ARRC JOURNAL
DEVELOPING CAPABILITY FOR DECEPTION OPERATIONS
Lt Col Rachelle Hathaway( US-A) and SFC Laurens Maliepaard( US-A)
“ All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Deception is a valuable tool in achieving military objectives. As part of the Crisis Response Planning( CRP) for Ex ARRCADE FUSION 17( AF 17), ARRC planning staff incorporated deception into its concept of operations. Since this was the first time the Staff had tackled deception, it was definitely at the‘ crawl’ stage on the‘ crawl – walk – run’
Four men carry a fake full size tank into position to establish ghost platoons
spectrum. As such, deception planning was conducted in an unorthodox manner, for training purposes, compared to how a Staff would normally plan deception.
This article has three aims:
• To highlight the benefits of deception;
• To explore some challenges to planning and implementing deception and;
• To compare how deception should be planned by a staff fully versed in deception to how the ARRC planned deception in the‘ crawl’ stage during AF17.
The Benefits of Deception
Although the Allied Joint Doctrine for
Operational Security and Deception( AJP-3.10.2) is still in draft, it defines deception as“ deliberate measures that mislead a targeted decision maker into behaving in a manner advantageous to friendly forces.” It is applicable at all levels of war, across the range of military operations, and can be conducted during all phases of operations.
Implementing deception can yield many benefits. It can help mislead the enemy as to the strength, readiness, locations and intended missions of friendly forces – forcing the enemy to culminate earlier. Conversely, it can cause the enemy to reveal strengths, dispositions and future intentions – all information the friendly commander and staff can use to exploit enemy weaknesses or refine friendly plans and operations. Research has shown effective deception can reduce the expenditure of time, effort and resources. It can also serve as a viable flexible deterrent option 1.
A key benefit of deception is its ability to generate surprise. Surprise occurs when an enemy leader suddenly realises he has been operating on an erroneous threat perception. It is a powerful factor that can gain the initiative and threaten enemy morale and cohesion. Historical studies show a strong link between deception and surprise and reveal surprise to be a force multiplier that can significantly change the casualty rate in favour of the attacker.
Finally, deception can flexibly be carried out on a variety of scales. Deception in the build-up to Operation Overlord in World War II was conducted on a massive strategic scale, accompanied with a host of smaller deceptions and actions aimed at causing the key decision maker to misinterpret friendly actions. But deception can be carried out at the operational and tactical levels as well. As a tactical example, false emissions or blow-up weapon systems can cause the enemy to direct and waste fires on targets that do not exist. All in all deception is only limited by the imagination. It can be conducted on various scales, with as many or as few resources as are available, but to be successful it requires
1( Whaley, 1979).
64 ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS