A Set of Rules

THE MOSCOW RULES

American assets working out of the embassy in Moscow during the Cold War had a set of rules that were meant to be their guiding principles in the field.

Assume nothing.
Never go against your gut.
Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
Don’t look back – you are never truly, completely alone
Go with the flow.
Vary your pattern, but stay within your profile.
Lull them into complacency.
Don’t harass the opposition.
Pick the time and place for action.
Keep your options open.

For our purposes here, they should be taken just as seriously.

Assume Nothing

Whenever you’re operating in the field, nothing can be assumed outright. Each piece of information influencing your decision making should be based on deductions made from any combination of the three following elements: 1.) the observations that you have made 2.) the intelligence preparation of the operation (IPB) that you have prepared before deploying to the field and 3.) the information transmitted to you by your Control element.

Never Go Against Your Gut

We build experience by making mistakes. With each mistake and each interaction, positive or negative, we are constantly expanding our internal data set to improve future outcomes in future scenarios. Trusting your gut allows you to make the most of the instincts that will eventually flow from a non-conscious assessment of that internalized data.

Everyone Is Potentially Under Opposition Control

Whenever you’re outside of a confirmed sanctuary, every asset that you encounter should presumably have an agenda counter to what you intend as the desired end state. At first this appears to be implicitly the sentiment of a paranoid delusional. In many ways, it is. However, this is our mitigation for the variables that are beyond the reach of observation, research and what can be researched and negotiated by the control element.

Without vigilance this can be a threat to operational effectiveness. With finely enough tuned observation and analysis, this principle becomes it’s opposite, and we learn to recognize the goals and aspirations of the opposition, oftentimes before they are consciously formed and cognitively expressed.

Don’t Look Back – You Are Never Truly, Completely Alone

Consider a single person speaking loudly on a cell phone on a silent crowded bus, or in a quiet coffee shop. Their conversation, whether intentionally invasive or not can have a hijack-effect on your consciousness. You suddenly find yourself paying more attention to how big of an asshole Marv from accounting is than the words on the page of your novel. As political animals, mankind is finely tuned and well adapted to keen but passive observation.

Go With The Flow

As stated above, most human being are constantly, if only passively aware of their surroundings. It is only when one deviates from the standard pattern of behavior and phenomena that suspicions are raised and alarm is raised.

Vary Your Pattern, But Stay Within Your Profile

The man-in-the-street leads a mundane and begrudgingly monotonous existence. Monday through Friday generally fall into the framework of a quintuple helping of commute – work – lunch – work – commute – dinner – with the only variation perhaps being a regular single (or set of) specific haunts. Saturday is generally reserved for late rising, a pastime in the afternoon and then more time out. Sunday is then spent in recovery and preparation to restart the cycle.

His social group is static vice dynamic. He has particular tastes, a favorite sports team, a brand of beer, etc.

The life of the Operative breaks this paradigm, making the Operative a novelty, and therefore more attractive. However, if the paradigm is broken too drastically, to remain congruent with the cover or avatar he has presented, say, by being seen leaving a steakhouse when he has presented himself as a professed vegetarian, or spending time with a mark at a nightclub when he finds house music avowedly distasteful, some backpedaling will be required.

Lull Them Into Complacency

Complacency here can be taken to be synonymous with a relative level of certainty on the part of your mark and those organic to the environment that you have no particular desired end state.

Don’t Harass The Opposition

Never harass or provoke. Take action yourself, or direct a team member to avoid, neutralize, mitigate or passively detain the opposition.

Pick The Time And Place For Action

Choosing the time and place for when and where you act allows an Operative the privilege of preparation. Subduing emotion and quarantining hubris ensure that you stay on task and act when and only when either risk to operational effectiveness has been mitigated or controlled.

If someone wants to schedule a meeting in an unfamiliar remote or controlled location, generally speaking, they want to control the situation.

If an Operative is forced to act and has already passed the bailout point where it is no longer feasible to waive off, refer to rule 5: Go with the flow.

Keep Your Options Open

This can be taken in two ways. First, be aware of every avenue of ingress and egress whenever in field. Knowing in advance where to go when the need for a hasty exit arises both neutralizes anxiety and allows for freer ease of movement if the call is made to hastily exfiltrate. Second, depending upon the breadth and depth of the target concentration in the operational area, multiple opportunities may present themselves. Just as an agent of the FBI wouldn’t turn a mafia Lieutenant loose when in pursuit of a Capo, neither should an Operative pass on an opportunity to engage an alternate mark or target.

Now that we’ve got a set of standards to work backward from, let’s move on to the most important aspect of operating: Operational Security.