text: Chapter 7
  each friendly COA. If an IO target set is not designated, the IO officer ensures that IO-related targets are
  assigned an appropriate priority within the target sets used.
  7-21. Target sheets contain the information required to engage a specific target. Target sheets state how
  attacking the target affects the threat’s operation. The IO officer prepares target sheets for HVTs to analyze
  them from an IO planning perspective. These HVTs are expressed as target subsets, such as decision makers.
  Information requirements concerning them include:
  * What influences these decision makers.
  * How they communicate.
  * With whom they communicate.
  * Weaknesses, susceptibilities, accessibility, feasibility, and pressure points.
  Deconflicting and Coordinating Targets
  7-22. The IO officer and working group consider the possible consequences of attacking any target or target
  set. Their purpose is to identify possible duplication or attenuation of effects. The attack of physical targets
  always has second- and third-order effects (informational and cognitive) that could diminish or enhance their
  value to the overall operation. For example, fires that result in the collateral deaths of civilian non-combatants
  can have a negative cognitive effect, while using fires to destroy the enemy’s fiber network so that it relies
  on radio communications vulnerable to jamming can have a positive informational effect. Also, the effects
  achieved by one IRC might compete with or diminish the effects of another IRC. Thus, IRC synchronization
  and the integration of IO into other lines of effort requires methodical coordination and deconfliction efforts.
  7-23. IO working group members consider all targets from their various perspectives. Deconfliction in this
  context means ensuring that engaging a target does not produce effects that interfere with the effects of other
  IRC tasks or IO-related targets, or otherwise inhibit mission accomplishment. Coordination ensures that the
  effects of engaging different targets complement each other and further the commander’s intent.
  7-24. IO officers at different echelons may seek to engage the same targets and, possibly, desire different
  effects. Therefore, IO-focused targeting includes coordinating and deconflicting targets with higher and
  subordinate units before the targeting working group meets. Some IO-related targets may also be nominated
  by other staff elements. The IO officer presents the effects required to accomplish the IO objective associated
  with those targets when the targeting team determines how to engage them. IO officers must also coordinate
  and deconflict targets with unified action partners whose doctrinal use of IRCs and policies governing their
  employment differ. Such coordination extends the planning horizon and may limit how IRCs are integrated.
  7-25. One way to achieve this coordination and deconfliction is by beginning parallel planning as early as
  possible in the MDMP. This means that the IO officer and the targeting team should share all pertinent
  information with subordinate units and adjacent and higher headquarters.
  Assessment Criteria
  7-26. Generally, the effects of lethal attacks can be evaluated quickly using readily observable and
  quantifiable criteria, such as the percentage of the target destroyed. Assessing nonlethal attacks often requires
  monitoring the target over time, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative criteria. Establishing meaningful
  measures of performance and effectiveness for IO-related targets requires formulating a theory or logic of
  change in relation to IO objectives and the desired end state. The IO officer and working group essentially
  ask: will successful attack of a specific target or target set contribute to the attainment of the objective and
  what will the observable actions or activities leading to the desired outcome look like? The logic of change
  is expressed in terms of the anticipated causal chain that begins when the target is engaged. (See chapter 8
  for more detail on the theory or logic of change.)
  7-27. IO-related targets attacked by means such as jamming or MISO broadcasts require assessment by
  means other than those used in battle damage assessment. The IO officer develops post-attack or post-
  engagement assessment criteria for these targets and determines the information needed to determine how
  well they have been met. The IO officer prepares IO IRs or RFIs for this information. If these targets are
  approved, the IO IRs for the approved targets may be recommended to the commander as priority intelligence