How does Intelligence help the Joint Force Commander Essay -- Militar

Intelligence is a critical component of joint planning and execution. Through the prism of Phase 0 (zero) Shaping, intelligence relates the realities of the operational environment before hostilities including an assessment of current economic, political, and cultural dynamics. Yet, throughout the subsequent phases of operational planning, analysts can also develop concise estimates on friendly and enemy centers of gravity (COG), thereby introducing not only the triggers of adversarial activity but at what point friendly forces can maneuver with maximum decisiveness. All the while, intelligence professionals systematically prepare real-time and near real-time intelligence to maintain the informational edge during execution. Intelligence enables the Joint Force Commander to visualize the operational environment, evaluate operational effects, and sustain information superiority throughout the duration of joint operations, thereby offering increased integration, synchronization and direction of involved joint elements. Understanding the complex operational environment of today and tomorrow is elemental when integrating diverse forces to achieve a favorable outcome. Intelligence professionals have a wide array of systems to draw from when preparing intelligence to facilitate a broad understanding. This array includes combat support agencies as well as national intelligence agencies which work in an ever increasingly collaborative environment. This aids the intelligence professional as they collect raw information as well as already produced actionable intelligence gained throughout all levels of war and throughout the full scope of military operations. This effort is critical in establishing priorities of effort which will ... ...s to collect information, evaluate problems, and reach the most plausible solutions. However, the varying requirements of operational and tactical warfare merit differing approaches to planning and execution. The design of the JOPP process is for campaign contingencies which fall into the scope of operational level, while the MDMP process is best suited for the tactical level. Moreover, JOPP takes into account that a joint commander may not be as thoroughly knowledgeable of all assigned forces as the tactical commander would be. Wisely, JOPP asks the joint staff and commander to evaluate friendly, as well as enemy, COGs so to evaluate capabilities of either force. The tactical commander, not wanting to take anything for granted, would already know the true combat potential of the force, as speed and decisiveness are certainly critical in the tactical realm.