text: FM 7-100.1________________________________________________________________________________
  force in its penetration. Smoke and suppressive artillery and rocket fires, com-
  bat engineer units, and air-delivered weapons are also suited to this mission.
  3-79. Exploitation Force. The exploitation force in an integrated attack
  must be capable of penetrating or avoiding enemy defensive forces and at-
  tacking and destroying the enemy’s support infrastructure before he has time
  to react. An armored or attack helicopter unit is often best suited to be the
  core of an exploitation force in an integrated attack due to the combination of
  mobility, protection, and firepower possessed by such forces.
  Dispersed Attack
  3-80. Dispersed attack (also known as decentralized attack) is the primary
  manner in which the OPFOR conducts offensive action when threatened by a
  superior enemy and/or when unable to mass or provide integrated C2 to an
  attack. This is not to say that the dispersed attack cannot or should not be
  used against peer forces, but as a rule integrated attack will more completely
  attain objectives in such situations. Dispersed attack relies on IW and dis-
  persion of forces to permit the OPFOR to conduct tactical offensive opera-
  tions while overmatched by precision standoff weapons and imagery and
  signals sensors. The dispersed attack is continuous and comes from multi-
  ple directions. It employs multiple means working together in a very in-
  terdependent way. The attack can be dispersed in time as well as space.
  See Figures 3-6 and 3-7 for examples of dispersed attacks.
  3-81. The primary objective of dispersed attack is to take advantage of a win-
  dow of opportunity to bring enough joint and combined arms force to bear to
  destroy the enemy’s will and/or capability to continue fighting. To achieve
  this, the OPFOR does not necessarily have to destroy the entire enemy force,
  but often just a key portion of that force.
  3-82. Selecting the appropriate portion of the enemy to destroy is the first
  step in planning the dispersed attack. This element is chosen because of its
  importance to the enemy and varies depending on the force involved and the
  current military situation. For example, an enemy force dependent on one
  geographical point for all of his logistics support and reinforcement would be
  most vulnerable at that point. Disrupting this activity at the right time and
  to the right extent may bring about operational decision on the current bat-
  tlefield or it may open further windows of opportunity to attack the enemy’s
  weakened forces at little cost to the OPFOR. In another example, an enemy
  force preparing to attack may be disrupted by an OPFOR attack whose purpose
  is to destroy long-range missile artillery, creating the opportunity for the
  OPFOR to achieve standoff with its own missile systems. In a final example, the
  key system chosen may be the personnel of the enemy force. Attacking and caus-
  ing mass casualties among infantrymen may delay an enemy offensive in com-
  plex terrain while also being politically unacceptable for the enemy command
  structure.
  3-83. Dispersed attacks are characterized by
  • Not being focused on complete destruction of ground combat power but
  rather on destroying a key portion of the enemy force (often targeting
  enemy C2 and logistics).
  • Fixing and isolating enemy combat power.