In the European Theater of World War II, Military Deception (MILDEC) played a critical role, as did conventional military force, in helping Allied forces achieve their strategic objectives. In this context, the 23rd Headquarters Special Forces, officially known as the Ghost Army in historical literature, was a tactical deception unit established to deceive, mislead, and psychologically manipulate enemy forces. Although composed of approximately 1,100 personnel, this unit, capable of simulating the presence of two full-fledged divisions (approximately 30,000 soldiers), made a critical contribution to the Allied victory.

English Heritage

The Ghost Army concept was a product of the increasingly prominent military deception practices among Allied strategists during World War II. The primary historical premise that inspired the unit's establishment was "Operation Bertram," conducted by the British Army in 1942 before the Second Battle of El Alamein . In this operation, British forces successfully deceived the Afrika Korps under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel by constructing false pipelines, disguising tanks as trucks, and conducting deceptive troop movements. The tangible strategic advantage provided by Operation Bertram was the primary factor that convinced American military leadership and the Allies of the necessity of establishing a similar, yet more mobile and versatile, deception unit to facilitate the advance across Europe after the Normandy landings.

Founders and Staff

The unit was formed under the leadership of Major Ralph Ingersoll, a former journalist, and Colonel Billy Harris, a West Point graduate. The combination of Ingersoll's innovative concepts and Harris's operational expertise facilitated the Ghost Army's approval by higher command. The unit's personnel were drawn from civilian institutions such as art schools, advertising agencies, and theater companies in New York and Philadelphia. These personnel, comprised of painters, architects, actors, sound engineers, and designers, had an average IQ of 119, well above the average for the military at the time. Among these interdisciplinary experts were fashion designer Bill Blass and painter Ellsworth Kelly, who would later become renowned in their respective fields.

Operational Structure and Deception Methodology

The Ghost Army is divided into four core specialized units to effectively execute multi-layered and synchronized deception missions:

 

^{On units, job descriptions and methods (Muhammed Emin Göksu)}

Psychological Warfare Strategy and Cognitive Manipulation

The Ghost Army's operational success was based on a sophisticated psychological strategy targeting the enemy's cognitive processes. Rather than convincing the German command of a completely new situation, the unit exploited "confirmation bias" by providing evidence supporting their existing anxieties and strategic expectations. When the information visually detected by German reconnaissance aircraft, aurally heard by intercepting posts, and signals intelligence intercepted over the radio all presented a coherent scenario, the deception became an undeniable reality in the enemy's mind. This constituted a holistic psychological operation (PSYOP) that targeted enemy decision-making through a multimodal information attack.

Major Operations and Impact Analysis

During its deployment in Europe, the unit conducted more than 20 large-scale deception operations. These operations included:

^{Example Operations from History (Muhammed Emin Göksu)}

ULTRA Intelligence and German Archives

The effectiveness of the Ghost Army's operations could be measured in near real time thanks to the Allied "information asymmetry." The ULTRA project, which deciphered the German Enigma encryption system, allowed Allied commands to verify through internal correspondence whether Germans believed a staged deception. This feedback mechanism ensured the success of the operations. Post-war German war logs and situation maps definitively proved that the ghost units created by the Ghost Army were positioned in the wrong locations planned by the Allies. Estimates suggest that the unit's operations saved the lives of between 15,000 and 30,000 Allied soldiers, while the unit's own casualties were limited to only three dead and approximately 30 wounded.

Conclusion and its Effects on Military Doctrine

With the end of the war, the Ghost Army's existence and tactics were classified "Top Secret" to preserve its potential strategic advantage during the Cold War. This nearly 50-year secrecy was lifted in 1996, and the unit's history was opened to the public and academic community. As a result of these efforts, the unit was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor of the US Congress, on February 1, 2022. Although initially an experimental endeavor, the Ghost Army served as a model for the development of modern psychological operations (PSYOP) and military deception (MILDEC) doctrines, which are now taught in military academies.