text: Chapter 4
  Religious Support and the Operations Process
  OPERATIONS PROCESS
  4-1. Mission command is the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to
  enable disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the
  conduct of unified land operations (ADP 6-0). Mission command requires responsive chaplain sections and
  UMTs—
  * Capable of understanding an OE.
  * Able to adapt, anticipating and managing transitions as they support the execution of the overall
  unit mission.
  * Willing to accept an approved level of risk to create opportunities for RS.
  Chaplains and religious affairs specialists must plan within guidance and utilize risk management to operate
  within acceptable risk levels and develop courses of action (COAs) to meet the commander’s intent. (See
  ATP 5-19 for details on risk management.) Within a framework of adaptability, chaplains and religious affairs
  specialists exhibit the ability to shape conditions and respond effectively to a changing OE with appropriate,
  flexible, and timely actions. (See ATP 1-05.01 for more details on RS and the operations process.)
  4-2. The Army’s method for the exercise of mission command is the operations process. This process
  consists of the major activities performed by command staffs during operations: planning, preparing,
  executing, and continuously assessing. During the operations process, the chaplain section or UMT plans,
  prepares, executes, and continually assesses RS tasks in support of the unit mission. These activities may be
  sequential or simultaneous. Often, chaplains and religious affairs specialists must plan and prepare for an
  upcoming operation while still providing responsive RS to Soldiers. Chaplains and religious affairs
  specialists must begin preparation activities (coordination for transportation or supplies) while still in the
  planning process. Throughout this process, chaplain sections and UMTs apply Army design methodology;
  the critical and creative thinking to understand, visualize, and describe complex and multidimensional
  problems and develop approaches to solve them. Design should not be viewed as a process or a simplified
  checklist. (See FM 6-0 for a detailed discussion on the staff planning and operations process.)
  4-3. Innovation, adaptation, and continuous learning are central to mission success as chaplain sections and
  UMTs provide RS in an often uncertain and complex OE. The goals of design are—
  * Understanding multidimensional problems. Chaplain sections and UMTs analyze the situation and
  the operational variables to gain the critical information necessary to understand and frame these
  problems.
  * Anticipating change. Rather than responding to events as they occur, chaplain sections and UMTs
  anticipate, recognize, and manage transitions.
  * Creating opportunities.
  4-4. Throughout the operations process, chaplain sections and UMTs face various problems. A problem is
  an issue or obstacle that makes it difficult to achieve a desired goal or objective. Chaplains and religious
  affairs specialists apply critical and creative thinking to solve problems as it executes its RS mission. Critical
  thinking enables chaplain sections and UMTs to understand situations, identify problems, find causes, arrive
  at conclusions, make quality plans, and assess the progress of operations. To solve a problem, chaplains and
  religious affairs specialists—
  * Recognize and define the problem.
  * Gather information.
  * Develop possible solutions to the problem.