Military Deception: Equivalent to Intelligence, Maneuver and Fires

摘要

Military deception (MILDEC) is an ancient aspect of warfare still utilized to mislead adversarial leaders deceiving them concerning friendly force activities and intentions. Evidence indicates that skillful application of MILDEC is both operational art and science with advantages gained setting conditions for mission success. Unfortunately, MILDEC as a core capability is subsumed underneath the information operations (IO) umbrella and is absent in focus and attention afforded the six joint functions: intelligence, movement and maneuver, fires, protection, command and control, and sustainment. Research indicates commanders use joint functions to synchronize military activities in time and space. This paper argues that MILDEC should be included as a joint function in U.S. military doctrine to achieve desired effects with respect to adversarial leader decisions and decision making. It provides a doctrinal overview of MILDEC, IO and joint functions with a brief explanation of joint function evolution. This paper also examines notable military theorists views on MILDEC, and analyzes historical and recent campaign utilization of deception. And lastly, conclusions are drawn about the relevance of MILDEC as a joint function with recommendations describing how to create a broader information-centric joint function.