1st Anti-communist miltary conference ( MT IC CLOSED)

[El Cuscatlan]

OOC: I will post first lecture after at least 3 people arrive, and then we will go on "full cycle"

Naval Warfare school in San Alberto, Gran Cuscatlan, was being prepared since the dawn for conference which was about to begin. Thousands of cadets were cleaning and polishing it, ensuring that it will be gleam and clean. Projectors and chairs were being set into the conference room, where the military officers from many counties will meet to exchange their knowledge about various topics of military operations. The major goal of this conference would be to ensure that all anti-communist nations know how to combat the commie threat. And so on, various military officers from many branches and counties will visit this place.

In the middle of this was Admiral Carlos Rodriguez Radder, Cuscatlani admiral with German roots. He was famous for many naval victories he has scored during his long naval career. Tall and well built Carlos looked like he was earning for a living by wrestling alligators. His enormous, muscular body dominated over the horizon like a lone mountain over plains. His short hair and oval face gave him a dangerous look. However, Radder was famous for - ironically - being calm and like a father to his sailors.

He stepped out into podium, and spoke:

"Senores and Senoritas" his voice was calm "Welcome to first anti communist military conference! Please, take a seat, and then let the lectures begin!"

[Aeyariss]

reserved

[West Aurelia]

Escuela de Guerra Naval, San Alberto, Gran Cuscatlán

General Jacob Fitzgerald of the West Aurelian Marine Corps applauded at the end of the admiral's welcome. It felt odd being here. West Aurelia was a member of the IFC and Gran Cuscatlán was a member of SACTO - two alliances which did not get along very well. However, both alliances shared the goal of defeating communism, and the goal of this conference was to discuss defensive strategies to counter the communist threat. As such, Fitzgerald had been sent as West Aurelia's envoy. He was a tall, thickset man, especially for his age of 65 years. A former member of the special forces, he had a menacing glare and was known for having fought off a knife-wielding mugger who was unaware of who he was dealing with. He looked forward to the conference - it was always a good day when you learned how to kill communists.

[Cabana]

Flores stepping off his personal jet at San Alberto International Airport

General Flores stepped off his private jet and waved at the legions of reporters taking photos of his arrival. He was only 31 years old, but his years of fighting in mosquito infested Central American jungles, three years in a prison camp eating nothing but uncooked meat, and the death of his family had hardened him and turned him into a ferocious killer who looked way older than he really was. He knew that today he was capable of helping others end the torture he went through in order to save his homeland.

[McNernia]

The Mcnernians sent a veteran insurgent hunter to this conference and well the man knew how to apply an armored formation to hunt the Communist plauge that had gripped the world since 1917. Acwald Foster wore several medals from his long time of service driving those exceptional vehicles of war. The modern combined arms doctrine was what he had supported as a junior officer and now as a general with pips a crown on his shoulder he was a writer of that doctrine. He had stood up as a battalion commander and written his first treatise on the subject of armored mobility. In the highlands as the dragoons of old had hunted enemies from horses with their brothers the Hussars and Cuirassiers now it was tanks and armored vehicles. He found a free seat with his aid and looked at the man up front. Raeder, veteran navy boy and pretty good.

[Riysa]

Escuela de Guerra Naval, San Alberto, Gran Cuscatlán

Major General Umar Saadeh arrived with a few other officers from the Riysian Armed Forces. Riysa had been a leading member in SACTO's war against the ungodly ideology of communism, so it felt rude and shameful not to have someone present to listen and discuss tactics against the horde of Reds. Saadeh himself, a highly experienced Air Force officer, would be giving a lecture on radar systems and countermeasures, considering how important air power is in this day and age. With him was a major general from the Riysian Joint Ground Forces, a major general from the Military Intelligence Directorate (Idaraat al-Mukhabarat al-Askariyah), and a major general/rear admiral of the Riysian Navy. They packed up together and sat in the front row, eager to listen and learn.

[Darrington]

Placeholder

[Saint Achille]

Major General Mathias Truxton-Chief of Operations, Saint Achille Expeditionary Force
1st Ant-Communist Military Conference-Naval Warfare School
San Alberto-El Cuscatlan

General Truxton stepped through the door into the hall holding the conference. As he did, he pulled the beret from his head and folded it in his left hand. The beret was borrowed from the standard air cavalry uniform, and the white tunic was that of a naval officer. The hybrid uniform spoke to the mixed origins of the SAEF. Compared to the outside, the hall seemed dim. Truxton had never been one for tropical climates. His aide, Lieutenant Crowley, however, was from one of the islands of Lautis and was reveling in the sun and heat. Crowley turned to Truxton,

“Sir, we are in row C, seats 4 and 5.”

Truxton took the schedule from his aide and examined it. He would have a few lectures to sit through before it got around to him. A lecture hall this big with this many speakers, it reminded him of being back at the Allied States Army Academy again. At least here he would not be subjected to Major Davis droning incoherently on ethics.

[ISIL Confederacy]

San Alberto, Gran Cuscatlán

After traveling nearly nineteen hours from the Confederacy, Hadi Abd al-Aziz Mustapha and his two aids finally arrived at Gran Cuscatlan via a private charter paid for by a ISIL supporter nation inside UNIS. The partially crippled man stepped forth from the aircraft wearing a traditional western style of clothing, a nice pair of slacks and a black polo and had his right arm in a sling to keep it's limp form from swinging idly by his side the whole time. Quickly flanked behind him, two other men dressed in traditional ISIL warrior uniforms emerged from the aircraft and quickly followed Hadi down the access ramp. Once they reached the end of the ramp, the two men quickly turned and walked back to the underbelly cargo access panel and opened it, removing a couple of duffel bags and a pair of locked black tough boxes marked "Inert Training Aids" from inside the cavernous maw that was the cargo hold and placing them carefully inside the back of a waiting SUV which was scheduled to take the men to the conference. Once the gear was successfully and uneventfully loaded, the three men seated themselves inside the vehicle and started making their way toward the conference.

A short time later...

The vehicle pulled up in front of the conference, and the three men disembarked onto the concrete sidewalk leading to he front of the elaborate building that the conference was taking place in. Hadi brushed a wrinkle from his sleeve or a brief moment while he waited for his aids to unload the gear from the SUV. Once everything was ready, the trio walked calmly the short distance up the sidewalk to the entrance and entered the building. Inside, Hadi was taken for a moment as the lavish display of wealth that was uncommon for him and his people, as no expense was apparently spared for this conference by the host nation.

A small tap on Hadi's shoulder caught his attention, and the man turned his head to his side and noticed his aid pointing toward a sign along he far wall that was in a foreign language which apparently indicated the way to the lecture hall being used. He nodded and thanked the man and continued to make his way through the building toward the hall, which was only a short distance away thankfully. Upon entering the room, the man indicated his aids to leave the luggage and gear in a storage area tucked up against the back of the room and to standby there out of the way until called upon later. He then picked up a brochure with his gloved good hand and smiled as he made his way to his reserved seat among the others already assembled.

Hadi was slightly taken back by the rather large number of men in attendance for today's conference, as there were certainly more people in attendance then he had originally been told their would be before he boarded his plane. The man had not expected this large of a turnout for the conference, and he was now worried if he had brought enough materials for everyone currently in attendance. He would have to make do with what he had on hand, and hope that Allah would be merciful on him over the coming hours of the conference.

He picked his way through he rows of plush seating, and found his assigned seat, which was behind a pair of men who had already arrived at the conference before him. The white tunic the man on the left was wearing was a little too flamboyant for his tastes, however, and he just sighed slightly at the sight of it. He never would fully understand the ways of westerners, as with such fine tailors at their beck and whim, some chose to waste their talents on such frivolous of things. He adjusted his keffiyeh as he thought about such things, which by it's color and pattern indicated to those that knew of such things that he was a well respected man in the arabic world, and settled in for the for conference.

[El Cuscatlan]

OOC: Since Few people posted, I am posting my first lecture. Those who have not arrived yet, post your arrival, what your character did while listening and possible questions.

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"Since we are all here" spoke Admiral Radder "I am giving voice to Commodore Joao Teixeira! Welcome!"

Commodore Joao Teixeira walked into podium, slowly smiling as he took more and more steps into the place. He smiled then again towards the whole publicity, and spoke with his characteristic Portuguese accent:

“Senhores and Senhoritas, let the conference begin. Thank you for coming here and visiting Naval Warfare School in San Alberto. My lecture will be about countering communist propaganda. We all know that we live in the age of information, and information today – including those spread by commies – are easily accessible via many sources, including, but not limited to, Internet, TV and radio… in the modern world, you are surrounded by information, and many enemies like to take advantage of that fact to manipulate public opinion for their own gain. Now, what is propaganda?”

Here Commodore Teixeria took a glass of water and continued:

“Propaganda is defined as form of communication that is aimed for influence of attitude of the communication target (We call it Target Audience – TA in PSYOP units). Generally, we distinguish three types of propaganda;

1) White propaganda – with visible, real source.
2) Grey propaganda – source may or may not be real, and accuracy of information is not confirmed.
3) Black propaganda – with false sources and used to spread lies”.

Here Commodore Joao switched slides:

“Example of “black” propaganda is disinformation. DISINFORMATION is powerful weapon in the war, often is aimed at key enemy personnel (eg. Commanders) to disturb their ability to fulfil their tasks. Another of such examples is MISINFORMATION – which is spreading false information unknowingly. The best counter on misinformation is simply to ignore it or provide the truth. And then we have classic PROPAGANDA with aim to influencing the adversary’s potential through information. There is also OPPOSING INFORMATION – intentional or unintentional truth used to target enemy, for example capitalizing on collateral damage.”

Commodore Joao switched slides and cleared his throat.

“When we are launching counter-propaganda process, we must first plan our operation – how will we deliver information to TA (Target Audience), how will it affect it…. During the planning process, indicators are to be identified and analyzed. PSYOP planners should – based on their observation – create “Presumed opponent’s plan” and find flaws in it, to exploit them. It would be good also to launch a war game, testing potential outcomes of the operation.”

Another slide was switched.

“During the operation information about the enemy propaganda must be collected and processed. Major sources of the information about propaganda are:

1. Intelligence organizations
2. Public affairs
3. News (both enemy and neutral)
4. NGOs
5. State and public affairs
6. Internet

When we acquired all the needed information, we should proceed to formulate a counter – propaganda plan. In order to accomplish it, we need to analyses the propaganda. We use SCAME technique to do this.

1) Source: a) check the actor taking part in the propaganda b) check Author of the propaganda (as much as you can gather from information) c) Check the Authority of propaganda (how impotant it is? What symbols, themes and individuals it uses? d) check the type of propaganda (black, white, grey ) and verticality/horizontality
2) Content: a) check the presumed objectives of the propaganda b) check the morale c) Voluntary and involuntary information used d) economic data e) Possible enemy’s mistakes f) Intentions g) Geopolitical information.
3) Target Audience: the team must determine for whom was the propaganda prepared. Major types of audience are: a) Possible (for this TA, but not confirmed) b) Transitional (opponent uses this TA to transmit it’s message to final TA) c) Non – Target (Propaganda was not intended for this TA) and d) Final (the major targets of the opponent).
4) Media: a) check Frequency of propaganda spreading b) check placement of the propaganda (where it is placed) c) check the production source d) check the technical characteristics of propaganda
5) Effects: Check intended and achieved effects of the propaganda.”

After Commodore Joao finished, he switched slides and continued;

“Before we move towards the counter-propaganda technique, we must focus on techniques that enemy uses. Some major ones include:

a) Direct propaganda at population back home in face of intervention on foreign Soil. USSR used this technique during Vietnam war, and de facto hippies won the war for Vietcong.
b) Seeking to divide the enemy along national, religious or ethnic lines.
c) Use questions to soldiers regarding their mission (Why are you here? Are you obeying your masters well?)
d) Use themes uniting population against monolithic threat (WA’s quest for world domination, USA as great Satan which wants to destroy Islam etc).
e) Increase threat of being killed on the battlefield
f) Deter local population from cooperation
g) Use misinformation and disinformation to keep our forces from important issues
h) Capitalize on mistakes and collateral damage.
Themes that opponent often uses, but are not limited, include:
1) Differences in friendly forces
2) Fear of extreme physical damage (painful death, tortures)
3) Family at home
4) Using fallen comrades and illegitimate leadership claims.
5) Emotional appeal.”



“How we will combat the enemy propaganda then? Our techniques are multum. Major of them are:

1) Direct Refutation; is when we direct point after point rebuttal of the enemy propaganda. We should use this technique when we have complete set of information about the enemy. However, we must be aware NOT to add strength to opponent’s message or capture unintentionally friendly attention on unknown issue.
2) Indirect Refutation: is when we are attacking some aspects of opponent’s message, thus challenging it in general. This technique does not bring any attention towards the propaganda by repeating certain aspect. We must ensure that the facts used to damage the message are accurate and important to the TA, and avoid name calling not to damage our perception ”
3) Diversion: is when we attempt to diver the attention of TA into more important for them themes. We should focus on really important topic, to capture attention. Critical factors are media used and themes used.
4) Silence: is when we state that enemy’s message is “unworthy to comment on”. The problem with this one however is that sometimes it may allow enemy to simply spread and expand. It’s pros are that it is pretty safe.
5) Denial: is when we are attempting to deny the TA access to enemy message. Jam the radio, ban the newspapers. However, such measures must ensure that TA will not receive negative feedback and enemy will not capitalize on it.
6) Altering: is when we are attempting to alter the opponent’s message. This process must be hidden that it appears that enemy’s message was not changed, but in reality it was. However this technique is dangerous if message is compromised.
7) Conditioning: is when we are preparing the TA to receive the Enemy’s message by providing it with data which will point on our side before the enemy will receive them. Again, the process must be subtle. We must foresee the themes enemy will use, and then prepare the population to receive them. Process must be subtle.
Minimalizing: is when we counter enemy’s propaganda by minimalizing the importance of it to TA.”
Commodore Joao took a glass of water.

“And so on my lecture came to an end. Now, there is time for Q&A section.”

[Mexico de la Nacional]

The Mcnernian general raised his hand politely and when he was called upon he spoke. "Acwald Foster ,Mcnernian Army. If you have propaganda Units working in the field would that not cause you to have less rifles which means more of the enemy is active.?" In Fosters experience dead bodies were all the propaganda that was needed to influence people against terrorism.

[ISIL Confederacy]

Hadi slowly stood after the Mexican General asked his question of the Commodore, and clear his throat before speaking the best he could in the native language.

"General" Said Hadi as he bowed slightly toward the man with his hand over his heart as a sign of respect. "I'm sure the um... Commodore will agree with me when I say that in the modern battle space, one cannot simply ignore the importance of gaining a psychological advantage over ones adversaries, both civilian and military alike. Gaining the trust of the local nationals or installing quaking fear into ones enemies can often be a more effective weapon then any firearm could ever hope to be."

"Besides, speaking from experience as a partisan myself, the resolve of extremism often can't be won through conventional means in most situations, for every time you pull the trigger you do nothing but strengthen the resolve of the... um... combatant as it's just further proof of his cause in his minds eye."

Hadi smiled and quietly reseated himself.

[McNernia]

The Mcnernian general raised his hand politely and when he was called upon he spoke. "Acwald Foster ,Mcnernian Army. If you have propaganda Units working in the field would that not cause you to have less rifles which means more of the enemy is active.?" In Fosters experience dead bodies were all the propaganda that was needed to influence people against terrorism.

OOC:It is Mcnernia not mexico. Anyway you seem to have ignored it.

IC:
The Mcnernian looked at the Arab. "A valid set of points I must confess. There is the psychological aspect of warfare. To have those who are trained as soldiers to fight this shall we say 5th dimension of warfare would you say Commodore?" He sat back down.

[West Aurelia]

"Excellent lecture, Commodore," Fitzgerald said, clapping. "These tactics will certainly be studied by West Aurelia for potential applications. I have but one question - what would be the best course of action in the event of a successful enemy propaganda campaign?"

[Riysa]

The delegation applauded at the conclusion of the speech. The general from the Joint Ground Forces raised his hand. "Thank you very much, Commodore, for this speech. I just had a question; how would you recommend we apply these methods on a tactical scale, on the battlefield?"

[Common Territories]

GEN Thorsten Weissmuller
1st Anti-Communist Military Conference
Naval Warfare School
San Alberto-El Cuscatlan

General Thorsten Weissmuller, traveling aboard an executive jet (owned and operated by the Imperial Army of TECT), was feeling rather lethargic. He would be attending the conference immediatly after departing the plane; so he was already fully dressed in the Foreign Legion's Dress Uniform (farthest left) with his many military decoration medals/awards pinned on for the event. He held his service hat on his knee and his ceremonial sword leaned on his seat. He avoided reading a book, which he had brought along just in case, to avoid the motion sickness he would get just by reading. So he spent the majority of the plane ride thinking or speaking with his guards. A shame since he really wanted to dig into the book this trip since he would have free time to and from the conference; it was a historical depiction of the older Commoner Empire during the times of mythology, how the country was ran and how the myths played into it. But his easily caused motion sickness on planes ruined his attempts at reading, or focusing on anything significant of interest. God he hated plane rides.

His guards, to his dissatisfaction, were Royal Guards from the Guardsmen division. He had wanted to use his own subordinates but big wigs wouldn't allow it; they wanted the best, and most loyal, to be on duty. They were not in their dress uniform nor appropriate public uniforms, but instead wore spiffy clean normal combat uniforms from the service and a standard level of light combat armor. They wore their standard combat helmets and appeared as if they came prepared for a fight. Weissmuller felt like the head of twenty-man asshole; he had no say in how they came prepared, otherwise they wouldn't have been so flashy. Now he had to deal with soldiers dressed for combat for a security mission in a civilian theater. It's a security mission, not a combat mission dammit! At least the big wigs limited their primary weapon to PDF weapons; so the standard layout was a SM Stinger, Mark IX Service Pistol, and combat/utility knife. And of course the flashy bastards wore their standard ballistic masks like it was religiously obligatory; he never understood why they would but they said it didn't inhibit them one bit. Regardless, Weissmuller remains a critic to the policy.

His short cut dirty blonde hair was the only trace of hair on his body. He kept shaved and cut very neat, believing loose hair inhibits and presents itself as a grab hold. For a thirty-nine year old man he didn't feel his age - more like felt his age times some. The years of service, like for any soldier, has drained him physically and mentally; his body, fit for combat and leadership, was showing signs of age and tiredness - though some may say it's the sign of experience that should be respected. His position was on the line too since the Legion didn't keep members over forty in their ranks - though he will probably be the exception since he's the commander and a damn good one on that note. If necessary, he was confident the Emperor would allow him to retain the position for a good long while before replacing him; he had almost regular meetings together with fellow commanders and the Emperor, which felt something of a bond of friendship when they did speak off the collar. Though a man like that, especially so young and powerful, shouldn't be trusted unless you want to be prone to being burned easily. Weissmuller also stood at about six feet tall - much larger then many of the men he commanded who were from shorter races and nationalities. Even with his strong character and physical strength still present, Weissmuller knew he wouldn't be long for his position and would be replaced by a younger version of himself; there are plenty of Commoner officers who fit the bill if not exceeded it. All Weissmuller had to decide when the time came is if he would retire or transfer to a different branch; both were viable options so that's not the issue, the issue being what he wanted to do - carry on his military career or finally retire to form a family, maybe start a business of his own.

Weissmuller had to shrug off these thoughts as his plane made preparations to land. He always hated the take off and landing parts of his travels; it was why he avoided the airborne branch, the air force, and remained nervous as shit when on a plane - sorta ironic since his branch is often deployed via airborne drops or other means of air transit. The stiffness eventually subsided as the plane came to a halt on the runway and the plane docked with a short staircase; it wasn't a large private plane, but big enough to require steps to get down. The first out were his guards, who inspected everything from vulnerability of the open tarmac to the private limo they had ordered; they made sure to check it for bugs, bombs, and even checked the driver's ID out. Royal Guards are thorough bastards and that got on Weissmuller's nerve for the moment, since all he wanted to do right now was just to get off the damn plane already. The team split in two as one squad would accompany the General to the conference; they would guard the vehicle and the General while the other team kept the plane and pilots secured wherever it was stored till they left. It took two orders from the General, something rare for them, for the RGs to not bring their main weapons to the conference; it was uncomfortable for them to have firepower missing, relying only on their sidearm and combat knife for protection made them uneasy since their training valued the relationship between the soldier and the primary weapon - it was their best-friend and a comrade. "You're six foot tall, armor wearing, armed, mask wearing muscle bound machines of war. If someone wants to mess with you, it's obvious they aren't as clever as you are, which im sure you are all capable of being." he reassured them in his natural german, though he would be using english throughout the conference. Since they're only allowed to speak classic Commoner german, it makes it hard to know if they know any other languages. The traditional bastards.

---

OCC: Was totally unsure about the seating situation, how it looked, and how you'd arrange seating. So I did my best

Weissmuller had arrived to the conference moderately on time; he was not late and he managed to beat many of the guests he suspected since plenty of seating was available. He made his greetings, apologized for his security's appearance, and made his way inside to find a seat. Once found, he took it and awaited for the event to begin. Assuming the event had rows of seats, the guards would use a standard formation that surrounded their VIP; one to each side of the VIP and one in front and behind them. If one is taken out then the rest would know and have time to react to protect the VIP - this also allowed the guards to surround the VIP in case he is directly attacked. Today's formation was increased by one man each since they had the extra manpower available, two however remained with the vehicle.

As much as Weissmuller wanted to learn from the event, he didn't plan on improving other's strategies. He was there to learn and transfer the knowledge that he approved of to his commanders. If he could avoid asking questions, making commentary, and suggesting improvements he'd do it. Even if TECT hated reds, commies, and anarchists - it didn't mean these like minded nations don't pose a threat or are allies. He also had to word his own lecture carefully in order to not expose delicate secrets his branch, and the TECT Armed Forces, had in their inventory. Though he was instructed to teach these countries, at least some of them, how to perform the Commoner variation of light infantry warfare in an elite fashion.

As the event unfolded, he listened and perceived as his host nation made their lecture. Commodore Joao Teixeira spoke on countering communist propaganda, a topic the General did not have too much expertise on but still understood quite well. Other units, like special forces and general forces usually handled such things; he even worked with some of them when it came to Damoclea (sending local experts from his own branch to assist) and advised on experts that were sent to New Othman, something very few officers in his rank even had privileged to know of. He listened on and found the lecture pretty simple sounding; something that is easier to learn and harder to put into practice. Regardless, it wasn't much of a learning experience since even he understood these basics. Though he supposed nations not familiar with this brand of conflict would need this info - TECT not being one of them. So Weissmuller continued to listen, regardless he would be reporting it anyways, and watched as other guests made their questions. He got thrown off about having such units on a tactical level. "If officers can't perform such simple tasks and units can't fire a weapon properly then they shouldn't be bothered to be made. It's a waste of money and manpower to send in units not trained properly with multitasking capabilities to the battlefield." He thought to himself. Regardless; Weissmuller clapped at the end and continued to listen to questions closely.

[El Cuscatlan]

"Excellent lecture, Commodore," Fitzgerald said, clapping. "These tactics will certainly be studied by West Aurelia for potential applications. I have but one question - what would be the best course of action in the event of a successful enemy propaganda campaign?"

OOC; I was waiting for more questions.

Commodore smiled:

"Our major goal is to prevent enemy success. We are to counter it. I can not really say what we should do, because it will depend on a lot of circumstances; what propaganda was used, how it was distributed....."

Then the organizer took the voice:

"If none questions follow, I invite you to hear new lecutre! In front of you Riysan Air Force Major General Umar Saadeh, who will explain us the workings of radar!"