Back in 1979, in the days of Uri Geller and the coming out of various occult-ish groups which are now well established, the US Army commissioned a study for an army unit that would incorporate these new ideas. The aim of which was to create a "supersoldier" of sorts. They realized that our world of technology and fundamental psychology were beginning to collide, and wished to take full advantage of everything the human condition had to offer.
Ideas such as Collective Consciousness, and spreading memes were just beginning to take root. This new Army Corps was envisioned to be mostly psychological but with training to allow attack and defense in the event that it was needed. The footsoldiers of this group were to be called "Warrior Monks", since they were envisioned to be filling the same sort of role that groups like the Shaolin Monks filled in ancient China.
In the 1980's, two Special Forces A-Teams consisting of 25 men were commissioned to test these basic principles. They were led by a man named Colonel John Alexander, who eventually went on to Las Alamos to formulate research into non-lethal combat technology. These two teams were trained in various things considered very unorthodox for the military at the time. These things included biofeedback, martial arts (Aikido), and mind-body psychology.
The First Earth Battalion was never officially formed by the US Army, however, many of the techniques that were researched have found their way into daily operations and planning. The techniques of playing loud rock music as a form of Psy Warfare, and televising warfare developed from here, as did unusual concepts such as Remote Viewing, and Mind Control. The US Governments forays into these areas are pretty well known.
The battalion may not have ever been formed, but its unorthodox concepts are still influencing military planning to this day.
Here is a link to a portion of the Journal of Non-Lethal Combatives about it...
