The tangled web: military deception in large-scale combat operations

In: The US Army large-scale combat operations series

Abstract

"Part of The US Army Large-Scale Combat Operations Series. Throughout the recorded history of warfare, military planners and commanders have sought to deceive their adversary as to the size, timing, or location of an attack, in order to gain a decisive advantage. From the famous "Trojan Horse" to modern efforts to use the electromagnetic spectrum to "spoof" or "jam" sensors, deception in some form remains an essential component of military operations. Whether attacking an unsuspecting enemy on Christmas morning, as Washington did at Trenton, or emplacing "Quaker guns" (logs painted black to resemble cannon) to provide the impression of strength, US forces have successfully built on a long legacy of military deception (MILDEC) in order to prevail in the nation's wars. While technology continues to advance at a dizzying pace, threatening to render previous lessons obsolete, MILDEC operations have successfully withstood previous developments and even incorporated new technologies continue to continue to form an important part of combat operations. While potentially capable, in some cases, of enabling military forces to prevail without a fight, as the theorist Sun Tzu postulated, more often MILDEC confers an advantage that helps the side that successfully harnesses it prevail, often at a much lower cost that it would have otherwise. Thus, MILDEC, and its long and successful history, remain an important, even vital, tool for any future leader"--Provided by publisher