Operation Fortitude

FA-30 Information Operations Qualification Course

History

Operation FORTITUDE and the Successful Use of Military Deception

LTC Kevin Countie

21 January 2007

Operation FORTITUDE and the Successful Use of Military Deception

According to Joint Publication 3-13 .4 , Military Deception , or MILDEC , is defined as those actions executed to deliberately mislead adversary decision makers as to friendly military capabilities , intentions , and operations , thereby causing the adversary to take specific action (or actions ) that will contribute to the accomplishment of the friendly mission ' MILDEC is also one of the eight Information Operations

(IO core capabilities . From a doctrinal and practical perspective successful MILDEC and IO campaigns rely on well planned , fully integrated and synchronized coordination . However , MILDEC differs from other areas of IO in that the planning should be controlled by a single element to ensure unity of effort with friendly forces , operational security , and compatibility with other operational plans

Some forms of what we now term IO capabilities have been used as early as the fourth century B .C , when Sun Tzu wrote about the merits of deception in warfare and suggested its capabilities as a multiplier of force , while others , such as Computer Network Operations , are relatively new with doctrines rapidly evolving . Although the concept of IO did not exist during the second World War , successful MILDEC operations used in that conflict relied extensively on synchronized efforts and means now categorized as IO capabilities . This addresses the successful use of MILDEC in engaging Operation FORTITUDE as part of Operation BODYGUARD , the overall D-Day deception plan for the invasion of Europe It will demonstrate that the success of Operation FORTITUDE was the result of centralized control and the synchronized and effective use of several core and supporting IO capabilities which included electronic warfare , counterintelligence and physical deception

FORTITUDE consisted of two parts , FORTITUDE NORTH and FORTITUDE SOUTH FORTITUDE NORTH dealt with the fictitious invasion of Norway and its aim to keep the Germans from reinforcing the Normandy area and to convince them the channel crossing was planned for a later date than originally expected . The plan was executed using several forms of deception First , a small group of radio operators simulated radio transmissions from the fictitious British Fourth Army , which was to carry out the attack on Norway . Then , plans for the fabricated invasions were also leaked to British-controlled German double agents considered extremely reliable to the German command . Deceptive references to the British Fourth Army and its subordinate units were made in BBC broadcasts and published in British newss . In addition , a British Air Vice Marshal who had been a pre-war air attachy to the country of Sweden , was sent back to discuss the allied plans to invade Norway . He met with a Swedish government official knowing the plans would be leaked to the Germans , and indeed they were . By all measures , FORTITUDE NORTH was a success , as Germany stationed over 200 ,000 troops in Norway to await an invasion that never happened

FORTITUDE SOUTH revolved around the fictitious...