Results for operations process

The Operations Process

ADP 5-0 is the doctrine for how units plan, prepare, execute, and assess operations, and what commanders and staffs each owe that process. It is short, and almost every staff argument you will have traces back to it. FM 5-0 carries the detailed procedures.

The operations process

Plan, prepare, execute, and assess. Four activities that overlap continuously, plus the six things a commander personally does throughout all of them.

What are the five steps of the OPSEC process?

Identify critical information, analyze the threat, analyze vulnerabilities, assess risk, and apply OPSEC measures or countermeasures. The process is continuous, not a one-time check.

Information

ADP 3-13 is the Army's first doctrinal publication devoted to information. It explains how Army forces create and exploit information advantages and how information effects are planned and integrated like any other capability. It is newer than most of the doctrine on this list, so expect subordinate publications to still be catching up.

Protection

ADP 3-37 is the Army's primary publication for the protection warfighting function. It explains how commanders preserve combat power through risk management, prioritization, and the protection tasks that get built into every plan. The April 2026 edition supersedes the January 2024 version.

Risk Management

ATP 5-19 is the Army's risk management techniques publication. It carries the five-step process leaders use to identify hazards, apply controls, and make an informed risk decision. The November 2021 edition supersedes the April 2014 version and is the reference behind every deliberate risk assessment worksheet.

MDMP

Military Decision-Making Process

TLP

Troop Leading Procedures

What is OPSEC, and what is critical information?

Operations security is the process of denying an adversary the unclassified indicators that, pieced together, would reveal friendly intentions, capabilities, or vulnerabilities. Critical information is the specific information about friendly plans and operations an adversary needs to act effectively against us. Most of what OPSEC protects is not classified.