Catalogue description Ministry of Defence: Directorate of Forward Plans: Registered Files

The duties with which the Directorate of Forward Plans (DFP) was primarily concerned fell under the following heads:

• A: Counter Subversion
• B: Psychological Operations
• C: Community Relations
• D: Deception

Counter subversion was controlled by the Cabinet Office Counter Subversion Committee, on which Special Projects Co-ordinator (SPC)/Staff Chief of Defence Staff (SCDS) and Deputy Director Forward Plans were the permanent Ministry of Defence representatives and also sat as required on the regional working groups. The main committee met (approximately) quarterly; the detailed work for examining hostile threats and proposing counter measures was delegated to the Regional Working Groups. The main committee was chaired by the Foreign Office and was composed of representatives of the Foreign, Colonial and Commonwealth Relations Offices, Ministry of Defence, secret Intelligence Service, Security Service and the Ministry of Overseas Development.

DFP was responsible to the Chief of Defence Staff for policy and co-ordination within Whitehall of all matters pertaining to psychological operations in support of the Armed Forces.

DFP was responsible for policy at Whitehall level for Forces community relations. Community relations was regarded as an integral part of counter subversion and psychological operations.

The Joint Planning Committee (of which the Director Forward Plans was a member) and the Chiefs of Staffs Committee initiated deception action, the military aspects of which were followed through by DFP who was the Ministry of Defence link with the other agencies.

DFP considered themselves as a "ginger group", and where they saw opportunities which could be exploited to advantage (other than purely military means) to call attention to them as appropriate.

• The functions of the DFP were as follows:
• i) To maintain within the Joint Planning Organisation a deception Planning Team, responsible, under the joint direction of the DFP and of the Directors of Plans for preparing deception plans in support of military strategy in peace and war.
• ii) To organise and co-ordinate as necessary the implementation of deception plans after approval by Chiefs of Staff.
• iii) To ensure, in consultation with the Directors of Plans, that the policy for VISTRE (Visual Inter-Service Training and Research Establishment) is co-ordinated with overall deception policy and strategic plans.
• iv) To prepare plans, covering all theatres, for the expansion in war of the deception organisation.
• v) To maintain a list of officers and civilians previously trained in, or considered suitable for, deception work.
• vi) To organise the training of officers and civilians appointed to deception duties.
• vii) To maintain the library on deception.
• viii) To safeguard the security of all deception.