Date
12-19-2024
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree
Master of Arts in History - Thesis (MA)
Chair
Allen C. York
Keywords
Vietnam War, Psychological warfare, PSYWAR tactics, U.S. military strategy, Propaganda operations, Psychological operations (PSYOP), Vietnam conflict narratives, Military influence campaigns
Disciplines
History
Recommended Citation
Libro, Brandon J., "The Other War: The Evolution of United States Psychological Warfare in the Vietnam War From 14 May 1965 to 11 September 1966" (2024). Masters Theses. 1244.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/1244
Abstract
The creation of the Joint United States Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) on 14 May 1965 revitalized the psychological warfare (PSYWAR) campaign in Vietnam after decades of post-World War II drawdown and initiated a more targeted and efficient employment of psychological operations (PSYOP) throughout the American war effort. To understand the evolution of Vietnam-era PSYOP, it is imperative to explore the United States military’s implementation of PSYWAR and analyze how it changed throughout the conflict. The challenges the United States faced conducting the “other war” in Vietnam were evident from the start of its involvement in Vietnam, and the PSYWAR effort, overshadowed by the simultaneous conventional war, continued to face obstacles even as the use of PSYOP evolved. Broad investigations of the psychological conflict are prolific, but in-depth analyses of Vietnam-era PSYOP in support of the American war effort, from the creation of JUSPAO to the South Vietnamese Constitutional Assembly elections on 11 September 1966, reveal that it was not static, but rather evolved through a process of adapting to the enemy and the conditions of the war, becoming more focused and effective as the war progressed. Despite the PSYWAR strategy achieving incredible progress in less than two years, leading to the defection or surrender of hundreds of thousands of enemy troops and even the occupation of the Vietnamese countryside to earn the loyalty of the local populace, the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 marked the end of the conflict. More than thirty years later on 16 October 2006, PSYOP became an official branch of the United States Army, and American PSYOP forces at present continue to use capabilities that were first put to use in Vietnam.
