 The unit's men were not alerted to the intentions of the offensive until the very last minute; they were warned that their preparations were for an impending Allied offensive.The effort to recruit for the unit was nearly compromised by an army-wide order requesting the names of English-speaking personnel and any captured Allied vehicles; although Skorzeny originally attempted to cancel the operation, he later turned the misfortune around by allowing rumors of the unit to circulate freely in order to hide the truth.Skorzeny was also wary of the fact that he and his men would have to wear American uniforms, which risked having them shot as spies if captured; ultimately, his men were allowed to wear German uniforms under their American clothing.