Joint US Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO)

The Joint US Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) was an interagency organisation created in 1965 by the US Embassy, Saigon, the US Operations Mission, and the US Information Agency as part of the US Mission in South Vietnam. JUSPAO co-ordinated all US psychological and information programs in South Vietnam. These programs explained and interpreted US policies to Vietnamese audiences. JUSPAO was also responsible for providing overall policy guidance to and co-ordination of US psychological operational efforts through analyses of captured Viet Cong and North Vietnamese papers. From these sources, they developed, advised, and supported countrywide psychological operations (PSYOPS) that involved the Vietnamese national media and the Vietnamese Ministry of Information. In the field, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) executed PSYOPS with JUSPAO providing support, especially for pacification and development programmes. Ultimately, JUSPAO was responsible for evaluating through captured papers PSYOP activities in the field and on the national level in order to determine their validity and effectiveness. These captured papers were compiled and distributed by the North Vietnam Affairs Division of the JUSPAO in the US Embassy. After Dec 1967, these notes were distributed by the Minister-Counsellor for Information, and after Oct 1972, by the US Information Service Branch of the US Embassy.