FM-3-81 Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Download
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Appendix A A-16 FM 3-81 09 November 2021 INTEGRATING PROCESSES A-45. The integrating processes of IPB, targeting, and risk management are essential in providing assessments or key information to assessments. They are a vital part of integrating protection within the other warfighting functions and throughout the operations process. A-46. IPB is a systematic process of analyzing the mission variables of threat, terrain, weather, and civil considerations in a specific area of interest to determine their effects on operations. By conducting the IPB, commanders gain the information necessary to selectively apply and maximize operational effectiveness at critical points in time and space. A-47. The targeting process integrates commander guidance and priorities to determine which targets to engage and how, when, and where to engage them to assign friendly capabilities to create the desired effect. The staff then assigns friendly capabilities that are best suited to produce the desired effect on each target. An important part of targeting is identifying possibilities for fratricide and collateral damage. Commanders establish control measures, including the consideration for restraint, which are necessary to minimize the chance of these events. The protection priorities must be integrated within the targeting process to achieve the desired objectives while ensuring the preservation of combat power. A-48. Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks that arise from operational factors and making decisions that balance risk cost with mission benefits. Threat, hazard, capability, vulnerability, and criticality assessments are utilized to evaluate the risk to the force, determine the critical assets, ascertain available resources, and apply security or defensive measures to achieve protection. Risk management helps commanders preserve lives and resources, avoid or mitigate unnecessary risk, identify and implement feasible and effective control measures where specific standards do not exist, and develop valid COAs. Risk management integration during operations process activities is the primary responsibility of the unit protection officer or operations officer. MILITARY DECISIONMAKING PROCESS A-49. The military decisionmaking process is an iterative planning methodology to understand the situation and mission, develop a course of action, and produce an operation plan or order (ADP 5-0). The MDMP integrates the activities of the commander, staff, subordinate headquarters, and unified action partners to understand the situation and mission; develop and compare COAs; decide on a COA that best accomplishes the mission; and produce an OPLAN or order for execution. The MDMP helps leaders apply thoroughness, clarity, sound judgment, logic, and professional knowledge to understand situations, develop options to solve problems, and reach decisions. This process helps commanders, staffs, and others think critically and creatively while planning. The MDMP results in an improved understanding of the situation and in a plan or order that guides the force through preparation and execution. A-50. Effective protection integration during operations depends on full integration into the MDMP and the overall operations process. The protection working group provides input to the commander’s MDMP by integrating the threat and hazard assessment with the commander’s essential elements of friendly information and the protection prioritization list. See table A-3 for protection integration to MDMP.