text: Operational Art and Science
  2-145. Not all assets listed on the protection prioritization list receive continuous protection. Some critical
  assets only receive protection assets based on available resources. Event-driven operations may be short in
  duration, enabling a formidable protection posture for a short time; condition-driven operations may be
  open ended and long term, requiring an enduring and sustainable scheme of protection. In either situation,
  commanders must provide guidance on prioritizing protection capabilities and categorizing important assets.
  Each echelon must determine and prioritize the critical assets derived from the commander’s guidance,
  intelligence preparation of the battlefield, targeting, risk management, warning orders, the critical asset list,
  defended asset list, and mission analysis. Commanders and staffs ensure effective physical security measures,
  like any defensive measures, overlap and are deployed in depth. Prioritization of protection capabilities is
  situationally dependent and resource informed. (See ADP 3-37 for additional information on protection
  prioritization.)
  2-146. Protection is continuous and occurs throughout operations to shape, operations to prevent,
  large-scale ground combat operations, and operations to consolidate gains. Commanders focus protection
  activities on deterring and preventing the enemy, adversaries, or hazards from actions that affect the force.
  Protection capabilities support operations during mobilization, the transit of Army forces and cargo, along
  movement routes, at initial staging areas, and subsequent assembly areas where uncertain threat conditions
  require a delicate balance between protection and building combat power. Protection tasks enable
  commanders to preserve the force, safeguard bases and base camps, and secure routes.
  2-147. Commanders may direct and redirect the way that combat power is applied or preserved, and they
  may adjust the tempo of operations through synchronization. The continuous and enduring character of
  protection makes the continuity of protection capabilities essential during execution. Commanders implement
  control measures and allocate resources that are sufficient to ensure protection continuity and restoration.
  Commanders and staffs monitor and evaluate the progress of operations, monitor threats to protection
  priorities, and recommend changes to the protection plan, as required.
  2-148. One important aspect of protection planning, preparing, executing, and assessing involves corps and
  division support areas. If conditions in the support area degrade, it is detrimental to the success of operations.
  A degraded support area also inhibits the ability to shape the deep area for the BCTs operating in the close
  area. Therefore, the protection of support areas requires considerations equal to those in the close area.
  2-149. There are seldom sufficient resources to provide the same level of protection to all assets
  simultaneously. All military assets are important, and all resources have value. The capabilities they represent
  are not equal in their contribution to decisive operations or overall mission accomplishment. Determining
  and directing protection priorities may involve the most important decisions that commanders make and their
  staffs support.