Headquarters Department of the Army
Washington, DC, 30 August 1999
This field manual (FM) is intended to help company-level leaders understand the principles and
techniques of camouflage, concealment, and decoys (CCD). To remain viable, all units must apply CCD to personnel and equipment. Ignoring a threat’s ability to detect friendly operations on the battlefield is shortsighted and dangerous. Friendly units enhance their survivability capabilities if they are well versed in CCD principles and techniques.
CCD is equal in importance to marksmanship, maneuver, and mission. It is an integral part of a soldier’s duty. CCD encompasses individual and unit efforts such as movement, light, and noise discipline; litter control; dispersal; and deception operations. Each soldier’s actions must contribute to the unit’s overall CCD posture to maximize effectiveness. Increased survivability is the goal of a CCD plan. A unit commander must encourage each soldier to think of survivability and CCD as synonymous terms. Training soldiers to recognize this correlation instills a greater appreciation of CCD values.