Military Review English Edition November-December 2013 | Page 67

P L A N N I N G D E C I S I V E O P E R AT I O N S
The concept of the operation paragraph is more
specific than the commander’s intent. Its purpose
is to assist the subordinate leader’s visualization
of the plan. A successful concept of the operation
paragraph will clearly define the decisive point, the
tactical risk and how to mitigate it, and the essential
task and purpose for each element. Most importantly, the paragraph explains where the decisive
point is, how the decisive operation will achieve
the decisive point, and how each shaping operation’s purpose is nested to create conditions for the
decisive operation. The task and purpose from the
concept of the operation paragraph is the essential
task and purpose for each subordinate element, and
therefore it will be the task and purpose in their
mission statements. If each subordinate element
clearly understands the commander’s intent and
how its task and purpose relates to the other elements, subordinate l