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00:30Deception has always been a vital part of military warfare.
00:39It's often been the basis of stunning victories.
00:45It can save equipment and lives, reducing the cost of victory.
00:52Modern deception came of age in the planning rooms and on the battlefields of World War II.
01:00Both sides embraced battlefield deception and employed an assortment of curious gadgets to deceive the enemy.
01:11But the use of deception on the battlefield comes with a price,
01:16because deception itself has long been considered a weapon of the weak.
01:21The only difference between using deception in a powerful army and a weak army
01:26is the powerful army has the option not to use deception and still, you know, go about their business.
01:33A weaker army has no choice.
01:34If they don't use deception, they might as well all go home, because they'll all be dead pretty soon.
01:38The weak have to use it, and that's why we have this sense that deception is something the weak use.
01:44There's no reason for the strong to abandon deception.
01:46Merely because I'm strong and can crush the enemy doesn't mean I shouldn't economize on my blood and treasure.
01:57Deceptive practices are often taken for granted.
02:01All armies routinely use camouflage, develop plans to confuse the enemy,
02:07and apply counterintelligence techniques to ensure that they're not fooled themselves.
02:11These tactics are fundamental to military operations.
02:19Without them, victory is almost impossible.
02:24There's probably no more important tactic in military warfare than being able to deceive the enemy.
02:30You can fight the enemy one of two ways.
02:33You can fight him head-on and very often lose, or you can try and outsmart him.
02:37Commanders aren't the only ones who make use of deception.
02:44The individual soldier frequently depends on simple deceptive techniques.
02:53The most common are concealment, camouflage, and moving with stealth.
03:00Concealment is simply finding a place to hide.
03:02If they can't see you, they can't shoot at you.
03:05Especially if they've never seen you at all.
03:07Camouflage is the use of techniques that will hide your people to make them look like something else,
03:14to make a truck look like a tank, to make an ammunition dump look like a forest.
03:22Camouflaging has become institutionalized.
03:25Uniforms and vehicles are patterned uniformly to minimize their visual impact.
03:31For winter fighting, there's one pattern, while another is used in desert fighting.
03:35Fighting in the jungle and forest demands still another look.
03:41Whatever the season or the region, camouflage working with concealment helps make troops, their equipment, and their movement nearly invisible to the enemy.
03:49Battlefield deception extends beyond facial camouflage and foxholes.
03:57The desire to believe that a situation is developing one way, despite substantial evidence to the contrary, is self-deception.
04:06In the Korean War, both sides fell prey to self-deception, the first to suffer from its deadly consequences were the North Koreans.
04:22Following their surprise attack in the early morning on June 25th, 1950, the North Koreans had American and South Korean troops retreating.
04:37They were confident that they would be victorious in a matter of days.
04:43Their confidence swelled as they easily pushed their way down the Korean Peninsula.
04:48And they kept telling themselves that victory was theirs, in spite of intelligence warnings that General Douglas MacArthur, the United Nations commander, was planning an invasion at Incheon.
05:01But North Korea's leader, Kim Il-sung, was convinced that a landing at Incheon would be impossible, because of the intense tidal conditions there, which can fluctuate up to 35 feet a day.
05:18MacArthur's own generals and admirals also believed it couldn't be done.
05:22For this very reason, MacArthur insisted on landing there.
05:26In the early morning hours of September 15th, 1950, U.N. forces headed toward the Incheon coast.
05:38MacArthur knew he had only two hours in which to get two whole divisions ashore.
05:44His naval advisors had told him that if he missed that two-hour window, all of his landing craft would be stranded on mudflats.
05:52But MacArthur's timing was impeccable.
05:56The landing at Incheon was almost completely unopposed.
06:02North Korean troops in the South were suddenly cut off from their supply lines.
06:09Surprise is the payoff for deception.
06:12That's the payback.
06:13In Korea, we had an example of historical proportions where we landed behind the North Korean lines at Incheon and basically destroyed the North Korean army by that very act.
06:28MacArthur had pulled off the most daring, brilliant maneuver of his career.
06:32So there was an example of deception and a, you know, and a faint worked extremely well, which made it even more ironic that within a few months, MacArthur would suffer the biggest defeat of his career because of a deception, you know, pulled off by the enemy.
06:48Tasting victory, MacArthur pushed north in hot pursuit of the enemy.
06:54Across the North Korean border, the Chinese leadership monitored the UN advance uneasily.
07:00They feared that MacArthur unchecked would invade their homeland, but they did not want to intervene.
07:06It wasn't their war.
07:09In late September, China's leader, Mao Zedong, received a series of secret cables from Joseph Stalin.
07:18The Soviet leader pressured Mao to send troops in to turn back the UN forces.
07:24Reluctantly, Mao agreed.
07:26But he did it his way, the way of the wily guerrilla fighter.
07:30And so they were able to sneak into North Korea by crossing the Yalu River at night, only moving cross-country at night, and moving over the mountains to the roughest terrain where we would never expect them.
07:43In this manner, Mao managed to sneak nearly 500,000 Chinese soldiers into Korea in just four weeks without MacArthur's knowledge.
07:54But MacArthur should have known about it.
07:56Some intelligence had emerged.
07:58This time, the UN forces were blinded by self-deception.
08:02When small groups of Chinese troops were captured north of Seoul, General Charles Willoughby, MacArthur's intelligence officer, shrugged it off as individual Chinese serving voluntarily in the North Korean army.
08:15MacArthur agreed, saying that the Chinese were not foolish enough to take on the enormous firepower of a mechanized Western army.
08:23By keeping his troops well hidden in the mountains, Mao led MacArthur and his staff to conclude that if Chinese soldiers were in Korea, their numbers were insignificant.
08:36The element of surprise remained with Mao.
08:39MacArthur continued moving his forces toward the Chinese border.
08:42On November 24th, 1950, Mao signaled his field commanders in North Korea that the time had come for a main offensive.
08:52Three days later, at the Chosen Reservoir, over 12,000 U.S. Marines and 2,000 U.S. Army soldiers settled in for the night.
09:06Among them were Howard Mason of Long Beach, California, and Bob Hammond from Las Vegas, Nevada.
09:14The word was, we'd be home by Christmas. It looked like we were going to have a very quick victory.
09:23Then there came rumors of a Chinese entry into the war. We saw no evidence of it.
09:32They were in total concealment. We had not the slightest idea that there were a division of Chinese troops surrounding the 7th Regiment.
09:41More than 100,000 Chinese troops completely surrounded the Marines and the soldiers.
09:50Shortly after midnight, they attacked.
09:56They fell on us like a swarm of locusts in the night.
10:00They could get up to within 10 or 15 feet of you without you ever knowing they were there sometimes.
10:07The Chinese came at the U.S. forces in human waves, thousands at a time, adding a shock effect to their element of surprise.
10:17Later, during that night, the Chinese were running all through our position, and there were firefights everywhere.
10:28Then just before morning, just before dawn, on the 28th of November,
10:33I found myself almost alone at my 105 howitzer, and from about 100 yards away, they came out of nowhere,
10:45two or three hundred of them, blowing bugles, whistles, screaming and yelling at us, and charging and firing at us.
10:53It scared the hell out of me, and I got up and yelled at the guys who were in the bunkers behind me,
11:02get out of there, here they come.
11:05It took the U.S. forces several weeks to fight their way out of the Chinese trap at the Chosin Reservoir.
11:11Many were killed, captured, or wounded.
11:22Bob Hammond was one of those wounded.
11:25He was the only survivor of his seven-man gun squad.
11:30Those who lived through the brutal fighting at the reservoir call themselves the Chosen Few.
11:35MacArthur had fallen victim to Mao's deception.
11:43The facts and the numbers were there.
11:47And from the Marines who I was associated with,
11:53we had not a very high regard for General MacArthur, nor his intelligence system.
11:58At the time of the Korean War, it was known that the Soviet Union was behind in North Korea.
12:06But how much has always been somewhat of a mystery until now.
12:11Newly declassified information from Russian archives reveals that Joseph Stalin controlled much of the Korean War from Moscow.
12:19Joseph Stalin's involvement in the Korean War has been debated for years.
12:31Now secret KGB documents made public after the collapse of the Soviet Union
12:36show that he was totally committed to the war.
12:41He provided arms and Soviet advisors who actually wrote battle plans for the North Koreans.
12:46He had thousands of Soviet warplanes put in crates and secretly shipped to airbases along the Manchurian border.
12:57First of all, we provided the Chinese with aircraft, with the pilots too.
13:02Because the Chinese couldn't run the aircraft.
13:06They were just, well, learning this job.
13:11The Soviets went to extraordinary lengths to disguise their activity.
13:15They painted Chinese and North Korean insignia on all their planes.
13:20Russian pilots wore Chinese uniforms and used Chinese phrases on their air-to-air and air-to-ground radio transmissions.
13:28To help ensure that no downed Russian pilots fell into UN hands,
13:33Stalin restricted their flights to a small zone above the North Korean-Chinese border.
13:38And the pilots were given the instruction that if something happens, you must commit suicide.
13:48You see, never say that you are a Soviet pilot.
13:55Soviet intelligence officers were used to interrogate American prisoners of war.
14:00The status of a number of those American POWs still remains a mystery.
14:11Declassified cables also show that Stalin had become an obstacle to the peace process.
14:16Both sides wanted to end the war and were willing to accept a cease-fire agreement.
14:23But Stalin was using the war as a means of gathering intelligence on the Americans without the loss of Russian lives.
14:31He saw no reason to bring it to a quick conclusion.
14:34His death in March 1953 enabled both sides to bring the Korean War to an end.
14:44A cease-fire began just three months after Stalin's death.
14:49Korea has remained divided along the 38th parallel for over 50 years,
14:55and the North Koreans continue to deceive.
14:59Across the DMZ separating the two Koreas is a small village.
15:04It's clearly visible to anyone looking from the South.
15:08It's the picture of tranquility and prosperity, but it's all a hoax.
15:13The village's inhabitants are brought in each morning to act on a stage replete with all the right props.
15:20This charade has gone on for decades, ironically called Freedom Village by the Americans.
15:26Its existence is in stark contrast to the millions of starving North Koreans
15:31that Westerners reportedly are not allowed to see.
15:36Numerous infiltration tunnels were found under the DMZ over the past several decades.
15:43Several of the bigger tunnels are wide enough for the movement of vehicles and artillery pieces.
15:48The use of tunnels to mislead an opponent is a centuries-old tactic.
15:56But the modern masters were the Vietnamese communists.
16:00Faced with a heavily armed enemy flown into battle in helicopters,
16:04their very existence depended upon not being seen.
16:08To counter their enemy, they dug the most complex tunnel and bunker system in modern warfare.
16:15When they were finished burrowing underground,
16:17hundreds of miles of tunnels from Cambodia to Saigon
16:21connected cities to towns and towns to villages.
16:27Tunnel systems were so abundant and so well concealed
16:30that the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division unwittingly built its headquarters
16:35on top of one of the biggest in Vietnam.
16:38It was over a hundred miles long
16:41and consisted of many branches connecting to underground hideouts,
16:45shelters and entrances to other tunnels.
16:50These were the tunnels of Coo Chi,
16:51where the communists planned the 1968 Tet Offensive.
16:55The Americans on the ground directly above the tunnel system
16:59never detected what was going on right beneath their feet.
17:06Just about anything that could be done above ground,
17:09the Viet Cong accomplished below ground.
17:13The tunnel system contained storage rooms for weapons and food,
17:18hospitals to care for the wounded,
17:20large rooms for teaching classes or planning battles,
17:24dormitories and kitchens for quartering and feeding soldiers.
17:28Some of the larger systems used by high-ranking officials
17:32had all the comforts of home.
17:35Lighting and plumbing in some cases,
17:39and they even had generating plants
17:41and sewage disposal facilities and whatnot.
17:45So they were quite elaborate.
17:48Tunnels were also constructed to cover and conceal escape routes after a battle.
17:52Such was the case following the well-planned Viet Cong ambush
17:57of an American convoy on Highway 1 on November 21, 1966.
18:03The seasoned guerrilla leader of the Dong Nai Regiment
18:06set up his veteran force of 1,500 Viet Cong
18:10along a well-concealed, desolate stretch of Highway 1,
18:14just west of Zhuangloch.
18:15When the Americans, members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment,
18:21entered the ambush kill zone,
18:23the V.C. opened up with superior firepower.
18:27The element of surprise was in their favor.
18:31Still, the Americans repelled the ambush.
18:38Helicopter gunships and fighter aircraft helped seal the victory.
18:41Despite the American success,
18:44they failed to destroy many of the V.C.
18:49The tactic that saved a majority of the enemy
18:52was their rehearsed withdrawal
18:54down narrow jungle trails covered by camouflage.
18:58They then slipped into tunnels
18:59hidden off the trail by thick jungle,
19:02none of it visible from the air.
19:04U.S. troops conducting search-and-destroy missions
19:09were often frustrated when they discovered the tunnels.
19:13When the Americans made contact,
19:16the Viet Cong seemed to disappear.
19:20If an underground passage was found,
19:22a search often found the tunnel empty.
19:25Finding the ways in and out
19:27was not always easy for the Americans.
19:29Any animal that burrows in the ground,
19:32they have more than one exit.
19:34And the communists realized
19:36they could use this technique
19:37not just to escape,
19:39but, you know,
19:40if we thought we had them in one place,
19:42they'd pop up behind us and take a shot at us.
19:45Keeping entrances to tunnels covered and concealed
19:48was a top priority to the Viet Cong.
19:50Here in the middle of the jungle
19:57is a trap door
19:58that hid an entrance
19:59to the Kuchi tunnel complex.
20:03The V.C. used a variety of safeguards
20:05to keep the tunnels hidden.
20:07On a secret cross-border mission
20:09into Laos in 1970,
20:12Sergeant Lloyd Byland
20:13came across a most curious sight
20:15in an enemy area
20:16his team had under observation.
20:20Probably the most striking
20:22thing I noticed about that area
20:26were a very, very sophisticated stove
20:30that they could use.
20:32The smoke was actually absorbed into the soil.
20:37If the Americans were lucky enough
20:39to get close to the tunnels,
20:41they might find the entrances
20:42protected with booby traps
20:44made with hand grenades
20:46or sharpened bamboo
20:47called punji sticks.
20:49deadly snakes
20:51tethered to sticks
20:52were also popular.
20:54The insides of the tunnels
20:56were designed
20:57to throw off an intruder.
20:59Tunnels that appeared small
21:01sometimes had undetectable trap doors
21:03that led to larger compartments.
21:06Tunnels with apparent dead ends
21:08gave the impression
21:09of a smaller,
21:10less important crawl space.
21:13Underground passages
21:14would zigzag,
21:15making it impossible
21:16to fire at someone
21:17at close range.
21:19While the Viet Cong tunnel system
21:20frustrated many of the Americans
21:22in Vietnam,
21:23communist infiltrators
21:25in the Allied ranks
21:26were proving to be
21:27even harder to find.
21:28One of the greatest deceptions
21:39of the Vietnam War
21:40was the large number of people
21:42in the South Vietnamese government
21:44and military
21:44who were actually working
21:46for the communists.
21:53One of the problems
21:54you always have
21:55when you get involved
21:55in a civil war,
21:56whether it be Vietnam
21:58or Korea for that matter
22:01or Kosovo,
22:04is that it's hard to tell
22:05who the good guys
22:05and the bad guys are.
22:07One of the interesting aspects
22:08of the deception
22:10in the war
22:10was the extent
22:12to which we know
22:14that the Viet Cong
22:16and the North Vietnamese
22:18had infiltrated
22:19the civil and military apparatus
22:20of South Vietnam.
22:23U.S. military estimates
22:25of infiltration
22:26in some units
22:26ran as high as 30%,
22:28while fewer in number,
22:30communist infiltrators
22:31among the mercenaries
22:32hired by the U.S. Army
22:34Special Forces
22:35posed a deadly
22:36and immediate threat.
22:38Every Green Beret
22:39quickly learned
22:39to keep one eye
22:40on where the enemy might be
22:42and the other
22:42on the South Vietnamese
22:44soldiers around him.
22:45So it became
22:49a fairly common deception
22:51for them to have
22:52some of their troops
22:53dress up
22:54as South Vietnamese troops
22:55either to distract
22:56or to be part
22:57of the attack force
22:58to come in there
22:59and to then
23:00quickly open fire.
23:03The inability
23:04to determine
23:04who was who
23:05proved fatal
23:06for those at
23:07Noctavac,
23:08a temporary
23:08Special Forces
23:09operating base
23:10built around
23:11an old French fort
23:12near the border
23:13of Laos.
23:16May 10th, 1968.
23:19In the early morning hours,
23:21enemy mortars
23:22and rockets
23:23pounded the camp,
23:24followed shortly
23:24by a North Vietnamese
23:26Army battalion
23:27blasting through the wire.
23:29At the same time,
23:30artillerymen
23:31on loan from the Marines
23:32were approached
23:33by a large number
23:34of the camp's mercenaries.
23:37Thinking they were coming
23:39to help defend
23:39their position,
23:40the Marines
23:40gladly let them advance.
23:43Suddenly,
23:44the mercenaries
23:45began firing
23:45and throwing grenades,
23:47killing and wounding
23:48several Americans.
23:52It was later determined
23:54that about 20%
23:55of the camp mercenaries
23:57had actually been
23:58the Etcon.
24:01Fighting at Noctavac
24:02went on
24:03throughout the night
24:03and by morning
24:04the camp was lost.
24:07Those who survived
24:08were forced
24:09to escape
24:09and evade
24:10through the jungle
24:11with the NVA following
24:12quickly from behind.
24:15Most escaped
24:16and were picked up
24:17by Marine helicopters.
24:18Others were listed
24:19as missing in action.
24:23So this was another form
24:24of deception,
24:25deceiving the enemy
24:26into thinking
24:27that all the people
24:28he had as allies
24:30were true allies
24:31and many of them
24:32were not.
24:33Agents working
24:34for the communists
24:35were by no means
24:36restricted to the rank
24:37and filed.
24:39Several high-ranking officials
24:40and civilians
24:41were counted
24:42among the moles
24:43and worked for the south
24:44with considerable distinction.
24:51They were known
24:52to plant agents,
24:54people in their 20s
24:55and wouldn't expect
24:56them to mature
24:57for 20 or 30 years.
24:59I know that we
25:00had a hard time trusting
25:02the Vietnamese special forces
25:04forces and it turns out
25:05after the war
25:06we find out
25:06that they planted
25:08one of their agents
25:10in a position
25:13back in the 40s
25:14before it was even
25:15important
25:16and by the time
25:17the war ended
25:18he was a major general.
25:20The south Vietnamese
25:22special forces general
25:23was found in Thu.
25:25So mysterious was he
25:26that to this day
25:27no known photo
25:28of him exists.
25:29One of the most damaging
25:33and successful
25:34long-term
25:35deep penetration agents
25:37was the bureau chief
25:38for Time magazine
25:39in Saigon.
25:41According to
25:42congressional committee records
25:43Pham Chuan An
25:44was actually a colonel
25:46in the North Vietnamese
25:47intelligence service.
25:50The congressional reports
25:51credited Colonel An
25:53as a major source
25:54of misinformation
25:55during the entire war.
25:57They also suggested
25:59that his manipulation
26:01of media coverage
26:02contributed to fueling
26:04the American anti-war
26:05climate back in the States.
26:11How much damage
26:12the undercover
26:13communists agents
26:14inflicted
26:15cannot be known
26:16but their presence
26:17was a masterful
26:18feat of deception.
26:22The Americans
26:23also used a variety
26:24of deceptions
26:25to mislead the enemy.
26:27Some of the best
26:29practitioners
26:30were the men
26:31of the long-range
26:31reconnaissance patrols
26:33or LERPs
26:34the elite
26:35of the infantry profession.
26:38Our missions varied.
26:41Sometimes they were
26:42linear recon
26:43where you just
26:44get on the ground
26:45strike an azimuth
26:45and follow it.
26:47Sometimes it was
26:48trail watch.
26:49Sometimes it was
26:50river watch.
26:51Sometimes it was
26:52down pilot rescue.
26:54Sometimes it was
26:54POW snatch.
26:55Getting LERPs
26:58into the jungle
26:59by helicopter
27:00where they could
27:00hide and spy
27:01on the enemy
27:02took a different
27:03kind of deception.
27:05That's where
27:06fake landing zones
27:07came in.
27:09Doug LZ Fake
27:11this illusionary
27:12maneuver
27:12called for
27:13helicopters to
27:13drop to ground
27:14level as if
27:15they were
27:15discharging troops.
27:17But the troops
27:18would not disembark.
27:20Only after several
27:21of these false
27:22landings would
27:23the recon team
27:24eventually jump out
27:25and disappear
27:26into the jungle.
27:29In small teams
27:30of six to ten men
27:32they would canvas
27:33enemy territory
27:34often with thousands
27:36of enemy troops
27:36near them.
27:39At any moment
27:40they could have
27:41been discovered.
27:43Their very survival
27:44depended on stealth
27:46and cunning.
27:49Well the key
27:50anytime you go
27:51on the ground
27:52is number one
27:54to not be seen
27:55and number two
27:55to not be heard.
27:58Multicolored
27:58camouflage paints
28:00were used
28:00to darken faces.
28:03Camouflage fatigues
28:04that blended
28:04into the jungle
28:05were worn.
28:07Moving through the bush
28:08without making a lot
28:09of noise
28:09required silent signals.
28:11when the enemy
28:13was encountered
28:14the team
28:14remained silent.
28:22Silence was it.
28:24One of the things
28:24I would do
28:25with my team
28:26was once they
28:27were all loaded up
28:28and ready to go
28:29to have each man
28:30jump up and down
28:31in place
28:31and if he rattled
28:33we had to find out
28:35what was rattling
28:35and stop it
28:36from doing it.
28:39If a LERP team
28:40was discovered
28:41they had to break
28:42contact with the enemy
28:43fast.
28:44One way was
28:45to return enemy fire
28:46with a captured
28:46enemy rifle.
28:49Its distinct sounds
28:51and tracer ammunition
28:52were enough
28:53to confuse the enemy
28:54and buy precious time.
28:55our tracers are red
29:00theirs are green
29:02you get
29:04you get in trouble
29:06you have to return fire
29:08you return fire
29:10and all of a sudden
29:11the enemy sees
29:12green tracers
29:13coming at him
29:13he is confused
29:15what
29:15have I hit
29:16my own people
29:17many times
29:18that is just enough
29:19to buy you
29:20the time you need
29:21to break contact.
29:22If a recon team
29:26was compromised
29:26they would be
29:27extracted immediately
29:29this was called
29:31a hot extraction
29:32the most common
29:33means of removal
29:34was by helicopter
29:35but if the helicopter
29:37could not land
29:38various rigs
29:39were used
29:39to pull out
29:40the team members
29:41On my second mission
29:44I came out hot
29:45and we
29:46they dropped
29:47a ladder to us
29:48and we used
29:50the ladder
29:50to actually climb
29:51inside the helicopter
29:52on another mission
29:53I came out
29:54on a Maguire rig
29:55which really
29:55is nothing more
29:56than a great big swing
29:57with a little strap
29:59that you put your
30:01hand through
30:02and you tighten it
30:03so that if you are hit
30:05or in any way
30:06rendered unconscious
30:07that you won't
30:08fall out of it
30:09The stable rig
30:11was another means
30:13for extracting
30:14recon members
30:15but this required
30:16team members
30:17to carry
30:17specially designed
30:19gear
30:19while they were
30:20on patrol
30:20it replaced
30:24the load-bearing
30:24equipment
30:25that was normally
30:26issued
30:27the pistol belt
30:28was
30:30strung through it
30:32and then there
30:34were leg straps
30:34that were
30:35S-folded
30:36and for using it
30:37you actually
30:38undid the leg straps
30:40brought them
30:40between your legs
30:41and hooked them
30:41in front
30:42and what the aircraft
30:43dropped
30:44was a set of
30:46snaps
30:47on the end
30:48of a rope
30:48and you hooked
30:49these into
30:50the D-rings
30:51that were on
30:51the harness
30:52of the stable rig
30:54and that's the way
30:55you came out
30:56Bold and swift
30:58movements of personnel
30:59such as putting
31:00special operations
31:01people behind
31:02enemy lines
31:03or relocating
31:04entire divisions
31:05at rapid speeds
31:06can be deceptions
31:07in and of themselves
31:09by the time
31:10they're done
31:10it's too late
31:11for the enemy
31:12to do much
31:13about them
31:13that's exactly
31:15what happened
31:15in Operation Desert Storm
31:17U.S. Army General
31:22Norman Schwarzkopf
31:23commander of the
31:24coalition forces
31:25had the mission
31:26to run the Iraqi army
31:28out of Kuwait
31:28as quickly as possible
31:30at the lowest cost
31:31in coalition lives
31:33to accomplish
31:34his mission
31:34General Schwarzkopf
31:35and his planners
31:36created a tactical plan
31:38that became known
31:39as the Hail Mary
31:40the plan called
31:42for a half dozen
31:43mechanized divisions
31:44to charge across
31:45the open desert
31:46to the west
31:47of the Iraqi defensive lines
31:48hook around
31:50their exposed flanks
31:51and smash them
31:52from behind
31:53to accomplish this
31:58the mechanized force
31:59would have to
32:00secretly move inland
32:01to a place
32:02in the middle
32:02of the Iraqi desert
32:03where the attack
32:04would begin
32:05Schwarzkopf knew
32:09his tactical plan
32:11had little chance
32:12of working
32:12unless it was married
32:13to a clever deception
32:15plan that combined
32:16faints, displays,
32:18demonstrations
32:18and stealth
32:20Schwarzkopf had studied
32:23the Iran-Iraq war
32:24of 1980 through 1988
32:27he knew something
32:29about the Iraqi army's
32:30tactics
32:30so when the Iraqis
32:32built elaborately
32:33fortified positions
32:35along the Kuwaiti-Saudi
32:36Arabian border
32:37Schwarzkopf saw
32:39that the Iraqis
32:39were expecting
32:40an attack
32:41straight through
32:41those positions
32:42Schwarzkopf decided
32:44to build his
32:45deception plan
32:46around Saddam Hussein's
32:48expectations
32:49I think the biggest
32:52problem
32:53in conducting
32:53the Hail Mary operation
32:55was deploying
32:56all the forces
32:57into theater
32:57assembling them
32:59preventing the Iraqis
33:00from knowing
33:01where the forces
33:02were going to be
33:03protecting those forces
33:05and at the same time
33:06preparing for an attack
33:07while deceiving
33:08the Iraqis
33:09from where that attack
33:10would come
33:11the deception plan
33:14hinged on the
33:15initial bombing campaign
33:16high on the list
33:18of targets
33:18were Iraqi warplanes
33:20enough were destroyed
33:25on the ground
33:25to give the
33:26coalition command
33:27of the skies
33:28with the absence
33:31of Iraqi aerial observers
33:33the coalition planners
33:34controlled the activities
33:36they wanted the Iraqis
33:37to see
33:38and hid others
33:39the first illusion
33:46the coalition
33:47put on
33:48was an impressive
33:49yet conspicuous
33:50amphibious assault force
33:51lying off the coast
33:53of Kuwait
33:53but this powerful
33:56and credible force
33:57was a display
33:58a ploy
33:59intended to
34:00distract Saddam's attention
34:02away from the coalition's
34:03real intentions
34:04of attacking
34:05from the west
34:06display is letting
34:08the enemy
34:09see what we want
34:10him to see
34:11because it
34:13fits into
34:14our intentions
34:16as to tricking him
34:17the coalition
34:18then let the
34:19unsuspecting media
34:20help in the deceit
34:21to help ensure
34:23that Saddam Hussein
34:24was aware
34:25of U.S.
34:25intentions
34:26to attack
34:27his coastal
34:27fortifications
34:28military spokesmen
34:30briefed the world's
34:32electronic
34:32and print media
34:33about their ongoing
34:34amphibious assault
34:35training exercises
34:36which often began
34:38with a landing
34:38followed by
34:39breaching forces
34:40going through the wire
34:41the Pentagon
34:43had an interest
34:45in creating
34:46the impression
34:46that there would be
34:47some type of
34:48amphibious landing
34:50along the coast
34:51of Kuwait
34:51so for that reason
34:53you saw a lot
34:54of release of
34:55information
34:55about naval activities
34:57within the Persian Gulf
34:58in fact I wrote
34:59about it
35:00in magazine articles
35:01predicting that
35:02there would be
35:03an amphibious landing
35:04along the Kuwaiti coast
35:05images of the exercises
35:09were sent around
35:09the world
35:10by satellite
35:11Saddam Hussein
35:12reportedly saw
35:13some of those images
35:14on a CNN news broadcast
35:16and was even
35:17more convinced
35:18that the attack
35:19would come
35:19right through the middle
35:21of his double line
35:22fortifications
35:22Saddam Hussein
35:25like other
35:25military officers
35:27who think that
35:28CNN or other
35:29parts of news media
35:30would provide better
35:31information
35:33than actual
35:34intelligence
35:34and combat information
35:35led themselves
35:37into believing
35:38that what they saw
35:39was what they would get
35:40as the amphibious
35:43landing display
35:43was being so
35:44masterfully performed
35:45for media cameras
35:47a ruse was taking place
35:48away from the press
35:49and from the watchful
35:51eye of Saddam Hussein
35:52almost half of
35:54Schwarzkopf's forces
35:55along the Kuwaiti border
35:57secretly maneuvered
35:58200 miles northwest
35:59to the Iraqi border
36:01in preparation
36:02for the main attack
36:03numbering around
36:07100,000 troops
36:09and 12,000 vehicles
36:10this movement began
36:12with the redeployment
36:13of the U.S. Army's
36:1418th Airborne Corps
36:15they shifted
36:18from the far right
36:19of the coalition lines
36:21and raced across
36:22the desert wastelands
36:23some 360 miles
36:25the Corps then stopped
36:30south of the main highway
36:32crossing the Iraqi desert
36:33rolled into defensive positions
36:35and silently waited
36:37for the hour of attack
36:38while the main army force
36:43remained hidden
36:44air mobile forces
36:45sneaked deep into Iraq
36:47establishing forward
36:48staging areas
36:49several days
36:52after the 18th
36:53Airborne Corps
36:53moved
36:54the 7th Corps
36:55dashed from its
36:56old position
36:57to a new one
36:58140 miles away
36:59the coalition
37:03wanted the Iraqis
37:04to see this movement
37:05or at least
37:06part of it
37:06in this deception
37:08maneuver
37:09called a demonstration
37:10the idea was
37:11to make Saddam
37:12believe the troops
37:13he was seeing
37:14were much weaker
37:15than they were
37:16this was done
37:19by deliberately
37:20leaving a huge gap
37:22between adjoining flanks
37:23when the main attack
37:27began
37:27fast moving armored elements
37:29came up from the rear
37:30and quickly filled the gap
37:31miles and miles
37:34of heavy armor
37:35rapidly occupied
37:36what had earlier
37:37been open desert
37:38the Iraqi troops
37:40were for the most part
37:42shocked
37:43some fought bravely
37:44most fled
37:45in panic
37:46thousands surrendered
37:48right in the spot
37:49rapidly advancing
37:51coalition forces
37:52could only rush
37:52past them
37:53as they headed
37:54for their next objective
37:55the job of rounding up
37:57Iraqi prisoners
37:58was left
37:58to the military police
38:00to make the deception
38:02more effective
38:037th Corps
38:04left behind
38:04an entire decoy military base
38:07in the position
38:08they had just vacated
38:09complete with disabled vehicles
38:11and heavy radio traffic
38:13the decoy base
38:14was intended
38:15to lead the Iraqis
38:16to believe that
38:17major elements
38:18had not left
38:19these forces consisted of
38:22inflatable balloons
38:23that kind of
38:24looked like tanks
38:24numerous other
38:26heat elements
38:27to deceive
38:27Iraqi forces
38:28and communication
38:29devices
38:31to indicate
38:32that we still
38:32had major forces
38:33in that area
38:34other phony headquarters
38:37were set up
38:38to the rear
38:38of would-be
38:39assault routes
38:40with no more
38:41than a few troops
38:42in the middle of the desert
38:43using portable equipment
38:45these fake headquarters
38:47sent out a great number
38:48of encrypted radio messages
38:50over the airways
38:51the idea was
38:53to give Iraqi listeners
38:54the notion
38:55that major forces
38:56were operating
38:56in the area
38:57coalition aircraft
39:00bombed targets
39:01to the west
39:02at the same rate
39:03as in previous weeks
39:04while they increased
39:05their bombing
39:06of targets
39:07in Kuwait
39:07these strike packages
39:10suggested that
39:11Kuwait would be
39:11the object
39:12of the main ground attack
39:13small unit skirmishes
39:17along the Kuwaiti border
39:18also drew Iraqi attention
39:20away from the west
39:21reminiscent of the
39:24desert rats
39:24of World War II fame
39:26squads of infantry
39:27mounted on dune buggies
39:29raced up toward Iraqi positions
39:31and laid down
39:31heavy volumes
39:32of firepower
39:33as quickly as they
39:35appeared in the scene
39:36they would turn around
39:38and vanish back
39:39toward friendly lines
39:40prior to the main attack
39:43special forces personnel
39:45flew by helicopter
39:46or were parachuted
39:47into Iraq
39:48at different locations
39:49through radio back
39:51warnings of enemy
39:52reinforcements
39:53coming from the north
39:54to attack the
39:55Hail Mary flankers
39:57to prevent Iraqi observers
40:01from seeing them
40:02in the sky
40:03with their parachutes
40:03open
40:04the team and members
40:05leaped out of the aircraft
40:07at high altitude
40:08free-falling at death-defying speeds
40:12toward the desert below
40:14at just 500 feet
40:17above the ground
40:17they pulled their ripcords
40:19after landing
40:22they moved
40:22to their observation posts
40:24as the ground troops
40:28raced to their destination
40:30misleading activities
40:31in the Persian Gulf
40:32continued
40:33allied ships
40:36began bombarding
40:37the Iraqi positions
40:38as they would normally do
40:40in preparation
40:40for an amphibious assault
40:42marine amphibious craft
40:45maneuvered offshore
40:46as if getting into position
40:48for landing
40:49the credibility
40:50of this huge pretense
40:52and the safety
40:53of thousands
40:54of coalition forces
40:55further inland
40:56fell to task unit
40:58Mike
40:58a 15-man SEAL team
41:01their job
41:04was to conduct
41:04a feint
41:05a feint
41:08is where
41:09you are
41:10trying to get
41:11the enemy
41:12to think
41:13you're going
41:14someplace
41:14where you're not
41:15the SEAL team
41:17sneaked to shore
41:18by rubber boat
41:19right under the noses
41:20of the Iraqi defenders
41:22at Minasau
41:23and set up explosives
41:24at the signaled time
41:26the SEALs
41:27fired their heavy
41:27machine guns
41:28and grenade launchers
41:29and detonated
41:30explosive charges
41:31to the Iraqi defenders
41:34at Minasau
41:35there was no doubt
41:36that the final preparation
41:37for an amphibious invasion
41:39had just taken place
41:41their job done
41:43the SEALs retreated
41:45and sped home
41:46the bomb and light show
41:50at Minasau
41:50turned out
41:51to be hugely successful
41:53not only did
41:54the Iraqi forces
41:55keep their guns
41:56pointed east
41:57toward the Persian Gulf
41:59but they even moved
42:01some of their forces
42:02east
42:03which took off
42:04the pressure
42:05of the invading
42:07marine forces
42:08that were coming
42:10up north
42:11from the western side
42:12and then when the offensive
42:14came
42:14the marines
42:15stayed afloat
42:16but Saddam Hussein
42:18had kept several divisions
42:20guarding that coastline
42:22and they just ended up
42:24being part of the huge
42:25Bayesian prisoners
42:26it was a feint
42:27it was a perfect feint
42:28it worked wonderfully
42:29the Hail Mary maneuver
42:33had taken the Iraqis
42:34by surprise
42:35100 hours
42:37after the ground attack
42:38began
42:38the Iraqi army
42:40in Kuwait
42:40and southern Iraq
42:41was all but destroyed
42:43a carefully thought out
42:47and executed
42:47deception plan
42:48was key
42:49in the coalition's victory
42:50but the Iraqis
42:53did have one success
42:55in the war
42:55achieved solely
42:57through deception
42:58a major part
43:04of the Allied bombing
43:05campaign
43:06was to destroy
43:07the Iraqis
43:07Scud missile launch sites
43:09within a few weeks
43:11of the bombing
43:12the coalition military
43:13commanders
43:14were reporting
43:15that most of the launch
43:16sites had been destroyed
43:17but they weren't
43:19each night
43:21Scud missiles
43:21landed in Saudi Arabia
43:23and Israel
43:24by targeting
43:25Saudi Arabia
43:26and especially Israel
43:27the Scud missiles
43:29were not only
43:29a military threat
43:30but a political one
43:32as well
43:32Saddam Hussein
43:35knew full well
43:36that the strength
43:36of the coalition forces
43:38was its unity
43:39and if he could
43:40in any way
43:41undermine that unity
43:43then if he could do so
43:44he could fracture
43:45the coalition
43:45one way to do that
43:47was for Iraq
43:48to fire Scud missiles
43:49at Israel
43:50the search for Iraq's
43:53elusive Scud missiles
43:54soon became
43:55a top priority
43:56what the coalition forces
43:58didn't know initially
43:59was that the Iraqis
44:01had built launchers
44:02on regular truck trailer
44:03are chassies
44:04from the air
44:06at night
44:06these chassies
44:07look just like
44:08ordinary truck trailers
44:09during the day
44:11the launchers
44:11were concealed
44:12beneath trees
44:13highway overpasses
44:15abandoned buildings
44:16and even in the sand
44:18they might be buried
44:21underground
44:21and when it was time
44:23to use them
44:24say we're going to launch
44:25one tomorrow
44:25tonight we'll dig it out
44:27from under the ground
44:27we'll put it on a vehicle
44:29and we'll transport it
44:30to where we need
44:30to put it
44:31to find the elusive
44:35mobile Scud missile
44:36launchers
44:36General Schwarzkopf
44:37called upon
44:38the special operation
44:39forces
44:40aboard specially equipped
44:45Black Hawk helicopters
44:46the special operations
44:47team members
44:48ventured behind
44:49enemy lines
44:50to within 35 miles
44:52of Baghdad
44:52in what became
44:54known as the Scud Hunt
44:55flying in complete darkness
45:00using only
45:01night vision goggles
45:02the pilot stayed
45:03low to the ground
45:04to avoid detection
45:05by Iraqi radar
45:07in some cases
45:11the special operations
45:12helicopters would
45:13fly as low
45:14as 10 or 15 feet
45:16off the ground
45:17in fact I remember
45:18talking to one
45:18special ops helicopter
45:20pilot who was flying
45:21along at over
45:22100 miles an hour
45:23and had to jerk
45:24his plane up
45:25just so he wouldn't
45:26hit a goat
45:26special operations
45:29forces roamed
45:30all over western Iraq
45:32looking for a mobile
45:33Scud missiles
45:34that could be
45:34knocked out
45:35from the air
45:35but after an extensive
45:38investigation
45:39by the U.S. Air Force
45:40and army bomb damage
45:42experts
45:42there's some dispute
45:43as to whether
45:44any mobile Scud missiles
45:46were actually destroyed
45:47there is absolutely
45:52no evidence
45:53zero evidence
45:55that any of the
45:56mobile launchers
45:57transporters
45:58transporter erectors
45:59any of those
46:00pieces of equipment
46:01devoted to the mobile
46:02use of Scud missiles
46:03or any Scuds
46:05themselves
46:05other than those
46:06on fixed sites
46:07were ever attacked
46:09or destroyed
46:10none
46:11and in large part
46:13that's because
46:14we could never find them
46:15the reluctance of western powers
46:19to expose large numbers
46:21of military men
46:22to open combat
46:23and the high costs
46:24of manning mass armies
46:25will most likely lead
46:27to a greater use
46:28of unconventional forces
46:29these are highly trained soldiers
46:31who in small numbers
46:33are capable of accomplishing
46:34their missions
46:35with the minimum
46:36of casualties
46:37deception will
46:39no doubt
46:40play a major role
46:41stealth and speed
46:43will be paramount
46:44U.S. Navy SEALs
46:46will continue to use
46:47the rubber
46:47inflatable
46:48Zodiac boats
46:49to sneak onto
46:50enemy beaches
46:51undetected
46:52but their mothership
46:53will be the new
46:54Mark V
46:55equipped with
46:57highly classified
46:58electronic equipment
46:59the heavily armed
47:01craft
47:02can get in
47:03and get out
47:03of any position
47:04and situation
47:05because men
47:09in parachutes
47:09do not show up
47:10easily on radar
47:11parachuting in
47:13from extremely
47:13high altitudes
47:14will be used
47:15more frequently
47:16one method
47:17is the high altitude
47:18high opening
47:19or hey-ho jump
47:20special operations
47:24forces
47:24can parachute
47:25out of an airplane
47:26from 30,000 feet
47:28immediately open
47:29their chutes
47:30and with the use
47:31of sophisticated
47:31navigational devices
47:33steer themselves
47:3420 to 30 miles
47:36across borders
47:37with pinpoint accuracy
47:39to a target
47:40deep within
47:40enemy territory
47:41high altitude
47:44low opening
47:45or hey-ho jumps
47:46also start
47:47with an exit
47:48from an aircraft
47:48at high altitudes
47:49but the parachute
47:51isn't opened
47:52until the jumper
47:53is less than
47:53a thousand feet
47:54from the ground
47:55small teams
47:58of soldiers
47:59operating away
48:00from the main
48:00forces
48:01will soon
48:01be carrying
48:02their own
48:03aerial reconnaissance
48:04devices
48:05one such aerial robot
48:08is the microair vehicle
48:10or MAV
48:11a robotic air sensor
48:12no more than
48:13three inches wide
48:14equipped with cameras
48:16or acoustic sensors
48:18the mechanical insect
48:19flies behind the lines
48:21and signals back
48:22intelligence
48:23on the enemy
48:23some battles
48:28in the future
48:29may be fought
48:29in urban areas
48:30such battles
48:32would require
48:33seeing what the enemy
48:34is doing
48:35behind closed doors
48:36the cypher
48:39with its sensor
48:40package of infrared
48:41video cameras
48:42and its laser
48:43rangefinder
48:44does this both
48:45day and night
48:46the cypher
48:50is also equipped
48:51to listen to
48:52what the enemy
48:53is doing
48:53it can drop
48:54acoustic sensors
48:55behind enemy lines
48:57and fly away
48:58undetected
48:59the need to control
49:03perception
49:04and to circulate
49:05information
49:06will increase
49:07in importance
49:07for battlefield
49:08commanders
49:08they will need
49:10improved
49:10countermeasures
49:11in misinformation
49:12and jamming
49:13as electronic
49:17technology improves
49:18in such areas
49:19as communications
49:20within armies
49:21and electronic signals
49:23between guided weapons
49:24masters of deception
49:26are sure to increase
49:27their use of
49:28electronic interception
49:30and disruption
49:31a lot of it
49:35will involve deception
49:36being able to blind
49:37the enemy
49:38being able to confuse
49:40the enemy
49:40electronically
49:41so that he thinks
49:43of forces in one place
49:44when it's really
49:45in another
49:45you're going to have
49:47everything from
49:48virtual reality
49:49to computer viruses
49:51new and clever ways
49:54to fool the enemy
49:55are constantly
49:56being invented
49:57old tactics
50:00are being adapted
50:01to new technologies
50:02and conditions
50:03but basic deception
50:07techniques
50:07will not change
50:09just as in the wars
50:12of the past
50:13those who outsmart
50:14the enemy
50:15will have much
50:15to gain
50:16and those who fail
50:18to recognize
50:18when they are being
50:19tricked
50:20may never have
50:22another chance
50:23when do you need
50:27to use deception
50:28ruses and tricks
50:30when you're weak
50:32when you're strong
50:33when you're winning
50:34when you're losing
50:35when you're advancing
50:37when you're retreating
50:38in peace
50:39and in war
50:40in short
50:43as the ancient
50:44Chinese adage
50:45puts it
50:45there can never
50:47be enough
50:47deception
50:48to be continued
50:50to be continued
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