OOTW ANALYSIS ATTRIBUTES

The attributes that affect the design of OOTW analysis tools are fully defined here. Attributes that differentiate one type of operation (category) from another are labeled as definitive attributes. Other attributes differentiate among the situations within a category. Mission, Enemy, Troops, Terrain/Weather and Time Available (METT-T) analysis is used as a framework for grouping the attributes. However, the term "enemy" also refers to natural factors such as erupting volcanos, when appropriate. "Troops" also refers to non-military and friendly non-U.S. personnel. The definition of terrain/weather is extended to cover the general environment, including the geopolitical situation.

"MISSION:" RATIONALE

The rationale for engaging in OOTWs is often complex. The rationale may be humanitarian, political, economic, or military; however, it is usually a mixture.

• Mission, objectives, and MOEs Definition: What is the mission; what are the objectives; and what are the measures of effectiveness. Definition of end states should be included in the mission statement. Measures of effectiveness are likely to be political, medical, humanitarian, social, etc., but should include military criteria, as appropriate. The stated mission should define which OOTW category (or categories) apply to the operation and the desired end-state and transition criteria should be traceable to the mission statement. Definitive attribute.

• Political vs Economic vs Ideological vs Symbolic Interest Definition: Is the rationale primarily political, economic, ideological, or symbolic. Return to status quo ante in host country will tend to be a minimum objective. Restoration of infrastructure and commerce, establishment of democratic processes and restoration of indigenous law enforcement and judiciary system are characteristic objectives.

"MISSION:" ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS

Many OOTWs involve military assistance to civilians. The various types of assistance generate several sets of possible values.

• Assistance required Definition: Types of assistance required may include medical, security, engineering support/infrastructure, civil affairs, transportation for NGO/PVOs, PSYOPs, MP, and communications. Definitive attribute: HA/DR and nation assistance operations require assistance to be delivered, NEO and military contingency operations do not. Peace operations, counterdrug, counterterrorism, and counterinsurgency operations may also require assistance.

"MISSION:" CONSTRAINTS

Various attributes define constraints on military options.

• ROE Definition: This attribute refers to the type and restrictiveness of the rules of engagement imposed on U.S. military forces. ROEs impact the level of visibility of U.S. actions ("footprint"). Minimizing civilian casualties and collateral damage are usually top priority. ROEs must take adequate account of personal security of American and allied forces. Urban/rural differences are likely to be important. The ROEs strongly impact force structure, choice of weapons, and target identification criteria. Restrictive (vs permissive) rules of engagement are a fundamental training priority, and potential morale problem. Definitive attribute: near combat (peace enforcement) and combat (some military contingency operations) OOTWs will generally have less restrictive MOEs.

• Legal Definition: This attribute refers to the type and restrictiveness of the legal constraints imposed on U.S. military forces. Legal constraints impact the level of visibility of U.S. actions ("footprint"). Legal issues are a fundamental training priority. Treatment of detained combatants, identification and apprehension of war criminals, etc., likely to be important issues in conflict termination. American and allied forcesþ relationship to local laws and law enforcement agencies needs to be precisely defined. Definitive attribute: DR- domestic operations fall under U.S. legal restrictions, whereas different restrictions may apply to combat operations or to operations overseas.

• Degree of risk Definition: Risk involves both the likelihood of undesirable events and the magnitude of their undesirability. The amount of risk to U.S. interests (including personnel safety) varies by operation type. Risk includes the risk involved in performing the mission and the risk that results from not performing the mission.

• Use of force Definition: The likelihood of the use of force against U.S. forces varies by type of operations, as does the likelihood that U.S. forces will use force. The authorized type of force may be lethal force, nonlethal force, or none. Definitive attribute.

• Level of intensity Definition: The level of intensity (general war, sporadic sniper attacks, etc.) and the risk of escalation (increase in intensity level), e.g., in response to casualties, driven either by public and official opinion or by military judgment, are components of this attribute.

• Scope of conflict Definition: The scope of conflict ranges from local to regional conflict.

• Casualties Definition: Expected casualty level and the type personnel expected to be involved (e.g, military, non-military support, or civilian, also U.S., coalition, host nation, or adversary). The casualty driver may be disease or natural disaster, as well as combat.

• Potential $ cost - direct Definition: Estimated direct costs for the operation.

• Potential $ cost - indirect Definition: Estimated indirect costs of the operation, including opportunity costs, reconstitution/retraining, etc. Some indirect costs are difficult to convert to dollar costs, particularly opportunity costs; however, such a conversion provides the most practical method of comparing dissimilar situations.

"ENEMY"

In the OOTW context, the enemy may be human and may be some natural force (such as a volcano, a hurricane, or a disease epidemic) or it may be a combination.

• Human enemy exists Definition: In some types of operations, U.S. forces must contend with a human enemy, whereas this is not the case for other operations. Definitive attribute: CI, CD, CT, some peace operations, and military contingency operations have human enemies, whereas the others generally do not.

• Consent Definition: Consent refers to the major parties of a conflict and whether they consent to third party mediation, peacekeeping, etc. (full, none, or partial also strategic consent vs tactical consent). Definitive attribute: peacekeeping vs peace enforcement.

• Impartiality Definition: Impartiality refers to whether a third party acting in a mediating, peacekeeping, etc., role behaves with impartiality towards the various sides of the conflict.

• Information/intelligence availability Definition: The level and quality of information or intelligence availability.

"TROOPS:" FORCE STRUCTURE

Force structure is an expected attribute in any military operation. In OOTWs, the complexities that are possible generate several force-structure-related attributes.

• Command/coordination structure Definition: Who is in charge. What are the command arrangements. CMOC is critical consideration in nation assistance. Political liaison with host country (via ambassador and country team) critical in counterinsurgency. Peace operations are usually under UN or an international command, such as NATO. Domestic disaster relief operations are headed by FEMA. International disaster relief and humanitarian assistance operations are usually headed by some international organization, the host nation, or the U.S. Ambassador. Counterdrug operations and counterterrorism operations in the United States are headed by law enforcement organizations. Counter-terrorism operations in foreign countries may be headed by the U.S. military, the U.S. Ambassador, or the host nation. Counterinsurgency, foreign counterdrug and nation assistance operations are usually headed by the U.S. Ambassador and the Country Team. Military contingency operations are usually headed by the U.S. military. Definitive attribute.

• Force mix Definition: Force mix needed for the operation (combat by type, CS, CSS and supporting vs supported and active duty vs reserves). More warriors on the Counterinsurgency side, typically heavily weighted toward Special Operations Forces (SOF) at the outset. Large-scale pacification in low-threat environment tends toward light infantry. Trainers, civil affairs, engineers are required to recreate infrastructure in Nation Assistance. Contractor support for forces is likely to be large, especially in a low-threat environment. Military combat forces are standard in military contingency operations. Definitive attribute.

• Integrated planning Definition: Type of planning (coalition, joint services, multi-agency, or all plus NGO/PVOs) needed.

• Need for CMOC Definition: Whether CMOC is needed.

• Need for HAST Definition: Whether Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team (HAST) is needed.

• C3I Definition: C3I personnel and equipment needed.

• Security Definition: Type and level of security needs of the operation. For example, different threats requiring security protection are pilferage, hostile attack and information theft.

• Uses of liaison Definition: Numbers and types of liaisons needed (language skills, knowledge of culture, etc.).

• Logistics/resupply Definition: Logistics/resupply needs. The needs may be solely for the military forces or may include support to NGO/PVOs or the indigenous population.

• Military capabilities of opposing sides Definition: What are the military capabilities of the opposing sides (depending on the operation): small, medium, or large.

• Military technology Definition: What kinds of military technologies are involved: capital-intensive, personnel-intensive, or in-between. For example, extremely mountainous terrain might preclude tanks and other heavy weapons, shifting the military technologies toward the personnel intensive.

• Force size / force ratio / preponderance of force Definition: How beneficial force ratio (between the U.S. side and either the opposition or the parties involved in conflict, depending on the operation) will be achieved (armament, personnel numbers, better organization, moral force).

"TROOPS:" NON-U.S., NON-MILITARY

The breadth of the coalition and the interactions with non-U.S. and non-military organizations create several important attributes that impact OOTWs.

• Level of host nation support/infrastructure Definition: Can the host nation provide support and is its physical infrastructure sufficient to support the operation (high, moderate, low). Definitive attribute: complex humanitarian emergencies (i.e., those requiring HA operations) are defined by the lack of support or infrastructure.

• Involvement of other nations Definition: Are other nations besides the United States (and the host nation) involved (many, few). Definitive attribute: domestic DR operations do not involve other nations.

• Degree of UN involvement Definition: Is the UN involved and in what capacity (high, moderate, low). Definitive attribute: peace operations are generally undertaken only with some UN involvement, whereas many military contingency operations have no UN involvement.

• Degree of U.S. agency involvement Definition: Are other U.S. agencies involved and in what capacities (many, few and high, medium, low).

• Scale of NGO/PVO involvement Definition: Are NGOs involved and in what capacities. Tends to be critical in nation- assistance, esp. in defining the end state, which is normally a hand-off to UN/NGO/local authorities. Local are NGOs/PVOs especially important in reestablishing a legitimate, functional regime. Large-scale presence of NGOs/ PVOs can compound security problem, depending on threat environment (none, few, many, very many).

• Extent of coalition Definition: What is the extent of coalition forces (unilateral [e.g., U.S. only strike], bilateral, multi-lateral).

• Host government stability Definition: How stable is the host government.

"TERRAIN/WEATHER" (ENVIRONMENT): LOCATION

Several location-based attributes are important to OOTWs.

• Location Definition: What is the location of the area of operations? What CINC is responsible? Is it in the Western Hemisphere? Is it close to U.S. overseas presence? The emphasis is on the political supportability of the operation.

• Distance from United States Definition: Is the operation in the United States. If not, how far away from the United States is it. The emphasis is on the physical supportability of the operation.

• Environment/terrain Definition: What is the geographical and meteorological environment and does the environment involve the use of sea, land, air, space, etc.?

• Size of operating area/demographics Definition: What is the size of the area of operations and what are its demographics? What is the status of the infrastructure, e.g., road network, airfields, and ports?

"TERRAIN/WEATHER" (ENVIRONMENT): GEOPOLITICS

OOTWs are inextricably embedded in geopolitics. The terrain/weather component of the METT-T analysis is expanded to consist of the total environment of the operation.

• Geo-political environment Definition: Is the geopolitical environment supportive or not (hostile toward U.S. involvement, neutral, supportive, involved). How stable is the coalition (if any).

• Cultural Dissimilarities/ethnic conflict/religious conflict Definition: Is the area of operations destabilized by cultural dissimilarities, ethnic or religious conflict, or linguistic and social differences.

• Interests of Other Nations Definition: Are non- participating nations interested in the operation? Are any of them U.S. allies? Do they have conflicting interests?

• Great Power involvement Definition: Are any of the Great Powers (defined politically, economically and militarily) involved and are their strategic interests involved? Is the strategic interest of the United States involved?

• Political sphere Definition: What is the political sphere of interest, e.g., NATO or the Former Soviet Union.

• Media attention Definition: Level and kind of media attention (high, medium, low and favorable, neutral, unfavorable).

• U.S. public support Definition: Level of U.S. public support for the operation (high, medium, low). Is the support in the government from the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch or both?

"TIME"

Time is an important attribute for any operation. In the context of OOTWs, it is useful to subdivide time into several attributes.

• Time Definition: Time elements of the operation, such as deployment time and rotation times.

• Planning/Reaction Time Definition: The amount of planning and reaction time available prior to initiating the operation.

• Duration Definition: The expected duration of the operations and the time to return to full combat effectiveness after the operation. Definitive attribute: military contingency operations and NEOs have a very short duration and DR operations generally have fairly short durations, whereas other operations can have extended durations.

• OPTEMPO/PERSTEMPO Definition: The expected operational tempo (OPTEMPO, rate of equipment usage) and rate of personnel usage (PERSTEMPO) of the operation. High-tempo, low-intensity operations are characteristic of counterinsurgencies. Larger-scale infrastructure restoration and civilian-military activity do not have such high tempo. Force rotation is necessary in protracted operations and puts pressure on training, morale and continuity of civilian-military relations. Employment of high-skill reserve components in Nation Assistance is an important bottleneck.

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