text: Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield
  background, religion, age structure, growth rate, birth and death rates, net migration rates, communicable
  disease issues, languages spoken, and literacy rate. Any information on friendly, enemy, or neutral
  personnel will aid in planning.
  POLITICAL OR SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS
  7-6. Knowing the political affiliations of the populace may help the team determine whether they are
  likely to be for, against, or neutral towards the U.S.. Clans, tribes, and gangs may not only influence area
  politics and economic conditions, they may control them. Cultivation of and traffic in illicit drugs can also
  impact the political and economic conditions.
  INFRASTRUCTURE
  7-7. Infrastructure refers to all basic resources, support systems, communications, and vital industries.
  The physical and social attributes of an infrastructure operate interdependently. Understanding the
  functions and interrelationships of these components allow an assessment of how disruption or restoration
  of the infrastructure affects the population and ultimately the mission.
  Physical
  7-8. Lines of communication such as roads, rails, trails, and waterways, as well as telecommunications
  means, are key aspects of the physical environment to consider.
  Social
  7-9. The social attributes of infrastructure include such things as the medical system, the commerce
  system, and the transportation system. Each of these needs people in order to operate efficiently. For
  example, the doctors, nurses and support staff (pharmacists, ambulance drivers, clerks and janitors) interact
  with the physical infrastructure. The transportation system allows the people of the medical system to get
  to and from work. The commerce system provides the goods to supply the needs of the medical system.
  IDENTIFY THE LIMITS OF THE COMMAND'S AREA OF
  OPERATIONS
  7-10. In this second of five subtasks, the unit commander defines the AO. The AO is one of the most
  basic and important control measures. It is where he has the responsibility and authority to conduct
  military operations. AOs may be contiguous or non-contiguous. Contiguous means adjacent, touching,
  sharing a single boundary. Thus, contiguous AOs share a boundary, and noncontiguous AOs do not.
  Higher headquarters controls the unassigned areas between noncontiguous AOs.
  ESTABLISH THE LIMITS OF THE AREA OF INFLUENCE AND THE
  AREA OF INTEREST
  7-11. In this third of five tasks, the commander defines the area of influence and the AOI. The area of
  influence is larger than and includes the AO:
  AREA OF INFLUENCE
  7-12. The area of influence (no acronym) is a geographic area--
  • Where the commander can directly influence operations by maneuver or fires support systems
  normally under the commander's C2.
  • An area that includes terrain inside and outside the AO.
  • An area determined by both the G-2/S-2 and the G-3/S-3.
  AREA OF INTEREST
  7-13. The AOI is the commander's area of concern (interest). It includes the area of influence and
  adjacent areas, and it extends into enemy territory to the objectives of current or planned operations. It also
  includes areas occupied by enemy forces who could jeopardize the accomplishment of the mission. The