text: Chapter 2
  a field in the area. On the other hand, an extraordinary military advantage would be necessary to justify an
  operation posing risks of collateral death or injury to thousands of civilians (see DOD Law of War Manual,
  5.12.3).
  Civilian Workers Who Support Military Operations In or On Military Objectives
  In general, reasonable steps must be taken to separate the civilian population from military objectives.
  However, sometimes civilian personnel work in or on military objectives in order to support military
  operations. Provided such civilian workers are not taking a direct part in hostilities, those determining
  whether a planned attack is excessive must consider such workers, and feasible precautions must be taken to
  reduce the risk of harm to them (see DOD Law of War Manual, 5.12.3.3).
  Use of Human Shields
  An adversary’s use of human shields can present complex moral, ethical, legal and policy
  considerations. The use of human shields violates the rule that protected persons may not be used to shield,
  favor, or impede military operations. If civilians are being used as human shields, provided they are not
  taking a direct part in hostilities, they must be considered as civilians in determining whether a planned attack
  would be excessive and feasible precautions must be taken to reduce the risk of harm to them. However, the
  enemy use of voluntary human shields may be considered as a factor in assessing the legality of an attack.
  Based on the facts and circumstances of a particular case, the commander may determine that persons
  characterized as voluntary human shields are taking a direct part in hostilities (see DOD Law of War Manual,
  5.12.3.4).
  “CONCRETE AND DIRECT MILITARY ADVANTAGE EXPECTED TO BE GAINED”
  The expected military advantage gained from an attack must be “concrete and direct.” The
  considerations in assessing a “definite military advantage” in the definition of “military objective” are also
  relevant in assessing the “concrete and direct military advantage expected to be gained” (see paragraphs 2-
  47 through 2-52). The military advantage does not need to be “immediate,” but it may not be merely
  hypothetical or speculative. Similarly, military advantage is not restricted to immediate tactical gains, but
  may be assessed in the full context of the war strategy. The military advantage anticipated from an attack is
  intended to refer to an attack considered as a whole, rather than only to isolated or particular parts of an
  attack.
  Military advantage may involve a variety of considerations. Examples include: denying the enemy the
  ability to benefit from an object’s effective contribution to its military action (perhaps by keeping the enemy
  from using this object in its military operations); improving the security of the attacking force; and diverting
  the enemy’s resources or attention.
  The military advantage expected to be gained from an attack might not be readily apparent to the enemy
  or to outside observers because, for example, the expected military advantage might depend on the
  commander’s strategy or assessments of classified information.
  FEASIBLE PRECAUTIONS IN PLANNING AND CONDUCTING ATTACKS TO REDUCE THE RISK
  OF INCIDENTAL HARM
  In planning and conducting attacks, combatants must take feasible precautions to reduce the risk of
  incidental harm (see DOD Law of War Manual, 5.11; consider AP I art. 57). What precautions are feasible
  depends greatly on the context, including operational considerations. Examples of precautions in conducting
  attacks that may be feasible sometime include: warning before attack, adjusting the timing of the attack,
  selecting certain weapons to use in the attack, assessing the risk to civilians, identifying zones in which
  military objectives are more likely to be present or civilians are more likely to be absent, and canceling or
  suspending an attack based on new information that raises concerns of expected civilian casualties (see DOD
  Law of War Manual, 5.11).