Deception

Deception attempts to create a fake picture of reality in the mind of the enemy. This is accomplished using false information, demonstration attacks, diversions, dummy means and works, etc. Camouflage and concealment are two means used to deceive the enemy. When the term deception is used in this paper it includes camouflage and concealment. 

States tend to use deception for different reasons. Strong nations use deception to achieve victory easier and with fewer losses while weaker nations use deception to make up for their lack of strength and means. (25,92)

 Effective deception will cause the adversary to waste his resources, to spread his forces thinly, to vacate or reduce the strength of his forces at the decisive point of attack, to tie considerable forces up at the wrong place at the worst time; it will divert his attention from critical to trivial areas of Interest, numb his alertness arid reduce his readiness, increase his confusion, and reduce his certainty. In short, reducing the cost for the deceiver implies Increasing the cost for the deceived. (8,143)

 [Emphasis in original] Deception is either active or passive. Passive deception re]l es on secrecy and camouflage to hide our capabilities and/or intentions from the enemy. Active deception is normally a planned series of lies with evidence to prove them to the enemy. (8,133-134) 

There are three basic types of deception. The first type attempts to cause the enemy to focus his attention on the wrong place. The Allies used this type of deception to convince the Germans that the Normandy invasion would really take place at Pas de Calais. The second type tries to make the enemy waste his resources (time, ammunition, weapons, manpower, fuel) in unimportant directions or on dummy targets. During the Battle of Britain, the British set up phony targets and interfered with the German's navigational aids causing therm to attack non-existent airfields and factories. The third type of deception is used to surprise the opponent and catch him unprepared for action. (8,124-125)

Surprising the enemy has always been regarded as an integral part of the art of war.(25,92) According to the military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, "Surprise is more or less at the bottom of all military enterprises." Surprise is the "product of speed and secrecy." The enemy must not learn your real intentions until it is too late to react effectively. (17,100)

deception

CHAPTER II DEFINITIONS The Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (JCSPub 1) defines deception as "those measures designed to mislead the enemy by manipulation, distortion, or falsification of evidence to induce him to react in a manner prejudicial to his interests." (7,105) The definition of concealment is "the protection from observation or surveillance" (7,83) and camouflage is "the use of natural or artificial material on personnel, objects or tactical positions with the aim of confusing, misleading or evading the enemy." (7,60)

Camouflage and Concealment If concealment is the hiding of military operations,equipment or installations then it is really one of the means of achieving camouflage. Certainly if we hide something from the enemy we are ". . . confusing, misleading, or evading." One method used to conceal military activities from the enemy during World War II was employment of smoke generators. A smokescreen 60 miles long was maintained for four days to conceal the Rhine crossings.(21,100)The other method of achieving camouflage is the display. Displays have an opposite objective from concealment in that they are to draw the enemy's attention in order to mislead him. (21,98) Prior to the Normandy invasion dummy paratroopers. . .were dropped about 100 miles to the west of the main Allied landings to create an airborne diversion....This created considerable confusion among the Germans, and the entire German defense was mobilized and numerous German reserves were sent to this zone.(21,99)

A HISTORY OF CAMOUFLAGE: CONCEALMENT AND DECEPTION

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION

We keep hammering along with the conviction that "honesty is the best policy;" these pretty sentences do well for a child's copy-book, but the man who acts upon them in war had better sheath his sword forever. Field Marshal Lord Wolseley (11,36)

Camouflage, concealment, and deception have been ignored in our military schools and doctrinal literature to a large extent since the end of the Vietnam War. The services are showing renewed interest in camouflage and deception. The Army is developing new camouflage arid deception doctrine and draft joint doctrine has been written. In this paper I shall review historical examples on the use of camouflage, concealment and deception in order to develop a list of lessons we should have learned about their use. While some older historical examples will be explored the focus will be on the period from World War II to the present.