Psychology in warfare has been around since the concept of war. Even in the 5th century B.C., the Chinese knew the importance of Psychology in warfare. It was Sun Tzu, the famous Chinese General who said, To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence. Meaning that, to make the enemy surrender without ever having to fight him is the pinnacle of greatness.
    Psychological warfare can bring about many different outcomes. It can bring about a faster end to a war by
demoralizing the enemy.  Thus, by attacking a demoralized enemy he is eager to surrender, plus it keeps physical
causalities down. Besides, affecting the enemy, a skilled leader can use it in a positive way to increase effectiveness among its troops. An example might be giving the troops extra rations before battle or giving them
spirits to calm them down.
    But generally speaking, its employed to produce four main effects. The first one is to reduce moral and combat
efficiency within enemy ranks. The second is to promote mass dissension and defections from enemy ranks. The third is to support our own allied forces by making use of deception and cover. And the fourth is to promote cooperation among our allies and resistance forces behind enemy lines.
    Problems may also arise if psychology is not used correctly or if it is overly used. Psychological warfare is
like a recipe, you need a little of this and a little of that to have the right outcome. One must inflict the right
amount of dissent, demoralization and be able to instill fear in the enemy to be successful.
    The United States has broken down psychological operations into three distinct categories. They are Tactical, Strategical, and Consolidation. A tactical operation is addressed to a specific enemy combat group, to induce them to perform a specific action that will affect the combat situation. A Strategical operation is similar to
a tactical one, expect that its targeted towards a much larger area. Lastly, a Consolidation operation is a mission
designed to assist the local authorities into maintaining law and re-establishing government into an occupied or
liberated area.
    Psychological warfare has a plythoria of uses. Remember the Alamo! or Give me Liberty or Give me Death!. These are the types of chants and cries that people have used to Psyche themselves up for the upcoming battle
and to help instill a fighting spirit. The radio has helped speed up Psychological warfare operations. During, WW2, the Japanese had a radio personality, nicknamed by the G.I.s as Tokyo Rose. She would try to make the troops homesick and attempt to install dissent by broadcasting various mood songs. An excellent example of how not to use psychological warfare is by the Iraqis in the Gulf War. The Iraqis had a radio personality nicknamed Baghdad Betty. She would conduct propaganda broadcasts to deter and disillusion the enemy. But she forgot to do research on their enemies. Thus, with phrases like, Your wives and girlfriends are sleeping with Tom Cruise, Tom Selleck and Bart Simpson she lost any chance of creditability.
    Another strategy is the use of pen and paper. In the right hands it can be very effective. Another WW2 example is the mass dropping of leaflets and pamphlets on enemy troops. These stated that you were going to be bombed at a specific time and the papers gave instructions on how to surrender. The U.S. government also had an effective propaganda campaign against their own citizens. The government instilled a sense of patriotism by producing posters that connected people to the great cause at hand. The posters helped people stay dedicated and support the troops by buying war bonds. In these instances, the pen is mightier then the sword.
    A soldiers uniform can sway a person to act and look a certain way. A reason the British for the longest time wore red was that if a soldier was shot, the red camouflaged the blood. That way, a solider standing next to him wouldn't turn tail and run. An important part of the uniform in the early 18th to late 19th centuries was the neckstock. The neckstock was designed to keep a soldiers head up and make him more alert. Also, combined with a tall hat, the soldier looks more intimidating.
    Psychological warfare can also have a great effect on the individual solider. A soldier in order to be turned into
a killer must first be conditioned so. At the first stages of boot camp he is made to become desensitized to the cult of violence. He is taught various chants like as every time your left foot hits the ground he is told to yell kill.
Eventually, that soldier will become deseniszted to killing. After becoming deseniszted to killing he is then taught to glorify it. He learns to shoot and bayonet targets. All this helps to break that person down to think of the enemy as less then human.
    In combat, the soldier has many things on his mind. the most important is that of his life. This is were his
training climaxes. Most soldiers experience fear on the battlefield. Its the psychological way that they react to
it. Some soldiers will obviously forget their training and run from danger. Others will simply breakdown on the
battlefield and shake, cry, pray, or go into a daze. Some could experience what is known as a combat high. This is
when a person basically gets an adrenaline rush. This can be dangerous because it gets him hooked. Its like heroine, a soldier needs that to live and ultimately it will get him killed.
    After the battle or war the soldier still feels some effects of the conflict. If the soldier was part of a high-intensity operation his chances for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD) are great. PTSD was once thought of as battle-fatigue or shell shock. People thought that the soldier would eventually get over it. Eventually, PTSD was recognized as a mental problem.
    A soldier experiences PTSD because he was in such a high-stress related act and thus is unable to re-adjust back to civil society. A soldier with PTSD usually has a higher suicide rate, alcohol problems, divorce, chronic
unemployment, heart disease, high blood pressure and ulcers. The only way to ease PTSD is to go to a psychologist and try to work the problems out.
    In conclusion, Psychology in warfare has had a long history dating from the ancients. Man has invented many uses for psychology in warfare. Psychological warfare also has far reaching consequences that can last for a lifetime.