Military Re-Brands 'PSYOP' for New Age

The old military term PSYOPs - for psychological operations - has a new handle designed to make the practice sound less sordid: Military Information Support Operations - MISO for short - is now official Pentagon jargon despite the snickers of actual psychological operations officers in the field, the National Journal reports.

“The term ‘PSYOP’ tends to connote propaganda, manipulation, brainwashing and deceit,” Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote in a confidential memo - obtained by the Journal - authorizing the name change. “As a result, a wide range of military-information related activities and capabilities became tarnished by the term.”

MISO, however, is not going down smoothly with the military’s PSYOP professionals, who “took a millisecond ... to deride the new acronym,” the Journal reports.