Actions executed to deliberately mislead adversary decision makers as to friendly mil capabilities, intentions, and operations, thereby causing the adversary to take specific actions (or inactions) that will contribute to the accomplishment of the friendly mission. Buckle up! https://twitter.com/18airbornecorps/status/1341899664250048512

The Operational Environment looked pretty bleak for the "Battled Bastards Of Bastogne" of the @101stAASLTDIV . All this talk of "Patton this..Patton that..".."Commanded massive formations.." ...or did he? We will come back to this question later in the thread. For now..2/

Allow me to introduce the secret weapon Patton had at his disposal..3/

The unit was organized with one battalion, 3 company separates and one headquarters company. Each unit had its specific role that was the personification of MILDEC doctrine...or shall I say PSYOP Doctrine? 4/

Members of the Ghost Army..Post! Name, Rank, and Serial Number Please...
5/

The Command Group and Headquarters Company managed talent and provided command and control.
Unorthodox in command guidance, the headquarters company was viewed as directors, stars and producers. 6/

603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion Special was the largest of the formations; with a primary mission of using inflatable tanks, trucks, artillery pieces and “props”. These props also included uniforms, false patches and road signs to fake German spies. 7/

Let's hear from the members of the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion Special..

In this 2 parter:

"Working With A Bunch Of Dummies"
8/

And in Part 2..."Working With A Bunch Of Dummies".. @PatDonahoeArmy would appreciate this. @Mother_of_Tanks has these on her front yard with Christmas Lights on it. @RedBullCG you say Sherman Tanks? 9/

The 244th Signal Company’s (renamed The Signal Company Special) primary mission was to create false radio nets. Sending out traffic mimicking reports of maneuver units; this provided the “bots” for German listeners to believe a larger force was moving across the battlefield. 10/

The 406th Engineer Combat Company Special provided the security for the entire organization but did participate in operations in the construction and demolitions to support the deception operation. 11/

The sonic deception company, 3132nd Signal Service Company Special, had vehicle mounted loudspeakers on half-track personnel carriers. This unit was able broadcast over great distances the sounds of troops, vehicles, weapons fire and aircraft. The OG #SpeakerMonkeys 12/

Let's hear the 3132nd's Veteran's story..fires related of course..

13/

Remember the @18airbornecorps tweet?

"[3 of 9] Patton's Third Army is called in to try to cut the Panzer Divisions off from the South."

Wait..why didn't the Germans push the southern flank? Why didn't the Germans press further?

Operations KOBLENZ & KODAK..14/

Operation KOBLENZ (Phase II) to begin 21 December to impersonate the 75th Infantry Division – which, incidentally, reported into this exact location five weeks later. 15/

The Deception was a simulation of radio traffic by MG Horace L. McBride’s 80th Division and MG John S. Wood’s 4th Armored Division in a manner designed to confuse the Germans as to which of these were real signals from the two formations. Patton moving East shifts North.. 16/

Patton on the move, author and historian Rick Beyer discusses...17/

Ghost Army Veteran Bob Conrad, walks us through the process....18/

To close..MG George Rebh (Ret.) explains the uniqueness of the Ghost Army...19/

I took these pics during my own trip to Bastogne, May 2000. Statue of Patton along the route he took to get there.

He was probably thinking..

"Those damn speaker monkeys are making a hella racket.."

...Probably.

fin.

ref:

JP 3-13.4 Military Deception. (2017). Retrieved from https://jdeis.js.mil/jdeis/index.jsp?pindex=27&pubId=650

Beyer, R., & Sayles, E. (2015). The Ghost Army of World War II: How one top-secret unit deceived the enemy with inflatable tanks, sound effects, and other audacious fakery

ref:

Garber, M. (2013). Ghost Army: The Inflatable Tanks That Fooled Hitler. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/ghost-army-the-inflatable-tanks

First Division Museum Presentation:

https://ghostarmy.com/ 
http://www.ghostarmylegacyproject.org 

Case Study: Me, @NCOLCoE Assignment.