text: Chapter 4
  Announcements
  4-56. Both written and verbal announcements are quick and controlled means of sending messages.
  Flyers, loud speakers and public speaking are useful ways of informing the populace of progress, incentive
  programs, civil projects and operations.
  Town Hall Meetings
  4-57. Town Hall meetings are an effective means of discussing points and counter points to coalition
  or government presence, operations and the unifying message. They tend to draw the people that are most
  interested in the issues and have the most legitimate grievances. This type of meeting also exposes the
  leaders of the community and the general opinion of the locals. These are planned meetings with an open
  forum. Units should exercise caution and not allow themselves to get trapped in arguments that take them
  off their message. Keep in mind that it is an open forum and the insurgents will ensure that people
  sympathetic to their cause are present and are fighting for their interests in the political arena.
  Section III—MDMP AND TLP
  The Army has two tactical planning processes: the military decision-making process (MDMP)
  and troop-leading procedures (TLP). The MDMP is more appropriate for headquarters with staffs; it provides a
  logical sequence of decisions and interactions between the commander and staff for developing estimates
  and effective plans orders. Leaders at company level and below use TLP to plan and prepare for an operation.
  The preferred method of planning is reverse planning. The commander visualizes and describes the end state
  and the staff plans from the operations end state, working backward in time. Counterinsurgency can create
  situations where the end state serves as a distant aiming point for a tactical objective. Over time and through
  continual assessment, the end state and conditions that define mission success become more clear. Forward
  planning involves starting with the present conditions and laying out potential decisions and actions forward
  in time, identifying the next feasible step, and the next after that. The counterinsurgent must effectively
  combine the two methods of planning to achieve both the immediate objective and those, which must be
  accomplished over time.
  MILITARY DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
  4-58. The military decision-making process is a planning model that establishes procedures
  for analyzing a mission; developing, analyzing, and comparing courses of action against measures of
  effectives and performance and each other; selecting the optimum course of action; and producing a plan
  or order. The MDMP helps organize the thought process of commanders and staff. It is the process used by
  tactical counterinsurgent forces to organize large amounts of information orchestrate the appropriate
  sequence of action to defeat the insurgency. The process of developing long-range plans uses the military
  decision-making process. The following are some key points in the development of the plan.
  • Perform IPB (incorporate enemy and population throughout the process).
  • Analyze the mission using the operational variables (PMESII-PT).
  • Analyze the mission using the mission variables (METT-TC).
  (cid:131) Use ASCOPE to understand `the civil considerations.
  (cid:131) If not clear from higher, determine the problem. This may be an iterative process.
  • Determine end state and conditions along nested LOEs.
  • Determine objectives.
  (cid:131) Specified (directed objectives and missions).
  (cid:131) Implied (direct approach to insurgents, indirect approach to insurgents addressing
  prerequisites and root causes, supporting higher HQs objectives and end state).
  • Organize objectives along LOEs and adjust LOEs and further define conditions.
  • Identify a potentially decisive line of effort.
  • Refine each objective and develop—
  (cid:131) Decisive points.
  (cid:131) MOEs.