The video is unsettling, with haunting images of faceless people, fire and soldiers. The voiceover is a cascade of recognizable historical voices as the screen pulses cryptic messages touting the power of words, ideas and 'invisible hands.'

Hints of its origin are tucked into frames as they flash by: PSYWAR. The Army's psychological warfare soldiers are using their brand of mental combat to bring in what the service needs: recruits.

And if you find the video intriguing, you may be the Army's target audience as it works to enlist soldiers to join its Special Operations Command.

Released in the early morning hours Thursday, the video is the second provocative recruiting ad that, in itself, exemplifies the kind of work the psyop soldiers do to influence public opinion and wage the war of words overseas. 

In March, an Inspector General report found that due to 'burnout' issues among psyop soldiers, units were unable to fight both China and Russia in the information war.  

Called 'Ghost in the Machine 2,' it is coming out two years after the inaugural video was quietly posted on the unit's YouTube site and generated a firestorm of online chatter.

'It's a recruiting video,' said the Army major who created it, speaking with The Associated Press before the release. 

'Someone who watches it and thinks, wow, that was effective, how was it constructed - that's the kind of creative mindset we're looking for.'

The soldier, a member of the 8th Psychological Operations Group based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, also made the first video. He asked that his name not be used to protect his identity, as is common among special forces troops.