Order of Engagement
Once a commander has considered the geography of a mission, he examines the assets the enemy is believed to have available - the enemy's order of battle (OOB); what friendly units are needed to succeed at the mission objective; and the added constraints placed by mission requirements (time etc.). This produces a path of intended motion (PIM) for the friendly forces - not the route, but the direction in which the force is heading at any time and so the area which must be checked and passed through.
As enemy forces are encountered and identified, they are categorized by potency and immediacy and the friendly OOB altered to reflect this. There are four threat classes: A, B, C and D.
- Class A is Potent and Immediate; this is a need to drop everything and respond immediately. This might be a gaggle of sea-skimming missiles racing towards a capital ship, or something as powerless as a tug - that is radioing the fleet's position to a more distant enemy.
- Class B is Immediate only; this requires fast action but does not threaten the mission; for example, a small boat detected in the outer screen.
- Class C is Potent only; this is a 'win' for the fleet commander: a significant threat detected far enough away that force can be massed to destroy it or to avoid it.
- Class D is Neither Immediate nor Potent; a target of opportunity which is not a threat and the destruction of which does not aid the assigned mission.
This classification is similar to the time management method of judging things to be urgent/not urgent and important/not important.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Carrier Group Tactics
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