 Everybody likes a good game of football. In the American scheme of things, football follows baseball as naturally as fall comes up to summer. But perhaps you're wondering what football has to do with combat counterintelligence. Let's see if we can figure it out. You may remember the big upset of last season when the team from Little Southern Tech held the powerful Panthers to a tie. The wise guys are still trying to figure that game out. Here it is. The score is nothing to nothing with only seconds to play. And all eyes are on Joe Jenkins, Panther Quarterback, who has never made less than 20 points in a game. Joe fades back for a pass. But the boys from Tech seem almost to be expecting this, and Jenkins is smeared behind the line for a 10-yard loss. Only one play left in the game. The ball is passed to Jenkins, and he stopped after a short game. And that's the game. Now, what everybody would like to know is, how did an inexperienced team like that from Southern Tech manage to stop the Panthers? The answer is simple. It seems that only a week before, the Panthers played another game, against the Partries. In that game, Joe Jenkins was having a private picnic. He was passing, running, kicking all over the field, and 70,000 people came to see him chalk up a score of 21 to 6. Among those 70,000 high up in the grandstand sat a man with binoculars, a movie camera in his lap, and a little black book and pencil in his hand. Ever so often, he would scribble something in this little black book. And occasionally, he would grind out some film with his movie camera. This man, as you probably guessed, was a scout. A football spy. The scout brought his little black book and camera home to Southern Tech. He and the coach went over both film and notebook very carefully, and this is what they found out from the film. Now, Jenkins will call the signals for a forward pass. How do we know? Watch carefully. Yes, that's the giveaway. Joe has a habit of wetting his index finger when signaling for a pass, but the part race didn't know this, so the pass was completed. But that wasn't the only giveaway. What's this one? Jenkins is going to run the ball this time. See? Joe hitches his right foot a few inches back of his left. He does this in order to enable himself to get a quicker start. He does it only when he's going to carry the ball, never when he's faking it. Everybody said that the Panthers had an off day when they played tech, but that isn't the story. The truth is that the boys from Tech had a little advanced information. In warfare, we too must avoid these unconscious giveaways, and unlike football, the stakes are higher. The consequences more serious and grave. Each of you, as far as enemy intelligence is concerned, is a walking book of information. To drop your guard for a split second may cost you your life and the life of your fellow soldier. You can put this down as an unshakable rule that to underestimate the enemy intelligence is fatal. It is the responsibility of every one of you to safeguard military information under combat conditions. Let us for a moment look at some of the men of the 27th Division as they prepare to move up to the front. Orders have been given them to... just one moment. You there. Yes, you. You were the bayonet in your hand. What the... Let it out. Cut water. Come on now. Take that camera out of your bag. What's so long? Now come on. You heard what I said. Take it out. That's a good boy. Now you know you can't take that up to the front with you. Why not? It's only got one roll of film in it. A couple of shots that took my buddies. Take our walk, will you? Come here. If you should be captured with that camera and your possession, the enemy would learn that we're going to start a big major offense even a few days. What are you talking about? Just from a develop on my one roll of film? Will you stand still for a moment? You took a picture of Johnny Higgins, didn't you? Yeah. How'd you know? After his development, the enemy will see something more than Higgins. In the background, they'll see a pretty big formation of tanks. So what? It's no military secret that we've got tanks? Maybe the tanks aren't, but their formation is a very valuable secret. Oh, the formation, huh? The enemy knows that tanks are never massed to such an extent near the front unless an immediate offensive is planned. Yeah. That's what they could learn from your harmless picture of Johnny Higgins. Gee, I never thought of it that way. Of course you didn't. You were spending all your time thinking of ways with a sergeant. All right, all right. So I made a mistake. When your life and the lives of all your comrades are at stake, it's no longer a mistake but a crime. And a crime as serious as murder. Remember that. Okay, okay. I heard you. Wise guy. Hello, Morgan. Got anything to leave behind? Huh? Leave behind a... Oh, yeah. Yeah, my camera. Glad you came across with it, Morgan. I knew you had it. Just wanted to see if you'd give it up yourself. That's a fine way to talk. Take that camera up to the front with me, do you? Well, if stuff like that got in the hands of the enemy, why, why, it's a crime, that's what it is. Sergeant, I'm surprised at you. Johnson, you got another diary for me? Oh, heck, Sergeant. This is the fourth one of these you've taken away from me. I just started this one. You know regulations, Johnson? These are all sent to rear-rest you long. You can get them back later. Yeah, but there's no secrets in here. I don't even know any secrets myself. I don't know about that. Let me have a look at that thing. I have never seen so much activity in this area. Do you know after it's moved in last night, and everybody seemed to think that we will all be moving up soon? There must have been plenty doing in the front last night. There's been a steady stream of casualties coming back for several hours. Understand we're going to have a new division commander, General Riley. I've been hearing a lot about him, and everybody seems pleased. You don't know any secrets. Well, if you were captured with this thing in your pocket, Johnson, the enemy would know as much about this side of the front as we do. Well, they could piece this information together with what they have. They'd know where our greatest strength is, who our officers are, and where our lines are weakest from casualties. They're crime to take this into action. I'm sorry, Sergeant. Hey, Sergeant. And Nixon, I won't keep you long. I just thought hard to remind you about something. Go ahead. Light your cigarette. About that cigarette case your pal Roberts didn't give the sergeant. Don't you think you ought to remind him about it? I told him that he said his girl gave it to him, and it's going to stay with him. But his girl, a very pretty girl, to be sure, foolishly had his name and division number engraved on it. The enemy can use information like that. Oh, I told him about it, but he won't give it up. Then why don't you tell the sergeant? Oh, look, Bud, you got me wrong. I'm no squealer. You're a fool, Hannickson, since when is it squealing to obey orders? All you men were told to turn in everything which shouldn't be carried into action. That means whatever you have and whatever you know anyone else to have. If that's squealing, and it's the kind that might save Roberts' life for him, it's the kind of squealing Roberts ought to learn to appreciate. I'm sorry. I'd like to oblige, but I can't do anything like that. But I guess there are other ways. You talking to me? I wasn't, but I am now. Look, Robbie, I think you better turn that cigarette case into the sergeant until we get back. Oh, not on your life. But it's got a division number engraved on it. You can do it. You heard me. Turn it in. Hey, what is this, anyway? Now, look, Robbie, you wouldn't want me to beat you up on a nice sunny day like this, would you? I don't think you're kidding. Frankly, I'm not. Well, in that case, how can I do it with my neck and your hands? To give you something? On their way into action. Some of them possibly into the hands of the enemy as prisoners of war. But the rest of the outfit won't have to worry. They won't be betrayed by a scrap of paper carelessly stuffed into a pocket, a bit of jewelry with tell-tale engraving, a thoughtlessly taken photograph, or anything else that might possibly give a bit of information to the enemy. But there are other ways in which a moment of heedlessness, even a moment of laziness, might put an invaluable piece of information into the enemy's hands. As the infantry advances, so does the artillery move guns forward to beat back the enemy or support an attack. One battery is set up in a long-walled trees relatively near the front. The spot has been carefully chosen, and as soon as the guns are in position, they are carefully camouflaged. There will be no glint of metal here, no unnatural shadow to be spotted by an enemy observer from the air. The ammunition dump is located in the nearby grove of trees close to a road. This position also will be carefully camouflaged. When the whole job is finished, an aerial view discloses nothing. Even a close view from the air shows absolutely nothing. Yet the battery's four guns are right along here, and the ammunition dump is exactly here. All four gun crews can reach the dump along this route without ever leaving cover, and ammunition trucks can reach the dump along this route. This is an almost perfect job of placing and camouflaging artillery. But unfortunately, it's a long way around from number one gun to the dump. That is, it's a long way to walk and still keep under cover. Come on, Joe, we only got one more trip to make. I'll take it easy. I've walked a thousand miles a day between here and that dump. It's not my idea. Come on, let's go. Well, if we have to, let's take a shortcut. I'm going to hit across that field. Hey, wait a minute. You know the orders were supposed to stay under cover. I couldn't be a sucker. There's nobody around to see. Give your legs a break. Come on. Come on, Joe. Come on. See, we saved ourselves 15 minutes walking. The guys from number two gun have been doing it all along. Hi, Joe. Hi. I'm ready to start back. Hey, you can back your truck up under those trees and turn around. I should go through all that trouble. I can swing around a corner of the field here. So long. So long. Ah, quit your worrying, will ya? You can go over the same way we can. There isn't an enemy airplane within 100 miles a year. That's right. There isn't an enemy airplane within 100 miles a year. Today, but tomorrow and the next day. There was nobody in sight when the enemy airplane did fly over. But that airplane did take pictures. The enemy always makes complete and periodical photographs of the area opposite its front. The picture taken today will be compared with one taken of the same area last week. At first glance, the two photographs seem to be identical. But a magnifying glass shows there have been several changes in the terrain since the first photograph was taken. This second picture shows a faint path from number two gun to the ammunition dump. It also shows another path where Joe took his shortcut. And it shows a track in the corner of the field where the driver turned around to save himself a few seconds. Enemy intelligence can deduce only one thing. Those paths must lead someplace. Between the times the two pictures were taken, something was moved into that row of trees and into that grove. The enemy doesn't have to see Joe. The enemy has already seen the track that Joe made, and that's enough. But Joe's death wasn't the only harm done. A battery of full guns was destroyed with all the crews. And the fact that that new battery had been moved into position gave the enemy a hint of the attack that the battery was supposed to support. The rules of camouflage discipline must be observed without question. Don't make unnecessary paths that will give away the position of something which has been properly camouflaged. Don't commit murder through carelessness. There were some men in the last world war who forgot these things. The bus that forgot? Most of us are here. We didn't mean anything by what we did. We didn't sell information to the enemy. We didn't have any secret meetings with spies. We just forgot. I remember that spring of 1918 very well. The jellies had been having pretty much their own way in the San Marcel sector. And they just about cut our 23rd division to pieces. So we were sent up to reinforce what was left of the outfit. Everybody knew we were going to have a big push someday soon. Well, word got around the river to move up in two days. So we decided to have our last chance at nightlife. I naturally headed for the nearest place to wet the inside of my neck. Giving information to the enemy was the furthest thing from my mind. But I had a few drinks and I was pretty proud of my outfit. We've been waiting three weeks for a chance to get to fight up here. Fight? You guys in the 49th wouldn't know a fight if you saw one. But we'll show you. You wait the day after tomorrow when we get a real crack at those cherries. Say we'll be in to John Bray before they know what hit him. You'll see something from the 76th. How do you like that guy? He was the first infantry. He hadn't been in town 15 minutes before he found himself a girl. I don't even remember what her name was. But Tom didn't know there was anybody else in town. What's the matter? All of a sudden you don't talk to me anymore. Nothing's the matter. I was just thinking I guess. I may not be seeing you after tonight. Not seeing me. I live so close here we could see each other all that time. Yeah I know but I won't be here. You see we're moving up in the morning. I'll be back of course. But just in case I'd like you to have something. I've carried it as kind of a good luck piece. Here. Day after tomorrow the 76th. We're moving up in the morning. I think I'd let him shoot me rather than willingly give information to the enemy. So what Tom? I don't know how these things happen. I guess nobody ever does. But they do happen. Within 24 hours the enemy intelligence had learned a number of interesting things. From the little bit of boasting that I did. They learned that the 76th division was moving into the sector opposite them. They knew that the 49th was moving into the same area. And they knew that these outfits were going to attack on the following day. Nobody knows how they got this little keepsake either. But they did. And from it they knew that the 41st was in one of the reinforcing divisions. Already the enemy knew our approximate strength and what we planned to do with it. You can guess what happened. We did attack. Just when I thought we would. Just when the enemy knew we would. The whole thing was smashed in about two hours. The 76th. The outfit that I was so proud of. Was almost wiped out. And some of the others were cut up pretty badly. Still on my conscience. I only talked a little bit. But it was too much. Don't you do it. Don't talk. Don't be careless even about little things. There's some other fellas here that can tell you more about that. There isn't much I can tell you that you don't know. I can tell you what happened to me. As usual it was only a little thing. I just wanted my wife to know how I was getting along. Right into Alice. Yeah. She raises Kane if I don't write at least once a month. Give her my regards. All right. Oh and tell her if she sees Nan to say that I'm all right. Sure I will. Nan will be glad to hear from you. I reached Alice. Somewhere along the line somebody read it who shouldn't have. When the enemy received the information Corps headquarters was still at San Jean. You probably know what happened. Corps headquarters didn't stay at San Jean long. It was blasted off the map. And so was John Nash. John and I have been here together for many years now. Many years. And I've had something in my mind all that time. I didn't talk. I didn't write any letters. I didn't write any diaries. But I'm as guilty as anyone else for what happened to that Corps headquarters. I was with Stanley when he wrote that letter. And I knew what he was writing. I should have stopped him or reported him. Don't hesitate to report any violations of secrecy discipline even by a friend. You may be saving his life and yours. And remember, don't commit any breaches of camouflage discipline. Don't take anything into action with you which might be of any help to the enemy. When you go into action, don't leave anything behind which might give information to the enemy. It might fall into his hands. Don't talk. Don't write diaries. Don't write any military information in letters. Don't forget, not even for a second.