I believe as a training exercise for the Eighth Air Force. It is a standard surrender leaflet with the offer of good treatment and food. It is odd that the text is in both English and Korean, but perhaps the English writers were being graded as were the Korean translators.

Don’t worry about it, Pal…

This training leaflet was prepared by the 15th Psychological Operations printing branch on Okinawa in 1966. We can tell that although it targets U.S. Forces, it was used in South Korea because there is a line of text in Korean at the bottom. It attempts to divide the clerical and non-combat troops from the infantry and other combat specialties by pointing out that this is not their job and they should just relax and wait for it to end. We could call it a malingering leaflet. Such were printed and disseminated by the Germans in WWII.

Feasting with la’Femme

The 1st Leaflet and Loudspeaker Company also prepared this training leaflet that depicts a Leader of a mythical foreign country having a feast with a beautiful woman. The text on the back is in the form of a poem. It says:

Your Commander’s chow is caviar with wine,
While upon cold chow you dine.
He’ll commit you to slaughter make no mistake.
Join Blue forces and of freedom partake.
SURRENDER NOW!!

Curiously, in 1990 when Saddam Hussein attacked the rulers of Kuwait he disseminated similar leaflets of their royal family in Europe drinking with western women.

WARNING

This leaflet was prepared by the 6th Battalion for Practice ARTEP III. In the military an ARTEP is an “Army Training and Evaluation Program.” The front depicts a family being marched away by armed soldiers. The back is all text and says in part:

WARNING

Repressed citizens of White! Leave this area immediately. Do not let yourself be used as a human shield behind which the cowardly capitalist forces will hide themselves in the struggle for liberation.

Cortina

Handshake of Freedom

The Island of Aragon is roughly six hundred miles east of Atlantica, and is divided into three distinct nations: People’s Democratic Republic of Acadia, the Republic of Cortina, and the Republic of Victoria. Cortina is rich in natural resources and vital to U.S. interests, but is highly unstable due to political corruption, ethnic strife, and right wing insurgencies. The Cortina Liberation Front, a domestic terrorist organization, is supported by the PDRA and has recently stepped up its violence. Their goal is to overthrow the Cortina government. The United States isn’t going to let that happen. Joint Task Force Cortina, comprised of conventional land, air, and sea elements, as well as special operations forces, has been sent to the area. They’ve been ordered to help with the counterinsurgency, provide security, and offer humanitarian aid where it’s needed. This simulated invasion is one scenario used during the three-week field training exercise at the U.S. Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The large poster-leaflet (8 x 10-inches) was printed by the 745th PSYOP Company from Dallas Texas. It depicts the friendship between U.S. forces and the Government of Cortina.

You Choose

The above leaflet depicts a family with the option of following the path to democracy and peace, or death and the grave. Text on the back is:

You choose, the enemy is death and the Government is Democracy and Liberty

Attention U.S. Soldiers

Two more colorful leaflets were dropped on U. S. Army basic training recruits at Ft. Stewart, Georgia, in 1971. They were dropped from a helicopter during a mock war game. The leaflet above and below were both printed by the 92nd PSYOP Company, based on Ft. Stewart. The above leaflet is very colorful and depicts the flag of the Aggressor (enemy) force. The short text is:

ATTENTION U.S. SOLDIERS

SAFE CONDUCT PASS

The back is all text and addressed to soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division. It tells the finder that he can defect to the enemy and will receive a one-day pass to Savannah, Georgia. Upon his return he will be allowed to play tennis, swim at the pools and go to the movies. He will get full credit for his basic training. There will be no harassment or details. This has all been approved by the 3rd Army and even if his commander denies it, he knows he must follow the rules.

Did you enjoy being gassed?

The second Ft. Stewart leaflet is more comical. Every recruit goes through the gas chamber where he gets to know what it is like to be tear-gassed for a few minutes before being allowed to put on his mask. There are lots of funny stories of recruits standing in the tear gas and singing the Marine hymn or the Ballad of the Green Berets. The idea is to have the men confident in their masks and understanding that tear gas will not kill, it will simply make you really uncomfortable. This leaflet depicts several recruits probably just leaving the gas chamber and they are suffering. The text is:

AMERICANS: Did you enjoy being gassed? Did all of your masks work? Don’t worry, there’s more to come.

In general the masks always work, but sometimes in haste to put on the mask the recruit will not get a tight fit and then the gas will seep into the mask. That is why you drill on getting the mask on quickly and properly.

The text on the back is:

GAS!! Compliments of the Circle Trigon [the Aggressor symbol of a triangle within a circle] and there’s more to come.

I am old enough to remember training with the old MSA chemical masks. They had the chemical in a canister at the bottom of the mask and since dampness would harden the chemicals, you had to remember to pull off a piece of tape that covered the air holes and kept the interior dry or you could not breathe. There were always a few people that forgot.

I can remember a particularly cruel lieutenant that loved to squeeze the rubber hose going down to the canister and once said to me “Can’t breathe, can you Johnny?”

My pal Major Ed told me another story:

My father told me about his worst gas experience. He was a judge during an exercise conducted after WWII. The exercise included a CS tear gas attack. My dad positioned himself where he could best observe the attack yet have minimal exposure to the gas. Although he would still be exposed to a little gas my father believed that putting up with a minor irritation would still let him see better than restricting his vision with the protective gas mask. As the first whiffs of gas came his way he realized something was horribly wrong. He quickly put his mask on only to vomit into his mask all the way to his eyeballs. Someone either unknowingly or intentionally had substituted vomiting gas for the tear gas. That was the first and last time my father opted not to use his gas mask.

A GERMAN OR AMERICAN TRAINING LEAFLET?

This is a very strange propaganda leaflet. It was found in an old family Bible presented to person named Robert Finn in 1940. The current owner believed it was a wartime souvenir dropped by the Germans. There are some problems with that theory. First, the leaflet is coded "AGG-5." There is no such code from WWII. The Germans had one close at "AgG," for use in Northwest Europe. Close, but no cigar. The image on the front depicts an alleged German soldier shooting at Allied parachutists coming down from above. But the German is wearing a type of helmet with a ridge raised up in the center, the type sometimes used by US aggressor troops in war games. The text is in English if used against the Allies as it should be, but at the bottom there is a sentence in German. That makes no sense because the American finder would not be able to read it. Worse, it has the text:

This leaflet is yours for an exercise in the maneuver.

An exercise in like a wargame where soldiers train to attack and defend. Maneuver can mean movement or it can be an operation. Why would the Germans give their men a souvenir. I suppose there might be some unknown reason for such a leaflet, but I suspect this was a training leaflet used as a test for some PSYWAR artist, and as a joke he added the line in German. I would love to hear other explanations. The text on the front of the leaflet is:

You'll Turn to Dust

The text on the back of the leaflet is

YOU’LL TURN TO DUST

The very second you jump into this fight. That’s because we’re waiting and READY! Someone told us you chaps were coming. Too bad your celebrated British Intelligence slipped. Should be a good show, though for us. There’s nothing we like better than sitting back and taking potshots at you helpless blokes, dangling on your 'chutes in midair. Not very sporting, we’ll admit, but we can’t go duck hunting just now. You’ll be quite expendable. Should be a dusty day. What? We don’t mind. We’re good at dusting things off.

Team Spirit – 1978 – South Korea

ROK/US Team Spirit

Team Spirit was a joint military training exercise of United States Forces Korea, and the Military of South Korea held between 1976 and 1993. The exercise was scheduled from 1994 to 1996 but cancelled as part of diplomacy to encourage the Government of North Korea to disable the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

The front of the leaflet depicts a tank in the field and the text:

Exercise Team Spirit 1978

SMASH THE ENEMY IN THE FIRST ATTACK

Exercise Leaflet

CINC US-ROK

Combined Forces

The back of the leaflet has five lines of text in both English and Korean:

1. Please pay special attention to airdrops and low-altitude flights during the training period.

2. If you find an unexploded bomb or other hazardous material, do not approach or touch it and report it to the nearest military or police agency.

3. During the training period, please refrain from approaching military vehicles, heavy equipment, or aircraft, and yield the right of way to military vehicles.

4. If damage occurs to people, crops, or other damage, please apply for compensation to the Compensation Review Committee of each district public prosecutor's office.

5. If you see an injured soldier, provide assistance and immediately contact the military or police.

DOs and Dont's

A second leaflet displays a Special Forces insignia, the American and South Korean flags, and two hands shaking. At the top of the leaflet are the words AIRBORNE and Don’t. The text is:

1. Do not inflict damage to crops, property and livestock.
2. Do not insult women.
3. Do not threaten people.
4. Do not show selfish attitudes or rudeness toward people.
5. Do not get drunk or gamble with people.
6. Do not mistreat POWs.
7. Do not insult or beat people.

The back of the leaflet depicts what I believe is a Korean Airborne symbol and the word Do. The text is:

1. Do respect people, both their person and their property.
2. Do provide service and material benefits to the people.
3. Do protect people from the danger of war.
4. Do strengthen good civil–military relations.
5. To protect and respect archives and cultural relics.
6. Do return all the seized goods.
7. Do arrange for all damages inflicted.

  

A North Korean Answer to the US-ROK Exercise team Spirit 

Note: About the same time that I was placing these Team Spirit leaflets in this article, my friend, researcher Hollen Song also found a North Korean leaflet attacking Team spirit. I add it here with his permission.

Team Spirit – 1990 – South Korea

The above leaflet bears the flags of the United States and the Republic of Korea. It depicts troops on parade. The back of the leaflet used cartoon characters and symbols of the United States and Korea inside designs. The text is:

Strengthen Cooperation

This exercise will help maintain peace by building the strength of ROK/US combined Forces

Exercise leaflet

Blue Forces are Invincible

This leaflet is more in the form of a tactical leaflet and depicts Jet planes, helicopters, rockets, tanks and fighting men and the text in English:

Blue forces are invincible through ROK/US partnership

The back of the leaflet depicts various Korean troops in action and the Korean language text:

Sky and Land, ever victorious invincible Blue Force.

Orange/Brown forces, you have been surrounded. Any futile resistance against Blue Force would mean nothing but death. You have one chance...

Foal Eagle – 1982 – South Korea

Exercise Foal Eagle is a combined field training exercise (FTX) conducted annually by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and the United States Armed Forces under the auspices of the Combined Forces Command. It is one of the largest military exercises conducted annually in the world. Foal Eagle has been a source of friction with the government of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and domestic ROK critics.

FOAL EAGLE is a purely defensive exercise which tests the ability of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to defend itself, assisted by U.S. armed forces. It is primarily a rear-area exercise in which troops defend against invading forces, hostile special forces and commando attacks, or sabotage operations on critical rear-area targets. It also tests stability operations, onward movement of critical assets to the forward area, special operations, ground maneuver, amphibious operations, combat air operations, maritime action group operations and counter special operations forces exercises.

1982

Front

EAGLE TRAINING
EXERCISE FOAL EAGLE
COMBINED ROK-US SPECIAL FORCES – DESTROY THE ENEMY!

The text on the back is all Korean:

Eagle Training

This Eagle exercise is intended to demonstrate the combined military power and capabilities of the ROK-US special forces to successfully carry out operations. We ask that you support the special forces soldiers in the following areas.

1. If the ROK-US special forces soldiers ask for directions or other intelligence information, please respond.

2. Do not go near unexploded ordnance or explosives. If you see them, report them to the military or police.

3. Do not enter areas where military operations are being carried out and do not interfere with military operations.

4. Assist injured personnel and report their location to military and police agencies.

Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)

Cooking Saddam

During the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) the United States produced about 29 million leaflets. As always, there were many practice and test leaflets prepared and evaluated by the PSYOP units as they prepared for war. These are called “Developmental artwork.” The leaflet above did not make the cut. I have copies of about 100 of these early drafts of leaflets. Here is a very early sketch one artist drew of Saddam holding his soldiers over a fire which certainly is meant to represent the Coalition forces.

Death from Strafing

This leaflet did not quite make the cut but it is pretty good. A U.S. fighter strafes, bombs and virtually annihilates an Iraqi soldier. No text needed. Notice the developmental art is signed at the bottom right and dated 14 December 1990 at Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia.

Desert Fox

Coalition Forces bombing Iraqi Tanks

American Air Force, Naval, and Marine aircraft, the British RAF, and Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched against military targets in Iraq from 16 to 19 December 1998. The official explanation for this four-day attack was that it was retaliation for Iraq's refusal to allow the inspection of sites as stated in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 687, agreed upon at the end of the Persian Gulf War. The name of this operation was Desert Fox. Four leaflets were prepared early, then another four. Of the eight, only four were actually dropped. We show one of the non-disseminated leaflets which we will call developmental art.

The front of this leaflet depicts three A-10 Warthog fighters flying over a pair of burning Iraqi tanks. The text is:

Iraqi Soldiers. Go back or face your destruction.

The back of the leaflets depicts two A-10 Warthog fighters being directed to an Iraqi tank by U. S. satellites. The text is:

Iraqi Soldiers. We are watching you.

Hungry Warthogs

Here is another early leaflet prepared before the actual shooting phase of the war that did make the cut. However, the artist was one of the Army's best so very similar leaflets depicting Coalition aircraft attacking Iraqi tanks were prepared and dropped and this is clearly a precursor to those leaflets.

People who Co-operate

Four years after Desert Storm in 1994, The United States entered Haiti as part of a military campaign named Operation Uphold Democracy aimed at returning President Aristide to power. A number of propaganda leaflets were prepared and disseminated. At least six were prepared and not approved for distribution. I show one here. It depicts a Haitian solder throwing his rifle away at the left and shaking hands with a U.S. soldier at the right. I suspect the leaflet was disapproved because an almost identical leaflet was used during Desert Storm, except it was reversed because Arabic is read from right to left. Text on the back is:

People who cooperate will be paid. People who cooperate will have jobs. People who cooperate will be part of Haiti's future.

Preparing American Troops for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan

Fort Johnson

Besides the various active-duty PSYOP troops that were sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, there are also many soldiers from the Army Reserves. All those troops need to be brought up to speed before they reach the units they are assigned to. How is that done?

Fort Johnson (formerly Ft. Polk) is the home of the U.S. Army Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) with the motto "Forging the Warrior Spirit." The rote of the JRTC is to replicate as close as possible everything in the environment that the soldier-player will discover when deployed.

The trainees go through various scenarios where they meet with the local people, agree, disagree, argue, convince, etc. The concept is to learn how to live and befriend people with different customs and languages.

REWARD

This leaflet was used in a scenario where a terrorist was being hunted. I assume the troops had to convince the people to turn her in.

An Explosive Warning Leaflet

This “explosives” warning leaflet was used in the "Pacifica" scenario when the 1st Styker Brigade was trained up before deployment. The United States has tried hard to protect civilians against picking up explosives on the ground thinking they are harmless or toys. This is a common warning leaflet, showing various explosives and offering a reward for their location. U.S. Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians will then be sent to disarm or blow up the explosive in place. At the bottom you see the words "For training purposes only," so this shows that it is a training leaflet to be used in a scenario, probably involving an improvised explosive device. The front and the back of the leaflet are the same. The text says in part:

If you see a homemade bomb, don’t touch it.

Point at it at from a distance of 300 meters.

Report it to Coalition Forces.

Russian Training Propaganda Messages for Interoperability 2016

Many of the leaflets above mention radio broadcast and tell the enemy what stations to listen to. In 2016, the Russians held a war game where they broadcast anti-NATO messages. I thought it might be interesting to add their training broadcasts here. The training exercise was called “Interoperability 2016” and combined the forces of Russia and its old colonies; Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The message was transmitted in several languages, including Russian, German and English:

NATO soldiers! You are being deceived! You are not peacekeepers! Lay down your weapons! You are fighting on the foreign territory. With your treacherous invasion, you have interrupted the peaceful life of an innocent country. You will be brought down by a just revenge and an anger of the people that have never been defeated in war. Drop your weapons and stop being puppets in the hands of your leaders!”

Mistakes

The Gray Wolf

Loudspeaker operations can sometime go wrong. In August 2020, the Canadian Army’s 36th Canadian Brigade Group was training when their Reserve PSYOP people thought up a wonderful plan that could be used to demoralize and frighten an enemy force. Such things had been done in other wars, most notably the sound of tigers recorded and played against the Communist forces during the Vietnam War. The Canadian plan used loud recordings of WOLVES howling in the woods through a loudspeaker. To make the campaign more realistic and forceful, they also prepared a leaflet in the form of a forged letter that appeared to be from a government ministry. The letter used a forged logo of the province’s wildlife division and was signed be an official of that division. The letter stated in part:

On the 3rd of August 2020, the Department of Lands and Forestry of Nova Scotia in conjunction with the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada untook [sic] the significant act to reintroduce the Gray Wolf to the forests of Nova Scotia, Unfortunately, the ‘pack’ has migrated to the Annapolis Valley floor in search of easy pray [sic] and livestock…If a Gray Wolf is encountered, do not provoke, engage, or feed the animal. Back away slowly while remaining calm—do not turn and run.”

That is a common leaflet used in such operations and I have seen training leaflets that mentioned disease, spiders, ticks, poisonous snakes, and similar creatures meant to scare the enemy. Of course, the PSYOP specialists edit the text carefully to be sure it is correct. Misspelled words immediately point it out as a fake and the PSYOP unit producing such an item loses all creditability.

The letter somehow got out into the public who flooded the ministry with question which led to the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry stating on Twitter:

Alert: This letter has been showing up in some mailboxes. It’s fake. We do not know who circulated it or why. There have been no Gray wolves released anywhere in Nova Scotia by any government agencies.

In this case, Reserve troops put together a campaign that embarrassed the Canadian Army and the PSYOP unit. The Canadian Army’s 36th Canadian Brigade Group apologized for the fake letter. The entire operation was investigated by the government to make sure such a panic was not created again.

Training Leaflets used for Recruitment

Try a Real World Mission

Tired of the Same Old Thing?

I had no intention of adding these two leaflets because they are clearly recruitment tools. But, I looked at my old notes from about 1998 and although it was a recruitment drive, it was used as a training exercise for the 6th PSYOP Battalion. I wrote at the time:

The leaflets were targeted at all the soldiers at Ft. Bragg, NC, who were coming to the end of their first enlistment. It was a training exercise, with target audience analysis and pre and post dissemination testing. The leaflets were issued as a “boarding pass” for the aircraft at a Saturday fun jump [Only paratroopers can jump out of perfectly good airplanes and call it “fun”] run by the 4th PSYOP Group. Posters were also printed and placed on manned sandwich boards along the route of the 82nd Airborne Division Run during All American Week in 1998. One of those was a photo of a division run with the term "Step out from the group.” Some of the PSYOP troops were “called out” by senior Airborne Division NCO's who didn't take kindly to the poaching attempts.

Training Leaflets That are Just Plain Weird

Sometimes you see leaflets that are just strange and almost unidentifiable. This is a small group that fits that description. The collector that owned them called them Korean War Leaflets though he admitted he was not sure what they were. 

  

Two Dubious Korean War Leaflets

The above two leaflets were offered for sale as “Korean War Anti-US Propaganda.” The owner is honest enough to add, “I have never seen posters like this before.” They are about 8 x 13-inches in size, hand drawn in pencil. No code numbers appear on the leaflet/posters and the back is blank. I have seen such leaflets, usually produced by PSYOP soldiers in training who draw them as part of the learning cycle. The pictures and text are then studied by experts and graded as a learning guide. Or they might just be drawn by someone who felt artistic and wanted to express himself. The owner says, “From the estate of a collector” and estimates their value as $99 each.

The first leaflet depicts an individual the owner calls a “First Battalion Marine,” looking into a cloud of smoke, fog, or gas. The text is:

Where Is The 1st Bat?
There in That Cloud of Gas...You Don't Have to Be with Them...
Surrender Now!

The second leaflet depicts a man sitting with his sexy wife on his lap at the top, and below the same man as a soldier on the ground facing an enemy. The text is:

Where Is Your Wife Tonight...
And Where Are You?

The Leaflet That Explains It All

This third leaflet was offered for sale a while later, now at $35.95. But one word gives it away. When there are war games there are aggressors and defenders. No enemy leaflet is going to admit that they are the aggressors. So, by adding that single word they tell us that these were prepared for a war game (or training) and the side that wanted you to surrender was the Aggressors. The leaflet depicts three people advancing into death and destruction, one represented “Wall Street,” one a “Political minded General,” and the one in front is a “U.S. Marine.” The text is:

SURE MARINE!

“From the Halls of Montazuma,” remember? Not quite the same now…is it? You were a sucker then…why now? Think… come over to

AGGRESSOR!

[Note]: “Montezuma is misspelled.

Memories of War Games

A Wartime Postcard features Maneuvers

I always like to add a little personal touch to these stories. Way back when, about six decades ago, when you took part in a war-game, if you saw an enemy you literally called out: “Bang! You are dead!” Sometimes the enemy would agree and sometimes he would argue that he was not dead. If there was an umpire he would decide, if not, it got interesting. I recall one pitch black night when we were protecting an installation and spotted some enemy troops. One of our guys shouted: “Bang, you are dead” and the enemy shouted back “F-you!” That meant war. There were no umpires, so our guys rushed out and immediately there was a brawl and members from both sides decided to solve the problem with fisticuffs. The good old days!

MILES

Soldier outfitted with MILES equipment

Years later, to solve just such problems, the multiple integrated laser engagement system, or MILES was invented. Both sides had attachments to their rifles that only shot a laser when the weapon was fired, and both sides wore multiple sensors on the uniform and helmet so that if he was hit, a bell rang until an umpire came and shut it off. If you shot him, everyone within a city block would know it and there was no argument. This was an excellent training tool and ended a lot of late night brawls. Also, since the laser only worked when the blank rounds in the rifle were fired, it required the soldiers to keep the weapon clean and in good condition and use good firing discipline. No ammo, no MILES.

MILES "God Gun"

Decades later, when I acted as a judge, I had a God Gun. That was a hand-held laser that shot out a wide beam that covered a large area. If I wanted to check and see that all the soldiers had batteries in their MILES (Yes, soldiers have been known to cheat,) I could just pull the trigger and they all would go off. If I did not get a loud ringing from every single soldier, somebody was in deep doo-doo.

I should also mention that the God Gun was a great training tool. I could tell my squad to totally camouflage themselves and make sure that no part of their head or body was exposed to the enemy. Once they were ready and thought they were invisible in the vegetation I could use the god gun to see if they were vulnerable. There were always one or two squeaks or whistles that told me that although there was not enough exposure to set off the alarm, the sensors had picked up the waves coming close. That was such a valuable teaching tool because it showed the soldier that part of his body was exposed and taught him to really use cover and concealment. After a while I could shoot the gun at them all day and not a peep from the brush. They were truly invisible.

I was thinking of all the funny things that happen during a war game and another situation came to mind. It was 60 years ago and I am probably a private First Class up on the Canadian border. It is about zero degrees and freezing cold and it is maybe 0200. We are all suffering from the cold with just fatigue jackets. Your nose runs to the knot that holds the hood closed and freezes and you need a screw driver to chip the ice and untie the knot. I discover there is a heated latrine just behind our defensive position. I go and in find this wonderful warmth, sit down on the toilet and promptly fall asleep. I awake about 0400 and look down and there are heads all around my feet. I carefully open the door and there are bodies all over the floor, maybe as many as 20, some heads practically in the urinals. Apparently, I was not the only person to discover that a heated latrine is a nice place for a quick nap on a bitter cold night. Americans will find a way to adapt, adjust, and persevere.

This has been just a very brief look at some of the early leaflets drawn by artists who were being training to work in PSYOP and those leaflets produced in the field for war games or as developmental art. This story could be 10,000 words long, but most of the leaflets are not very good because of the experience of the artists and the conditions they worked under. The leaflets would get much better as they learned their trade and were placed in an organization that had the finest papers, pens, inks and cultural experts.

We invite anyone who cares to comment on this story to write to the author at sgmbert@hotmail.com.