text: Sustainment
  worn by heavy use (wet and muddy conditions). Echeloned trains locations may need to change when security
  becomes lax or complacent due to familiarity. (See ATP 4-90 for additional information.) Support area
  location considerations include the following:
  (cid:122) Cover and concealment (natural terrain or manmade structures).
  (cid:122) Room for dispersion.
  (cid:122) Level, firm ground to support vehicle traffic and sustainment operations.
  (cid:122) Suitable helicopter landing sites.
  (cid:122) Distance from known or templated enemy indirect fire assets.
  (cid:122) Good road or trail networks.
  (cid:122) Good routes in and out of the area (preferably separate routes going in and going out).
  (cid:122) Access to lateral routes.
  (cid:122) Good access or positioned along the main supply route.
  (cid:122) Positioned away from likely enemy avenues of approach.
  PROTECTION OF SUPPORT AREAS
  9-186. The BSB commander’s responsibility for protection includes the BSA and extends to self-protection
  of BSB assets operating outside of the BSA, unless otherwise stated by the operation or fragmentary order.
  Forces engaged in area security protect the force, installation, route, area, or asset. Although vital to the
  success of military operations, area security is normally an economy-of-force mission, often designed to
  ensure the continued conduct of sustainment operations and to support decisive and shaping operations by
  generating and maintaining combat power. Area security may be the predominant method of protecting
  support areas that are necessary to facilitate the positioning, employment, and protection of resources
  required tosustain, enable, and control forces.
  9-187. The BSB commander and staff must plan for and coordinate protection for subordinate units and
  detachments located within and away from the BSA. While the BSB S-3 is responsible overall for developing
  the BSA security plan, the BSB S-2 assists by developing the information collection plan to support
  intelligence operations, reconnaissance, surveillance, and security operations within the BSA. The BSB
  commander and staff use the intelligence preparation of the battlefield (IPB) to analyze the mission variables
  of enemy, terrain, weather, and civil considerations to determine their effect on sustainment operations.
  9-188. Sustainment operations in noncontiguous area of operations require commanders to emphasize
  protection. Sustainment organizations are normally the least capable of self-defense against an enemy force
  and are often the target of enemy action. As the threat increases, supported commanders and sustainment unit
  commanders cannot decrease sustainment operations in favor of enhancing protection. The supported
  commander and the sustainment unit commander must discuss what risks are reasonable to accept and what
  risk mitigation measures they should implement based on requirements and priorities. The supported
  commander and sustainment unit commander carefully weigh and balance options and alternatives and derive
  solutions that both accomplish the mission for the supported BCT while minimizing or mitigating the risk of
  the sustainment units. Protection within the BSA includes terrain management, fire support coordination,
  airspace management, and other security and protection activities including node protection, lines of
  communications security, and checkpoints. Sustainment units plan for, train, and rehearse support area
  protection measures and immediate response actions against enemy threats. Additional operations can
  include convoy security (see ATP 3-91 and ATP 4-01.45), coordination of base camp and based cluster
  defense (see ATP 3-37.10), area damage control (see ATP 3-91), and response force operations (see FM 3-39
  and ATP 3-37.10).
  9-189. As the enemy may avoid maneuver forces, preferring to attack targets commonly found in
  sustainment areas. Sustainment elements must organize and prepare to defend themselves against ground or
  air attacks. The security of the support areas or trains at each echelon is the responsibility of the individual
  in charge of the support area or echeloned trains. All elements in, or transiting the support area, assist with
  forming and defending the area. Based on mission analyses, the BSB S-3 subdivides the area, and assigns
  subordinate and tenant units to those subdivided areas. When a subordinate or tenant unit receives a change
  of mission or can no longer occupy an assigned area, area adjustments are made to the support area by the
  BSB S-3. When a particular supply point is sufficiently large, it may be assigned its own area for defense,