text: Chapter 4
  Assessment
  ASSESSMENT RESPONSIBILITIES
  4-1. One primary responsibility of the MDO involves assessing the effectiveness of deception and DISO in
  achieving supported command objectives. Assessment is the continuous monitoring—throughout planning,
  preparation, and execution—and evaluation of the current situation to measure the overall effectiveness of
  the operation. An essential and resource-intensive aspect of any successful deception, MDOs consider
  assessment from the initiation of planning. Planners avoid developing deception objectives that cannot be
  associated with a progressive and observable enemy response into a more detailed deception concept or
  subsequent execution. Deception is assessed in the same manner as other operations: using MOPs to
  determine if a deception event was executed according to plan and using MOEs to determine if the event
  created the desired impact or effect. In deception, MOPs involve everything up to and including delivery of
  the observable (filtered or unfiltered) to the deception target.
  4-2. Accurately assessing MOEs for deception is complicated by the fact that MDOs need to measure
  desired changes in perception, as well as the action or inaction manifested by their success. MDOs develop
  MOEs that measure effectiveness, efficiency, and adaptability using the following guide:
  * Appropriate: MOEs should correlate to the target’s objectives.
  * Mission-related: MOEs must correlate to the mission.
  * Measurable: Quantitative MOEs reflect reality more accurately than qualitative MOEs, and
  hence, are generally the measure of choice when the situation permits their use.
  * Useful: MOEs should detect situation changes quickly enough to enable the commander to
  immediately and effectively respond at decision points identified in the deception plan.
  4-3. Because of this complexity, a detailed assessment plan accompanies each planned deception event. A
  detailed assessment plan includes MOPs, MOEs, and coordination with the G-2 for information collection
  assets to collect and report indicators in real time. Every assessment plan begins with a baseline—the point
  from which assessments are measured. Planners can generate a baseline from an initial survey, poll, or
  estimate or establish a baseline from a specific time or event.
  4-4. The MDO also has responsibility for continually reassessing the deception objective, target, story, and
  events to ensure they are still important to the achievement of the mission objectives. Monitoring activities
  include, but are not limited to—
  * Monitoring and evaluating the deception to ensure it continues to support operations.
  * Evaluating how the target is acting or not acting in response to the deception story.
  * Monitoring for unintended consequences resulting from the deception.
  * Determining when termination criteria are met.
  4-5. Planners consider how to assess a deception plan at the start of the planning process. A plan to assess
  a deception informs the commander if the operation is being executed as planned and achieving the desired
  results. As part of the evidence-based approach to decision making, assessment is integral to the planning
  process, and it must be designed as part of the initial planning process once the commander’s intent has been
  articulated. By integrating assessment into the planning cycle, staff can identify potential second- and third-
  order effects and unintended consequences.