Editor's note: The following paper is an example of what John Boyd called a "snowmobile," a synthesis of ideas from across a variety of domains (interested readers can see see how Boyd develops the notion of "building snowmobiles" in his briefing, Strategic Game of ? and ?, available here on DNI, then scroll down.)Snowmobiles result from analyses combined with trials at a synthesis. Since it is virtually imp...

Thinking About Deception by Fred Feer 5 August 2004This brief paper discusses the most often asked questions about military deception. What is it?Why do it?How do you measure its impact, or, how do you calculate its contribution to winning?Can you rely on it?What is Deception?The answer to the first question is misleadingly simple. The official definition is: deception — Those measures designed to mislead the enemy b...