Page 121 - MDSL Final

PRINCIPLES OF WAR
Surprise

Surprise can produce results out of all proportions to the effort ex-
pended and is closely related to security. The ability of the land force
to disperse and rapidly concentrate is critical to achieving surprise. Not
all activities can remain concealed, so deception should be employed to
conceal the intent of any action. Surprise is an effective and powerful
influence on combat operations and its psychological effect can be im-
mense. Every endeavour should be made to surprise an adversary and
to guard against being surprised.

The use of the principle of Surprise is probably the most
interesting principle to study during OVERLORD planning
and execution. Many deception plans were used to
confuse the Germans as to the date and location of an
Allied invasion. A key reason these deception plans worked
so well was that the Allies ‘broke the Enigma code early
in the war that could be used to decode secret German
messages.’ This allowed the Allies to monitor German
message traffic and determine whether deceptive efforts
worked or not prior to their subsequent efforts. A very
sophisticated deception plan named FORTITUDE was
implemented by the US and Britain to convince Hitler the
invasion was coming elsewhere and that the invasion force
was larger than its actual size.

Flexibility

Flexibility is the capacity to adapt plans to take account of unforeseen
circumstances to ensure success in the face of friction, unexpected
resistance, or setbacks, or to capitalise on unexpected opportunities. It
relates to the ability to maintain effectiveness across a range of tasks,
situations and conditions; the ability to dynamically manage the balance
and weight of effort across different lines of operation in time and space;
and the ability to rapidly identify then appropriately respond to new
threats and opportunities.

To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea 103