No, I was stationed as security for a PsyOps team in Gardez, Afghanistan for four months in 2003.

I suspect very few people have any first hand experience with "PSYOP" (MISO now). Its mostly reservists, they were kicked out of SOCOM for a reason (the reservists at least), and Civil Affairs does all the stuff people actually care about anyway.

The real manipulation of a population is being undertaken at levels so far outside that military structure, its almost unrecognizable.

Sounds like one particular viewpoint that, while somewhat relevant, doesn't actually shed much light into this vastly different (both geographically and temporally) situation.

Don't close your mind just because you know of one instance of the thing being discussed; you anchor yourself to a specific point in time.

"Winning hearts and minds" isn't a bad thing on its own - NATO forces are objectively better than islamic extremists like ISIS and the Taliban - but acting like our military is wholly altruistic is naive at best and purposefully disingenuous at worst.

No one here was acting like anyone's military was wholly altruistic...

>Don't close your mind just because you know of one instance of the thing being discussed; you anchor yourself to a specific point in time.

Person with zero experience lecturing someone who actually performed the role, in service of the country, is such a HackerNews thing.

Bonus points for referring to their real-life experience as "somewhat relevant".

The fact that you think this person performed the PsyOps role means your lack of reading comprehension undermines your scolding tone.

But please, tell me more about what a "HackerNews" thing this is.

What part of the parent post is movie-like? I may be too cynical, but I don't see a difference between "the same job as brand influencers" and "spread (dis)information"

Because most of their job isn’t spreading disinformation but rather providing good PR for recruitment at home or in the Middle East countering the disinformation campaigns that the likes of ISIS run unless you think that their recruitment operations are not disinformation.

The British army information warfare unit also famously runs the BBC radio relay station in Cyprus providing access to the Middle East and parts of Asia.

"Good PR" is also seen as the lack of bad PR. Like when we drop a bomb on a school and kill a bunch of kids. PsyOps are the ones who pay off the village.

What makes you think the good PR is not disinformation?

"They're just like brand influencers" makes them sound worse, if anything.