text: Commander and Staff Roles and Responsibilities
  * Support for friendly military deception operations. Information collection activities can
  support friendly deception operations by causing the enemy to predict friendly intentions based
  on the reconnaissance and surveillance efforts the enemy observes.
  * Available assets. The availability, capabilities, and limitations of assets influence decisions on
  when and how to deploy them.
  * Enemy counterreconnaissance. Staffs remain cognizant of the nature of the enemy’s
  counterreconnaissance intentions and capabilities and plan to defeat or avoid them.
  THE WORKING GROUP’S INPUT TO INFORMATION COLLECTION
  2-27. A working group is a grouping of predetermined staff representatives who meet to provide analysis
  and recommendations for a particular purpose or function. Working groups are cross-functional by design
  to synchronize the contributions of multiple command posts’ cells and staff sections.
  2-28. A board is a grouping of predetermined staff representatives with delegated decision authority for a
  particular purpose or function. Boards are similar to working groups. However, commanders appoint
  boards to arrive at a decision. When the process or activity requires command approval, a board is the
  appropriate forum.
  2-29. A battle rhythm is a deliberate cycle of command, staff, and unit activities intended to synchronize
  current and future operations. A headquarters’ battle rhythm consists of a series of meetings, briefings, and
  other activities synchronized by time and purpose. The chief of staff or executive officer oversees the battle
  rhythm. Each meeting, including working groups and boards, are logically sequenced so that one meeting‘s
  outputs are available as another meeting‘s inputs (including higher headquarters meetings).
  OPERATIONS AND INTELLIGENCE WORKING GROUP
  2-30. At division and higher echelons, there are dedicated cells responsible for information collection
  planning. At battalion and brigade, there are no designated cells for information collection planning. The
  operations and intelligence staffs provide this function. Depending on the availability of personnel, the
  commander may choose to designate an ad hoc group referred to as an operations and intelligence working
  group. Because the primary staff officers’ responsibilities are not delegated, the chief of staff or executive
  officer should direct and manage the efforts of this working group to achieve a fully synchronized and
  integrated information collection plan.
  2-31. Unit standard operating procedures (SOPs) and battle rhythms determine how frequently an
  operations and intelligence working group meets. This working group should align with both the current
  operations and future operations (or plans) cells to ensure requirements planning tools are properly
  integrated into the overall operations plan. These planning tools should also be in the concepts for plans.
  2-32. The operations and intelligence working group is a temporary grouping of designated staff
  representatives who coordinate and integrate information collection activity and provide recommendations
  to the commander. This group ensures maximum efficiency in information collection by carefully
  employing all the collection tasks or missions together in the information collection plan. This helps satisfy
  several requirements and ensures the operations and intelligence working group does not favor or become
  too reliant on one particular unit, discipline, or system. The working group usually includes, at a minimum,
  the following representatives:
  * Chief of staff or executive officer.
  * G-3 (S-3) (alternate chair) or representative.
  * Engineer coordinator representative.
  * Air defense airspace management or brigade aviation element representative.
  * G-2 (S-2) or representative.
  * G-2X (S-2X) or representative.
  * Military intelligence company commander or representative.
  * Reconnaissance squadron S-3, S-2, the S-3 and S-2, or a representative.
  * G-2X (S-2X) or representative.