Operational Environment

It is imperative that commanders and leaders possess a thorough understanding of their respective dynamic operational Environment (OE) in parade to efficiently lend oneself available resources to achieve the desired end state. Understanding the physical environment, the state of governance, technology, local resources and the culture of the local populace is absolutely vital and failure to do so leaves little chance for success. When considering the OE the sideline factors need to be examined ideology, religion, race, ethnicity, patriotism and physiological needs.Obtaining the necessary information will only be achieved as a result of a time consuming process that entails speaking with members of the local governance and the local populace of which patience is paramount. Given our current Contemporary Operational Environments (COE) of Iraq and Afghanistan probably the most important factor to understand is religion. It is imperative that commanders have a thorough understanding of the desired end state which is to rebuild the field and not force western culture upon them in the process. Agreeing with their culture or beliefs is inconsequential.Commanders at all levels are obligated to ensure that this end state is intelligibly stated and understood by everyone at all levels in order to show the local populace that are intentions are clear and that our efforts are sincere. gibe to FM 3-0 the OE should be analyzed utilizing the following inter cerebrate operational variables political, military, economic, social, information, infrastructure, physical environment and time (PMESII-PT). These variables stomach a view of the operational environment that emphasizes its benevolent aspects.It is suggested that whenever possible commanders and staff utilize specialists in each variable in order to improve analysis. The political analysis also addresses the effect of will. Will is the direct intangible factor it motivates participants to sacrifice to persevere a gainst obstacles. The military variable includes the military capabilities of all armed forces within the OE. The economic variable encompasses individual and congregation behaviors related to producing, distributing and consuming resources.Cultural sensation falls within the social variable and helps identify points of friction within populations, helps build rapport and reduces misunderstandings. Ensuring that the importance of cultural awareness is emphasized at all levels can improve a forces ability to accomplish its mission and provide insight into individual and group intentions. The information environment is the aggregate of individuals, organizations and systems that collect, process, disseminate or act on information. Commanders use information to shape the operational environment.The infrastructure comprises the basic facilities, services and installations require for a society to function and it is imperative that commanders understand that degrading the infrastructu re will have an affect upon the entire OE. The physical environment includes the geography and man-made structures within the OE. The enemy understands that less mazy and open terrain often exposes their military weaknesses. Therefore, they may try to counteract US military advantages by operating in urban or other complex terrain and during adverse weather conditions.In regards to the time variable an enemy with limited military capability usually views extend conflict as advantageous. They avoid battles and only make when conditions are overwhelmingly in their favor. Given our COE the enemy is well aware that Americans are impatient and crave a decisive victory without delay and are not willing to wage a long drawn-out conflict that places a heavy monetary burden upon the country. Colin S. Gray states that, COIN is about the control of mountain and territory. I submit that it is virtually impossible to gain control in any part without a thorough understanding of the many d ifferent facets that the OE is comprised of. Given the fact that we have moved away from fighting regular wars and find our selves submerged in irregular warfare knowledge of the operational environment is essential because the United States is already ill prepared to fight such a war. It has taken us the last 10 years to start to change our training and techniques allowing us to achieve success.The United States was stuck in the cold war era and our training and techniques were antiquated. stock-still so during the cold war era it was still vital to possess a thorough understanding of the respective operational environment in order to be successful. However, given the fact that we find ourselves in these irregular wars against religious extremists it seems to be exponentially important to know your OE. It seems as though that todays operational environments are much more elaborate and complex.Today we face a more guerilla style combatant as opposed to having all the way drawn li nes on the battle field during the cold war era. Today we find ourselves more in need of intelligence in order to retrieve who are enemy is and in order to obtain such elusive information it is essential to befriend the local populace which can only be accomplished by becoming educated on the aforementioned vital aspects of the OE itself. Mr. Gray also states that, the decisive combat occurs in and about the minds of civilians, not on the battlefield.Protection of the people must be job one. I believe that it is overtly obvious that in order to determine what is on the minds of the civilians and what their individual concerns are we need to get intimately familiar with them and earn their trust. I submit that this can not be accomplished until a thorough study of the breeze through operational environment has been completed and the US armed forces possess a firm grasp of what is important to the local populace. We will be ill prepared to protect them if we dont understand what th eir concerns and fears are.They have to be willing to place a tremendous amount of trust in our armed forces to provide them with the information of whom they fear and why. I say this because we cant really protect them until they provide the information but then again once they do they know that they will be targeted for reprisals. This is why I can not over emphasize how important it is to gain substantial knowledge of the local people and their respective culture within these complex environments.I would like to use the following quote from Colin Grays Irregular state of war to bolster my argument, If we do not know much about those beliefs and values, we are unlikely to register much progress in persuasion, except by accident. Indeed, by behaving like strangers in a strange landtrue aliensour regular soldiers and officials are as likely to do more harm than good to their mission. Irregular warfare is complex and thus far has been fought in extremely complex environments. It is a fact that the United States is not well suited or well prepared to engage in such battles.We can not longer rely on our size and strength in order to ensure victory. It is through technology, special trading operations and vital information obtained from the local people that enable us to achieve any success at all in these complex, hostile operational environments. I submit that obtaining a thorough and complete knowledge of the individual operational environment to include the physical environment, the state of governance, technology, local resources, the culture of the local populace, ideology, religion, race, ethnicity, nationalism and physiological needs is absolutely essential in order to have any chance of success.According to FM 3-0 we should analyze the operational environment utilizing the following variables, political, military, economic, social, information, infrastructure, physical environment and time (PMESII-PT). Utilizing this method should yield a fairly comple te understanding of the respective operational environment. Remember that according to Colin Gray, Irregular Warfare is about protecting the civilians and gaining their trust. How can we expect to accomplish this task if we behave like strangers in a strange landtrue aliens?