Planning in the Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha.

The objectives of this study were to identify individual and collective processes that characterize both effective and ineffective planning in the Special Forces SF Operational Detachment Alpha ODA and to suggest training enhancements. During Phase I, interviews with SF experts indicated that ODA commanders and their staffs are deficient in skills and knowledges related to mission analysis and intelligence preparation of the battlefield IPB. During Phase II, the authors reviewed archival data and observed ODA planning during a single rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center JRTC. ODAs that were strong in mission analysis a generated more effective implied tasks resulting from analysis and relating to other mission elements b recognized a wider variety of constraints and were more likely to include constraints directly related to the threat and c were more likely to revise courses of action COAs or method of evaluation based on the results of their evaluation. ODAs that were weak in IPB a did not analyze the effects of weather and terrain on their mission, b did not develop an appropriate reconnaissance and surveillance RS data collection plan, c may produce lower quality IPB products, and d may determine enemy COAs less effectively.