Maskirovka

<p>Deception is a subject that has drawn increased emphasis in military studies in recent years. Within our army we are undertaking concerted efforts to improve our capabilities in this area. In a broader arena it is our most powerful potential enemy who has drawn attention and acclaim in the area of deception. Numerous authors have noted the increased emphasis of maskirovka in Soviet military thought and warned of the vulnerability of the western powers to such a practice. This monograph studies evolving U.S. Army doctrine for deception and Soviet maskirovka doctrine in order to develop a comparative analysis of the two concepts. While appropriate manuals and regulations are drawn on to establish the essence of our doctrine Soviet concepts are examined primarily through the numerous open source writings on this topic. Historical examples from the second World War are included for the illustration of U.S. and Soviet doctrinal concepts in execution. While the applicability of deception at all levels of war is recognized this monograph focuses on deception at the tactical level. This study finds that there are great similarities between U.S. Army deception doctrine and Soviet maskirovka. It also finds numerous subtle but significant differences between the two bodies of thought including differences in scale emphasis purpose scope planning techniques attention to advanced technologies and integration with broader doctrine. Differing U.S. and Soviet perspectives on the principle of surprise and the place that surprise holds within the respective doctrines are key to much of the contrast between our deceptive practices and Soviet maskirovka. This monograph concludes by offering four doctrinal improvements that are suggested by this comparative analysis. First the principle of surprise needs to be given more emphasis in the context of our AirLand Battle doctrine. Second we need to simplify and integrate efforts taken under the separate banners of deception OP</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>