Intro. to the Operations Order

Question 1

What is operation order?

Answer 1

• A means of directing and influencing your unit to synchronize actions toward accomplishing a mission.
• All five paragraphs work together to coordinate your resources into a plan on how you will reach the goal of mission accomplishment.

Question 2

What is the structure of an operations order?

Answer 2

O-SMEAC:

• Orientation
• Situation
• Mission
• Administration and Logistics
• Command and Signal

Question 3

What is the Orientation part of the Op Order?

Answer 3

• Brief description of the key terrain related to the specific mission
• Understanding the impact terrain has on your movement and mission will help you to come up with a feasible solution.
• Typically use a terrain model
• Present Location
• Direction of Attack
• Objective Location

Question 4

What is the Situation part of the Op Order?

Answer 4

-Provides an understanding who is in the immediate area.
- The Situation paragraph provides details on both friendly and enemy personnel operating in your area of operations.
-

Question 5

What is the Mission part of the Op Order?

Answer 5

• A short statement containing all five “W’s”. When is who, doing what, to whom, and why.
• This is the problem that we have to determine the solution for.
• Using all of the information we have at this point, we determine a course of action to accomplish the mission.

Question 6

What is the Execution part of the Op Order?

Answer 6

• This is where we communicate the plan (solution) for our problem (the mission) we are tasked to accomplish.
• Starting from our present location, we brief how we get to the point where the “what” has been accomplished that leads to the “why” of the operation.
• We provide enough detail to direct how to accomplish the mission without being too detailed where we lose initiative from subordinates.
• We imply discretion to subordinates in determining how they accomplish their tasks.

Question 7

What is the Admin & Logistics part of the Op Order?

Answer 7

-Focuses on medical issues, Enemy Prisoner of War handling, food, water, and ammunition needed to accomplish the mission.
- 4 B’s:
Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids, and Bad Guys.

Question 8

What is the Command & Signal part of the Op Order?

Answer 8

• Here we wrap up the order by discussing how we will communicate key events throughout the operation.
• We also discuss where key personnel are going to be located, and what the order will be for succession of command in the event the unit leader becomes a casualty.