Most people think warfare only happens with bullets, bombs, or blades. But today, some of the most dangerous battles are fought in your mind—through news feeds, social media posts, and subtle manipulation campaigns designed to shape your perception of reality.

These campaigns are called influence operations, and they’re not science fiction. They’re happening right now, run by governments, corporations, criminal networks, and even activist groups. They are bundled under the new 5th Generation Warfare moniker.

At Sentinel Combatives, we believe true self-defense isn’t just about protecting your body. It’s also about protecting your mind from being hijacked.

What Are Influence Operations?

Influence operations are deliberate efforts to manipulate what you believe, how you feel, and what you do. Think of it as weaponized information. They combine elements of:

• Disinformation: False or misleading information spread intentionally.
• Misinformation: False information shared by people who believe it’s true.
• Narrative Control: Highlighting certain stories, while ignoring or burying others.
• Psychological Pressure: Using fear, outrage, or tribal identity to drive behavior.

The end goal is simple: to control your decisions without you realizing it.

Why Civilians Are Targets

You may not think you’re a “target,” but civilians are the primary battlefield of influence ops. Why?

• Election Cycles: Swaying opinions or suppressing voter turnout.
• Consumer Behavior: Steering you toward or away from products, services, or causes.
• Social Division: Amplifying conflict to weaken unity and make populations easier to control.
• Operational Cover: Criminal or extremist groups spreading disinformation to mask real activity.

If you consume media, you’re in the fight—whether you know it or not.

Signs of an Influence Operation

How do you know when you’re being targeted? Look for these red flags:

1. Emotion First, Facts Later: Content designed to trigger outrage, fear, or anger before offering evidence.
2. Repetition: The same message repeated across multiple platforms and voices.
3. Anonymous Sources: “Experts say” or unnamed officials driving a narrative.
4. False Binaries: Framing an issue as only two extreme choices, with no middle ground.
5. Astroturfing: Fake grassroots campaigns using bots, paid commenters, or artificial follower counts.
6. Sudden Virality: A story that explodes overnight with no clear origin.

Influence ops don’t want you to think—they want you to react.

How to Defend Your Mind

You don’t need a degree in intelligence analysis to resist these operations. You need a few disciplined habits:

• Pause Before Sharing: If it makes you angry, stop. That’s the point. Verify first.
• Source Check: Who’s saying it? What’s their track record? Who benefits if you believe it? Always, always, always check your sources.
• Cross-Verification: Compare coverage from different outlets—especially those outside your bubble. The general rule is to compare reporting on a particular topic with two separate and independent resources.
• Bot Awareness: If the account has no history, no face, and posts 50 times a day, it’s likely not human. The majority of what you see on X is generated by a Bot. It is a weaponized account that is working to create an emotional response.
• Language Cues: Watch for manipulative language—“everyone knows,” “only idiots think,” “this proves.”

Resisting influence ops is less about what you believe, and more about why you believe it.

Building Mental Resilience

Like physical training, mental resilience is built through repetition and discipline:

• Digital Hygiene: Limit time on toxic platforms. Curate your feeds to reduce constant noise.
• Critical Thinking Drills: Practice analyzing headlines without reacting emotionally.
• Information PACE Plan: Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency sources of news (not just one outlet).
• Tribal Awareness: Recognize when someone is trying to weaponize your identity against you.

The stronger your mental filter, the harder it is for anyone to hijack your thoughts.

Final Word: Own Your Mind, Own Your Decisions

Influence operations are a form of psychological warfare. They don’t require armies, just algorithms and amplification. The untrained mind is soft terrain, easy to exploit.

At Sentinel Combatives, we teach that true self-protection means defending the whole person—your body, your tools, and your mindset. By learning to detect and resist influence operations, you shield yourself and your family from one of the most insidious threats of the modern age.

📧 Contact: jerry@sentinelcombatives.com
📞 Phone: 828-415-0826