ATP-5-0-2-1 Staff Reference Guide Volume 1 Download
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Chapter 1 4 ATP 5-0.2-1 07 December 2020 Transition between phases. Execute branches and sequels. Realign resources. Change command and control relationships. Change priorities of effort. Adjust decision points (DPs). 1-23. Based on evaluating progress, staffs brainstorm possible improvements to a plan and make preliminary judgements about the relative merit of those changes. Staff members identify those changes possessing sufficient merit and recommend them to the commander or make adjustments within their delegated authority. Recommendations to the commander range from continuing the operation as planned, to executing a branch plan, or making unanticipated adjustments. Making adjustments includes assigning new tasks to subordinates, reprioritizing support, adjusting information collection assets, or significantly modifying the course of action (COA). Commanders integrate with their personal assessments with recommendations from the staff, subordinate commanders, and other partners. Using these recommendations, commanders decide if and how to modify the operation to better accomplish the mission. 1-24. Assessment diagnoses threats, suggests improvements to effectiveness, and reveals opportunities. Staffs present assessment conclusions and recommendations to the commander as an operation develops. Just as staffs devote time to analysis and evaluation, so too must they make timely, complete, and actionable recommendations. The chief of staff (COS) or executive officer (XO) ensures staffs complete their analyses and recommendations in time to affect the operation and for information to reach the commander when needed. GUIDES TO EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT 1-25. Throughout the conduct of operations, commanders integrate their own assessments with those of their staff, subordinate commanders, and other unified action partners in the area of operations (AO). The following guides aid in effective assessment: Commander involvement. Integration. Incorporation of the logic of the plan. Caution when establishing cause and effect. COMMANDER INVOLVEMENT 1-26. Commander involvement in operation assessment is essential. The assessment plan should focus on the information and intelligence that directly support the commander's decision making. Commanders establish priorities for assessment in their planning guidance and CCIRs. By prioritizing the effort, commanders— Guide staffs' analysis efforts. Reject the tendency to measure something just because it is measurable. Avoid burdening subordinates and staffs with overly detailed assessments and collection tasks. Do not commit valuable time and energy to developing excessive and time-consuming assessment schemes that squander resources better devoted to other operations process activities. Generally, the echelon at which a specific operation, task, or action is conducted should be the echelon at which it is assessed. INTEGRATION 1-27. Assessment requires integration. Assessing progress is the responsibility of all staff sections and not the purview of any one staff section or command post (CP) cell. Each staff section assesses the operation in relation to its specific warfighting function. These staff sections, however, must coordinate and integrate their individual assessments and associated recommendations across the warfighting functions to produce