text: Operational Environment of Counterinsurgency
  TERRAIN AND WEATHER
  1-33. Terrain includes natural features, such as rivers and mountains, and man-made features, such
  as cities, airfields, and bridges. Weather describes the conditions of temperature, wind velocity,
  precipitation, and visibility at a specific place and time. When evaluating the effects of terrain and weather
  on COIN operations, the commander should consider the effects of seasons of the year (to include planting
  and harvesting periods); phases of the moon; and coastal tides. In particular, he concentrates on—
  • The effects of the weather—which mainly includes his Soldiers, equipment, and visibility, but
  also includes other factors such as mobility;
  • The suitability of terrain and road nets for tactical and logistical operations.
  1-34. He focuses on the effects of the terrain on Soldiers, equipment, visibility, and mobility. Units and
  staffs study the terrain in relation to the factors of OAKOC:
  • Observation and fields of fire
  • Avenues of approach
  • Key and decisive terrain
  • Obstacles
  • Cover and concealment.
  TROOPS AND SUPPORT AVAILABLE
  1-35. Successful counterinsurgency operations depend upon the commander using his available assets
  to maximize force strengths and minimize vulnerabilities. To do this, the commander realistically appraises
  the capabilities and limitations of his assets, as well as joint, interagency, international, and multinational
  elements, to organize and employ them on suitable missions. In the COIN environment, the tactical unit
  must identify, account for, and leverage all HN security forces—police, army and paramilitary—to secure
  and control the population and disrupt the insurgency.
  TIME AVAILABLE
  1-36. For tactical operations, time available for planning and execution varies. Major operations need
  prolonged periods of time for detailed planning. Stability operations that address political, economic,
  and social issues usually take a considerable length of time to complete. As such, after the initial period
  of planning, the time available for modified or future planning is often quite long.
  1-37. When planning short-term actions such as offensive operations against fleeting insurgent targets,
  planning time is usually short, and information is scarce. Commanders at all levels can use the time
  available to them more efficiently by planning contingency missions. One method to reduce planning time
  is to codify routine tasks common to similar missions in SOP. When the need to execute a contingency
  mission arises, the basic plan can be reviewed and planning expedited by making minor adjustment
  as required.
  CIVIL CONSIDERATIONS
  1-38. In COIN operations, the population is vital—since whoever the population supports has the
  advantage. Consequently, civil considerations are normally the most important mission variable for COIN.
  This variable comprises the influence of manmade infrastructure on the conduct of military operations.