History of the People's National Army
Communication and information within PNA
From the beginning of the Liberation Revolution, the Revolution Command perceived the importance of the role of information as an effective weapon alongside the rifle to fight the enemy and to win the battle.
The communication means used during the Revolution, whether newspapers, "El Moudjahid", radio such as "Saout al Djazairal moukafiha" (the voice of fighting Algeria) , press agency, cinema and theatre..., all contributed to the national awareness, to the mobilization of the people in the service of the objectives of the Revolution and to thwart the psychological war waged by the enemy.
Thus, the political commissioners, in charge of information and communication of the armed revolution, invested themselves in this field with modest means to explain the principles of the Revolution and its objectives and to thwart the campaigns of propaganda and disinformation, carried out by the occupying media armada, in order to misinform national and international public opinion.
In addition, and thanks to the genius of these men, such as the authors of 1st November proclamation, those responsible for information and communication managed, within framework and with methodical and effective approach, to mobilize the people around the armed liberation revolution, to enlighten international opinion, to denounce the repugnant practices of the occupier by exposing its false propaganda which it adopted in order to cover its crimes against the Algerian people.
Indeed, the platform of the Soummam Congress, which was held on 20th August 1956, emphasized the importance and the role played by the media and propaganda in the armed struggle “the missions of the political commissar turn around the mobilization, public awareness, propaganda, information, psychological warfare and the management of relations between the people and the European minorities and war prisoners. »
After the recovery of the national sovereignty, the High Command of PNA worked to restructure, to develop and to strengthen its media apparatus.
In that context, the political commissars were responsible for supervising and managing this process in accordance with the requirements of this phase.
That effort enabled the creation of the Central Directorate of the Political Commissariat in 1971, responsible as the central corps for the political orientation of PNA elements. Moreover, this directorate was dedicated to the preservation of the morale of PNA elements and to politically sensitive the personnel within the military institution, until 1989.
In February of the same year, and after the new constitution approval which enshrines political and media pluralism, PNA undertook to comply with the new constitutional texts by withdrawing from political life, by the member’s withdrawal from the political office of the central committee of the FLN party and from the political field to devote themselves to the constitutional missions.
The Central Directorate of the Political Commissariat was converted into the Directorate of Communication, Information and Orientation in 1990, an approach which was comes within the framework of the modernization of PNA structures and their adaptation to the new reality which required the development of a new vision according to the needs of the military element in the fields of communication and information, and according to the rank and the level of responsibilities.
These considerations imposed the development of the communication, information and orientation apparatus with the aim of strengthening the links between the military institution and the nation and of transmitting the real image of the PNA, as an institution among other nation’s institutions.
According to the changes and developments, PNA had to operate transformations in its communication policy by adopting a communication strategy in line with society and our regional environment evolutions; a modern, efficient and effective strategy, commensurate with the missions and the accomplished achievements.
In this regard, and like all developed armies, PNA establishes an annual communication plan which defines the most important aspects and the specific activities in the field of communication, whether internal, intended for its elements or external dedicated to the Nation.
In terms of external communication, PNA communication strategy aims to make available to the public opinion the national defence issues, in order to introduce the armed forces, the nature of their actions and their missions, through the television program Wa Akadna Al-Azm, the radio program Essalil, the review El-Djeich, official communication organ of People's National Army, the review El-Djoundi, the official MDN website, seminars, conferences, open doors, visits for the benefit of the media, information days through regional information centres, museums... etc.
In the same way, the internal communication, the new communication strategy aims to establish an atmosphere of trust between the elements of the military institution by informing them of everything matter concerning their institution, through the field visits, conferences and seminars and through the internal site of the press and information unit as well as by electronic administration.
Therefore, Communication is an essential factor in the managing process of the military institution and in decision-making, but also a means to anchor the values of solidarity, the culture of military discipline, compliance with directives, the maintenance of cohesion spirit, the development of collective work between the chiefs and the subordinates who must form one and single solid and coherent entity from the top of the hierarchy to its base.
From there, the strategy adopted by PNA took into consideration of credibility and efficiency aspect in order to achieve the objectives set, by transmitting an objective message, sincere and frank, devoid of any ambiguity, taking care to simplify the information in order to be accessible to all categories.
Army and fight against terrorism
If the National Liberation Army already faced the most powerful colonial destructive power, killing innocent people, and was the cause of a thousand of widows and orphans, pushing off the families from their land and destroying homes and properties, the People’s National Army, for its part, fought yesterday and still continuing to fight, an enemy no less dangerous than the previous one, which is barbaric terrorism practiced by small groups which rebelled against divine values and laws, and against customs and the rules accepted by all, in collusion with the forces of the evil inside the country and abroad.
In front of this scourge, People's National Army supported by the various active forces of the Nation, succeeded in proving its loyalty to the message of the martyrs, by preserving the republican state and its institutions, after having been threatened with collapse, thanks to the constancy of the elements of our armed forces, their spirit of discipline, their military righteousness, their harmony and unity of their ranks and their determination to ensure the security, stability and unity of the National territory.
These are the values that the enemy tried to destroy by using rumour, malicious propaganda and declarations, expressed by people who sold their souls to the devil and who put themselves at the service of the enemies of Algeria, propagated by certain media knowingly manipulated and also corrupted; but People's National Army faced with determination and firmness.
The Algerian military strategy developed in the field of the fight against terrorism was global and complete, following integrated plans and common to the different security components, to combat this scourge based on the collection of information.
Moreover, a reorganization of the military units was necessary; indeed, the circumstances required the creation of military units with advanced abilities in order to be able to face up to this new kind of threat, with special training, equipment and weapons according to the types of combat imposed by criminal groups; as an example, the transformation of the military sectors into operational sectors to respond to new missions, in accordance with the instructions issued by the General Staff of People's National Army on 10th July 1994.
Thus, the operational sectors were reorganized by placing, under the authority of their commanders, a joint general staff, an intelligence unit, an operations centre, a transmission centre and a communication and coordination detachment with the National Gendarmerie and the National Security, and each operational sector has been divided into operational sub-sectors, and special anti-terrorist units have been formed, composed of elements with adequate physical and mental requirements, adapted to the guerrilla tactics adopted by criminal groups.
In addition, the formations of the great units of People's National Army accomplished their missions on two fronts; on the one hand, they were involved in the fight terrorism missions to preserve the security of the country, on the other hand, they continued combat training and preparation to maintain their operational readiness for combat, which has provided significant expertise and experience in the defence of national sovereignty.
On the other hand, Algeria has worked to constitute a regional front to combat this scourge, by creating the Committee of Joint Operational Staffs, on 21st April 2010 which brings together Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, in order to strengthen cooperation and to coordinate efforts between the countries of the region in this field.
While the units of People's National Army confronts terrorism alone and continues to uproot it from this pure land, Algeria has called, from the beginning, the international community, inviting them to join forces to face up to this transnational phenomenon before this danger which threatens international security and stability worsens, but some international parties have been hesitant and the attitude of some of them was lamentable and shameful until the greatest power the world is targeted on 11th September 2001, by striking one of its most sensitive centres; from there, international public opinion realized the gravity of this cross-border phenomenon against which Algeria has always warned, which strengthened its international position in this field, and confirmed the effectiveness of its global approach in the fight against terrorism and the capacity and the effectiveness of our armed forces within the face of these asymmetric threats.
From the beginning of the Liberation Revolution, the Revolution Command perceived the importance of the role of information as an effective weapon alongside the rifle to fight the enemy and to win the battle.
The communication means used during the Revolution, whether newspapers, "El Moudjahid", radio such as "Saout al Djazairal moukafiha" (the voice of fighting Algeria) , press agency, cinema and theatre..., all contributed to the national awareness, to the mobilization of the people in the service of the objectives of the Revolution and to thwart the psychological war waged by the enemy.
Thus, the political commissioners, in charge of information and communication of the armed revolution, invested themselves in this field with modest means to explain the principles of the Revolution and its objectives and to thwart the campaigns of propaganda and disinformation, carried out by the occupying media armada, in order to misinform national and international public opinion.
In addition, and thanks to the genius of these men, such as the authors of 1st November proclamation, those responsible for information and communication managed, within framework and with methodical and effective approach, to mobilize the people around the armed liberation revolution, to enlighten international opinion, to denounce the repugnant practices of the occupier by exposing its false propaganda which it adopted in order to cover its crimes against the Algerian people.
Indeed, the platform of the Soummam Congress, which was held on 20th August 1956, emphasized the importance and the role played by the media and propaganda in the armed struggle “the missions of the political commissar turn around the mobilization, public awareness, propaganda, information, psychological warfare and the management of relations between the people and the European minorities and war prisoners. »
After the recovery of the national sovereignty, the High Command of PNA worked to restructure, to develop and to strengthen its media apparatus.
In that context, the political commissars were responsible for supervising and managing this process in accordance with the requirements of this phase.
That effort enabled the creation of the Central Directorate of the Political Commissariat in 1971, responsible as the central corps for the political orientation of PNA elements. Moreover, this directorate was dedicated to the preservation of the morale of PNA elements and to politically sensitive the personnel within the military institution, until 1989.
In February of the same year, and after the new constitution approval which enshrines political and media pluralism, PNA undertook to comply with the new constitutional texts by withdrawing from political life, by the member’s withdrawal from the political office of the central committee of the FLN party and from the political field to devote themselves to the constitutional missions.
The Central Directorate of the Political Commissariat was converted into the Directorate of Communication, Information and Orientation in 1990, an approach which was comes within the framework of the modernization of PNA structures and their adaptation to the new reality which required the development of a new vision according to the needs of the military element in the fields of communication and information, and according to the rank and the level of responsibilities.
These considerations imposed the development of the communication, information and orientation apparatus with the aim of strengthening the links between the military institution and the nation and of transmitting the real image of the PNA, as an institution among other nation’s institutions.
According to the changes and developments, PNA had to operate transformations in its communication policy by adopting a communication strategy in line with society and our regional environment evolutions; a modern, efficient and effective strategy, commensurate with the missions and the accomplished achievements.
In this regard, and like all developed armies, PNA establishes an annual communication plan which defines the most important aspects and the specific activities in the field of communication, whether internal, intended for its elements or external dedicated to the Nation.
In terms of external communication, PNA communication strategy aims to make available to the public opinion the national defence issues, in order to introduce the armed forces, the nature of their actions and their missions, through the television program Wa Akadna Al-Azm, the radio program Essalil, the review El-Djeich, official communication organ of People's National Army, the review El-Djoundi, the official MDN website, seminars, conferences, open doors, visits for the benefit of the media, information days through regional information centres, museums... etc.
In the same way, the internal communication, the new communication strategy aims to establish an atmosphere of trust between the elements of the military institution by informing them of everything matter concerning their institution, through the field visits, conferences and seminars and through the internal site of the press and information unit as well as by electronic administration.
Therefore, Communication is an essential factor in the managing process of the military institution and in decision-making, but also a means to anchor the values of solidarity, the culture of military discipline, compliance with directives, the maintenance of cohesion spirit, the development of collective work between the chiefs and the subordinates who must form one and single solid and coherent entity from the top of the hierarchy to its base.
From there, the strategy adopted by PNA took into consideration of credibility and efficiency aspect in order to achieve the objectives set, by transmitting an objective message, sincere and frank, devoid of any ambiguity, taking care to simplify the information in order to be accessible to all categories.
Army and fight against terrorism
If the National Liberation Army already faced the most powerful colonial destructive power, killing innocent people, and was the cause of a thousand of widows and orphans, pushing off the families from their land and destroying homes and properties, the People’s National Army, for its part, fought yesterday and still continuing to fight, an enemy no less dangerous than the previous one, which is barbaric terrorism practiced by small groups which rebelled against divine values and laws, and against customs and the rules accepted by all, in collusion with the forces of the evil inside the country and abroad.
In front of this scourge, People's National Army supported by the various active forces of the Nation, succeeded in proving its loyalty to the message of the martyrs, by preserving the republican state and its institutions, after having been threatened with collapse, thanks to the constancy of the elements of our armed forces, their spirit of discipline, their military righteousness, their harmony and unity of their ranks and their determination to ensure the security, stability and unity of the National territory.
These are the values that the enemy tried to destroy by using rumour, malicious propaganda and declarations, expressed by people who sold their souls to the devil and who put themselves at the service of the enemies of Algeria, propagated by certain media knowingly manipulated and also corrupted; but People's National Army faced with determination and firmness.
The Algerian military strategy developed in the field of the fight against terrorism was global and complete, following integrated plans and common to the different security components, to combat this scourge based on the collection of information.
Moreover, a reorganization of the military units was necessary; indeed, the circumstances required the creation of military units with advanced abilities in order to be able to face up to this new kind of threat, with special training, equipment and weapons according to the types of combat imposed by criminal groups; as an example, the transformation of the military sectors into operational sectors to respond to new missions, in accordance with the instructions issued by the General Staff of People's National Army on 10th July 1994.
Thus, the operational sectors were reorganized by placing, under the authority of their commanders, a joint general staff, an intelligence unit, an operations centre, a transmission centre and a communication and coordination detachment with the National Gendarmerie and the National Security, and each operational sector has been divided into operational sub-sectors, and special anti-terrorist units have been formed, composed of elements with adequate physical and mental requirements, adapted to the guerrilla tactics adopted by criminal groups.
In addition, the formations of the great units of People's National Army accomplished their missions on two fronts; on the one hand, they were involved in the fight terrorism missions to preserve the security of the country, on the other hand, they continued combat training and preparation to maintain their operational readiness for combat, which has provided significant expertise and experience in the defence of national sovereignty.
On the other hand, Algeria has worked to constitute a regional front to combat this scourge, by creating the Committee of Joint Operational Staffs, on 21st April 2010 which brings together Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, in order to strengthen cooperation and to coordinate efforts between the countries of the region in this field.
While the units of People's National Army confronts terrorism alone and continues to uproot it from this pure land, Algeria has called, from the beginning, the international community, inviting them to join forces to face up to this transnational phenomenon before this danger which threatens international security and stability worsens, but some international parties have been hesitant and the attitude of some of them was lamentable and shameful until the greatest power the world is targeted on 11th September 2001, by striking one of its most sensitive centres; from there, international public opinion realized the gravity of this cross-border phenomenon against which Algeria has always warned, which strengthened its international position in this field, and confirmed the effectiveness of its global approach in the fight against terrorism and the capacity and the effectiveness of our armed forces within the face of these asymmetric threats.