AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

INFORMATION SUPPORT AFFAIRS

(PRACTICAL WAYS OF IMPLEMENTATION)

AFP Core Values: Honor, Service, Patriotism

 SUN TZU’S ART OF WAR QUOTES

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” 

“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”

“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To
subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

“Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme
excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

“Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he
captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom
without lengthy operations in the field.”
 CMO Triangle
ENEMY

ds

De
N
or

ed
IO
W
ISA

AC
AT

TI
Counter Propaganda
M

O
OR

N
Ci
o
F

v
nf

ic
IN

Civil
I

Public

A
ic

ct
bl

Affairs Affairs

io
Pu

n
Community Relation Civil Relation

PUBLIC/ RELATION Community/CIVIL

COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES
 ENEMY
ENEMY

N
IO

ISA

AC
AT

ISA

TI
Counter Propaganda
M

ON
OR
F

Counter Propaganda
IN

Public Civil
Affairs Affairs
Community Relation Civil Relation

PUBLIC/ RELATION Community/CIVIL

COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES
 INFORMATION SUPPORT AFFAIRS DEFINED

• Planned activities conducted to INFLUENCE the Beliefs, Emotions, Behavior,

Attitudes and Opinions of the target audience (enemy and its mass base and
supporters) to redirect unfavorable attitudes & behavior into favorable, and to
transform neutral or passive attitude & behavior to become favorable towards the
accomplishment of the unit’s mission.

* PSYOP tends to connote propaganda, brainwashing, manipulation, and deceit.

“TRUTHFUL INFORMATION CREDIBLY CONVEYED”

 INFLUENCE vs PERSUASION
Convincing someone to do what you want them to do is persuasion. On the other hand, influence is part of
your identity. Influence is your presence. Influence is a part of who you are. When you are being truly
influential with people, you achieve a state known as conversion, rather than compliance.
In the Code of Influence, Paul Mascetta defines these states as:
“COMPLIANCE is when someone does what you want them to but you haven’t necessarily affected their
belief system.
“CONVERSION is much more powerful. Conversion is when you completely change someone’s belief
system.

Source: Jackson, T. (16 May 2017). Leadership Skills: Persuasion and Influence. Retrieved from
https://aboutleaders.com/leadership-skills-persuasion-and-influence/#gs.7xs4cn

Persuasion is presenting a case in such a way as to sway the opinion of others, make people believe certain
information, or motivate a decision.
Influence is having a vision of the optimum outcome for a situation or organization and then, without using
force or coercion, motivating people to work together toward making the vision a reality.

Source: DeFalco, N. (30 October 2009). Influence vs. Persuasion: A Critical Distinction for Leaders. Retrieved
from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/influence-vs-persuasion-critical-distinction-leaders
 ISA vs DECEPTION
ISA Deception
- Anchored entirely on the truth. - Refers to the act—big or
- The message to be conveyed small, cruel or kind—of
must be based from “honest, causing someone to believe
credible and trustworthy something that is untrue.
sources of information.
Credible sources are, after all, Source: Deception (n.d.). Retrieved from:
the most persuasive.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bas
ics/deception
 
Source: Paul, C. (2010, July 29).
Psychological Operations by Another
Name Are Sweeter. Retrieved from
https://www.rand.org/blog/2010/07/psych
ological-operations-by-another-name-
are-sweeter.html
 ISA vs DECEPTION

ISA Deception
- Psychological operations are - Military deception is described as
defined as "operations to convey being "those actions executed to
selected TRUTHFUL information deliberately mislead adversary
and indicators to (foreign) audiences decision makers as to friendly
to influence their emotions, motives, military capabilities, intentions, and
objective reasoning, and behavior. operations, thereby causing the
adversary to take specific actions (or
inactions) that will contribute to the
accomplishment of the friendly
forces' mission.'

Source: Kastenberg, J.E. (2007, July 1). Tactical Level PSYOP and MILDEC Information Operations: How to
Smartly and Lawfully Prime the Battlefield. Retrieved from
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1433&context=law_facultyscholarship
 OBJECTIVES OF ISA
• to REINFORCE favorable attitudes and behavior
• to REDIRECT unfavorable attitudes and behavior and make them favorable
• to TRANSFORM neutral or passive attitude and behavior to become favorable
 COMPONENTS OF ISA

ENEMY

• 1. WORDS – ISA
• Involves the DISSEMINATION of any INFORMATION,
concept or idea through the various media
• Involves the PRODUCTION of any INFORMATION,
concept or idea and disseminated through the various
media
• “COMMUNICATION PRODUCTS.”
ISA

Counter Propaganda
Examples of Words-ISA products & activities: Medium:
• leaflets, brochures, comics, posters, books, • Face-to-Face
streamers, billboards, documentaries, TV and • Printed
radio plugs, text messages, etc.
• Audio
• radio programs, social media operations, text
• Audio-visual
blast, loudspeaker operations, etc.
• Objects or merchandize
• Information technology (IT)
 COMPONENTS OF ISA

ENEMY
• 2. DEEDS– ISA
• Involves the conduct of COMBAT and NON-
COMBAT activities, outside of pure communication
activities to influence the BEBOA of the target
audience.
• Examples:
• combat operations, conduct of checkpoints,
mobilization of stakeholders to conduct rallies
ISA and demonstrations, guerilla theater operation,
‘medcap’, livelihood projects, etc.

Counter Propaganda
 COMPONENTS OF ISA

ENEMY
• 2. COUNTER-PROPAGANDA
• RESPONSE to ENEMY PROPAGANDA.
• …aims at neutralizing the harmful effects of the
enemy’s propaganda efforts
• Counter propaganda themes capitalize on the
weaknesses and inconsistencies of the enemy’s
propaganda.

ISA

Counter Propaganda
THE ISA PROCESS
1. Identify information requirements (e.g. current intelligence,
comprehensive area studies, intelligence estimates,
current cultural information, etc.)
2. Request for necessary information from the intelligence
community

PHASE 1 PHASE 2 1. Examination of

(PLANNING) (TARGET AUDIENCE
 
ANALYSIS) conditions
MISSION
2. Examination of
behavioral impact of
potential target
PHASE 7
(EVALUATION)
PHASE 3 audiences
Confirmation of (SERIES DEVELOPMENT)
MOEs

PHASE 6 PHASE 5 PHASE 4

(PRODUCTION, (APPROVAL) (PRODUCT
DISTRIBUTION, DEVELOPMENT & DESIGN)
DISSEMINATION)
INTELLIGENCE – ISA FUSION
• As well as in other military operations, ISA also require intelligence of the enemy. The
relationship between intelligence and ISA must be close and continuous since ISA requires
timely, accurate, and most importantly, relevant intelligence about the enemy. Without proper
intelligence, an entire ISA campaign could be directed toward the wrong audience or could
produce undesirable consequences. (Dortbudak, 2008)

• The intelligence requirements for ISA are significantly different from those of conventional
operations. Conventional units need intelligence about adversaries’ forces, numbers, order of
battle, weapons systems, and course of action; however, ISA units need information concerning
the perceptions, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, sensitivities, and patterns of rational and
nonrational behavior of adversaries. In addition, the collection method of these requirements
also differs from the operational intelligence requirements. Intelligence for ISA can best be
obtained through human intelligence and open intelligence sources, such as newspapers,
magazines, books, academic journals, and foreign broadcasts. (Dortbudak, 2008)
INTELLIGENCE – ISA FUSION
• The greatest demand for detailed intelligence support to ISA takes place during
phase II (Target Audience Analysis) and phase VII (Evaluation).

• During phase I (Planning) of the ISA process, planners identify information

requirements and use the intelligence process to request needed information
used in conducting Target Audience Analysis in Phase II.

• Phase II (Target Audience Analysis) includes thorough examination of the

political, military, economic, cultural, religious, and psychological or social
conditions that make up the operational environment and impact the behavior of
the audiences within that environment.

• Intelligence plays a critical role in Phase VII (Evaluation) by confirming or

denying established measures of effectiveness (MOEs).
ISA INTELLIGENCE REQUIREMENTS
• ISA intelligence requirements include current intelligence, comprehensive area
studies, intelligence estimates and current cultural information

• Facts/actual information about the threat organizations:

o Organizational structure of the threat groups

o Possible COAs that threaten national security
o Corruption within the threat organization
o Recruitment process that leads to violence
o Information on laws violated by the actions of key personalities and which
have not been exposed previously in media
o Facts about the threat organization’s leaders, including their lifestyle, vices,
etc.

• Chronological history of atrocities perpetrated by the organization, complete with

all the facts will be effective in ISA efforts
ISA INTELLIGENCE REQUIREMENTS
• Real time photos/videos/documents recovered by the military

• Actual statements/testimonies of Former Rebels who have either surrendered

voluntarily or have been captured during military operations, provided these are
sanitized by the Intelligence

• Other facts may include:

o Government officials, private entities, and businesses with identified links to threat
organizations;
o Syndicates that provide support to the threat groups;
o List of identified websites and social media accounts linked to the threat organizations;
o List of identified Schools and Universities which serve as haven for recruitment;
o International Organizations providing logistic and financial support to the threat
organizations;
o Data on business establishments, and its network, which are source of financial resources
for the threat groups to carry out their operations e.g., mining, agriculture, transport;
o National Organizations supporting the threat organizations.
 ISA PRODUCTS AND ACTIVITIES
• IDENTIFYING THE ISSUE
o Consider existing information from the following factors:
- History
- Geography
- Security
- Religion
- Economy
- Social
- Political
- Education
- Culture
- Health and Sanitation
- Media and Communication
 ISA PRODUCTS AND ACTIVITIES
•DEVELOPING AN ISA OBJECTIVE

o The purpose of the ISA Objective is to state the desired behavior changes in
selected Target Audiences that will best support the accomplishment of the
supported commander’s mission
o Written in a sentence using a “verb – object” structure. The verb describes the
direction of the desired behavior change. The object is the overall behavior to
be changed. Some action verbs commonly used in ISA are “reduce,”
“decrease,” “increase,” “build,” or “gain.”

Examples:
Decrease interethnic violence in the AO.
Increase participation in the electoral process.
Decrease effectiveness of opposition forces.
Decrease injuries resulting from mines and unexploded ordnance.
 ISA PRODUCTS AND ACTIVITIES
•DEVELOPING A SUPPORTING ISA OBJECTIVE

o Supporting ISA Objectives are the specific behavioral responses desired from
the Target Audience to accomplish a given ISA Objective
o Written in a sentence using a “subject – verb – object” structure
o The subject is always “TA.” The “verb – object” combination describes the
desired behavioral change in much the same way as the PO

Examples:
TA surrenders to coalition forces.
TA destroys coca crops.
TA increases voting.
TA turns in military-grade weapons to local authorities.
TA reports the location of IEDs to authorities.
ISA OBJECTIVE: Increase Support for the Provisional Government

What measurable and observable behaviors would characterize “support for provisional
government?” What are the specific behaviors ISA Soldiers want the TA to engage in?
Enlisting in armed forces.
Joining police forces.
Reporting insurgent activity to government authorities.
Voting in government elections.

Guidelines for developing Supporting ISA Objectives:

Can you count the number of times that the behavior occurs? Answer should be “YES.”
Will someone else know exactly what to look for when you tell them the behavior? Can you see
someone performing this behavior when it occurs? Answer should be “YES.”

SISAO 1: TA enlists in the armed forces.

SISAO 2: TA joins police forces.
SISAO 3: TA reports insurgent activity to local authorities.
SISAO 4: TA votes in government elections.
 ISA PRODUCTS AND ACTIVITIES
•IDENTIFYING THE APPROPRIATE TARGET AUDIENCE (TA)

o TA must have the ability to accomplish the Supporting ISA Objective.

o Types of ISA TA:

1. Organizations - Military units; political, religious, or social advocacy

groups; profit-making enterprises; political or legislative bodies; unions; charities;
and professional associations

2. Demographic Sets – Geographic area (region, district, town, or province),

Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Tribe, Socio economic status(rural poor, urban rich ,middle
class, elite, and so on), Occupation, Religion, Education level, Political affiliation.
 ISA PRODUCTS AND ACTIVITIES
•IDENTIFYING THE APPROPRIATE TARGET AUDIENCE (TA)

3. Leadership - Leaders can make very effective TAs, as they can

potentially affect the thoughts and actions of those they lead. However, they are
not easily susceptible to persuasion by PSYOP. When leaders can be persuaded,
the impact can be tremendous.

4. Key Communicators - Identifying and communicating with key

communicators, whether they are teachers, principals, religious figures, town
elders, or prominent businessmen, can be very helpful. A key communicator can
also be used as a spokesperson in a series of ISA products. The use of key
communicators can significantly enhance the credibility of ISA.
 ISA PRODUCTS AND ACTIVITIES
•DEVELOPING AN ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

o Assessment criteria are written as questions that, when answered, describe

trends in behavior change. Establishing a Baseline Data should also be a part
of the assessment.

Examples:
How many voting-age civilians registered to vote?
How many voting-age civilians voted?
How many anti-terrorism public statements were made by civilian leadership?