text: Chapter 5
  or multifunctional headquarters units, the logistics staff provides sustainment planning for its subordinate
  units.
  Within engineer units, leaders and staffs must monitor, report, and request requirements through the
  correct channels and ensure that sustainment requirements are met when sustainment is brought forward to
  the engineer unit. The accurate and timely submission of personnel and logistics reports and other necessary
  information and requests is essential.
  Engineer commanders and the engineer staff officer must ensure that parallel planning occurs between
  the supported unit and the task-organized engineer units. This parallel process feeds into the force
  commander’s decision-making process and provides input for an engineer unit OPLAN, OPORD, or annex
  to be published nearly simultaneously, maximizing the time available for execution.
  To facilitate effective parallel planning at the engineer unit level, engineer unit commanders and staff
  planners must—
  * Understand the commander’s intent and planning guidance of the parent (engineer) unit and the
  supported unit.
  * Analyze the terrain, obstacle information, and threat capabilities.
  * Know the engineer systems and capabilities to accomplish the identified tasks within the time
  allotted.
  * Identify risks where engineering capabilities are limited or time is short, and identify methods to
  mitigate the risks, ensuring that potential reachback capabilities have been leveraged.
  * Consider the depth of the AO and the transitions that will occur among operational elements. This
  includes the integration of environmental considerations.
  * Plan for the sustainment of engineer activities. Engineers ensure that the logistical requirements
  are analyzed and accounted for through the end state and resourced to accomplish the mission and
  facilitate future operations.
  MILITARY DECISIONMAKING PROCESS
  Engineers analyze the OE, using operational variables to add to the shared common understanding by
  identifying potential challenges and opportunities within the operation before and during mission execution.
  The resulting understanding of the OE (an engineer view of the OE) is not intended to be limited to
  considerations within the OE that may result in engineer functional missions. The resulting engineer view of
  the OE is, instead, organized by lines of engineer support and linked to the common overall understanding
  through the warfighting functions.
  Operational Variables
  Army doctrine describes an OE in terms of the following eight constantly interacting operational
  variables that are listed in the bullets below. The following examples are provided to show the added focus
  sought within each of the operational variables by the engineer view of the OE. These examples are not meant
  to restate the more complete treatment of the variable in the general terms provided in ADP 5-0 or to be an
  all-inclusive treatment of the engineer aspects within each of the variables; instead, they are meant to focus
  engineer perspectives on the following operational variables:
  * Political. Understanding the political circumstances within an OE helps the commander to
  recognize key actors and visualize explicit and implicit aims and capabilities to achieve goals. The
  engineer view might add challenges associated with political circumstances that permit or deny
  access to key ports of entry or critical sustainment facilities. Opportunities in the form of
  alternative access routes might be added. The engineer and others may be impacted by the effect
  of laws, treaties, agreements, or positions of multinational partners (such as restrictions on
  shipments of hazardous materials across borders or a host of similar political considerations that
  can affect engineer planning and operations).
  * Military. The military variable explores the military capabilities of relevant actors in a given OE.
  The engineer view might add the challenges associated with an enemy capability to employ
  explosive hazards or other obstacles and the capability to challenge traditional survivability