The Security Assistance Group (SAG)'s mission was to work with cross-Whitehall agencies to achieve the goals of Defence Engagement and Building Stability Overseas Strategies. 77th Brigade was created to draw together a host of existing and developing capabilities essential to meet the challenges of modern conflict and warfare.[9] In 2015, the UK
government said the unit's objectives would be similar to those of the SAG. Specifically, it is to:
Provide support to other government departments in the aim to achieve stability overseas; lead on special influence methods; build military capacity in all stages of conflict.[7]
Laurie Clarke in Wired described the brigade as a "psychological operations unit responsible for 'non-lethal' warfare that reportedly uses social media to "control the narrative", as well as disseminating UK government-friendly podcasts and videos".[13]
Warfare Today says of the brigade that it is a combined regular army and reserve unit "for non-lethal warfare and behavioural influence", based at Denison Barracks,
Hermitage, Berkshire.[14][dead link]
Military Stabilisation Support Group (MSSG)[18] - Stabilisation and Conflict Prevention. The Group was tasked with civil-military work in conflict zones or unstable areas.[19] It was a hybrid unit consisting of both regular and reserve soldiers of all branches of the British armed forces.[20][21][22][23] Under the
Army 2020 concept, the MSSG has been placed under the command of the 77th Brigade.[24] The MSSG was led by a colonel and had three detachments and a specialist detachment, each led by a lieutenant colonel.[25] It used to be under the
Royal Engineers.[26] It has worked in many UK operations most notably Afghanistan, where it won an award for humanitarian work and helped to win over the population's minds from the Taliban.[27][28][29] The MSSG has also helped with conflict prevention in Uganda, Sierra Leone and the Philippines.[30][31]
In July 2015 and October 2015, the headquarters and four subordinate elements were reshaped into six 'Columns'.[32]
No.1 Column - Planning support focusing on the behavioural analysis of actors, audiences and adversaries
No.2 Column - Provided
reachback support to deployed operations
No.3 Column - Provided deployable specialists to other parts of the Armed Forces and other Government organisations
No.4 Column - Provided professional specialists in Security Capacity Building
There was no No. 6 Column for historical reasons.[33][34]
Activities
The Brigade participated in a two-week disaster relief exercise in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. It deployed to the Philippines in April 2015 to assist the Philippines Government in developing their contingency plans for natural disasters.[35] 77th Brigade has formed a formal partnership with the 361st Civil Affairs Brigade, US Army Europe.[36]
The Brigade uses social media such as
Twitter and
Facebook to influence populations and behaviour.[10][11]David Miller, then a professor of political sociology at the
University of Bristol studying British government propaganda and public relations, said that it is "involved in manipulation of the media including using fake online profiles".[37][8]
In September 2019, Middle East Eye reported that Gordon MacMillan, a Twitter executive with editorial control over the Middle East and North Africa, is also a reservist officer in the 77th Brigade. Both Twitter and the British Army denied that they have a relationship or agreement. Miller said it was hypocritical of Twitter to close accounts alleged to be connected with non-Western governments while having links to the British Army.[38][39]
On 22 April 2020, during the UK government's daily coronavirus briefing, General
Nick Carter confirmed that 77th Brigade are working with the Home Office Rapid Response Unit "helping to quash rumours from misinformation, but also to counter disinformation".[40][41][42]
On 7 May 2020, The Economist interviewed Carter on the role of 77th Brigade in fighting
COVID-19 pandemic disinformation.[43] The Defence Cultural Specialist Unit was used to monitor the internet for content on COVID-19 and to look for evidence of disinformation related to COVID-19 vaccines.[44] An army source later told the Mail on Sunday that this involved monitoring of the UK population. A government spokesman stated in response "These units used publicly available data, including material shared on social media platforms, to assess UK disinformation trends and narratives. They did not target individuals or take any action that could impact anyone’s ability to discuss and debate issues freely."[45]
^Mackie, Colin (1 October 2020).
"Generals October 2020"(PDF). gulabin.com. Colin Mackie. Retrieved 3 November 2020. Brigadier I. Alexander J. Turner Commander, 77th Brigade, November 2020