2-10 IPB Step 1

Narrator: IPB consists of four steps. The first step of the IPB identifies specific features of the environment or activities within it, and the physical space that facilitate further analysis. The IPB identifies the characteristics of the environment that will influence the commander's decisions or affect the COAs available to your own forces and the enemy. A thorough knowledge of the Characteristics of the AO leads to its effective use. It's important to identify the limits of the AO in order to limit the focus of your analysis.

Base the limits of the area of interest on the ability of the enemy to project power or move forces into your AO. Time is a prime consideration, both on the enemy's mobility, and the time needed to accomplish the friendly mission.

Time available for completion of the IPB may not permit the luxury of conducting each step in detail. So identify the amount of detail required to avoid wasting time.

Identifying knowledge gaps early allows you to initiate action to collect the intelligence required to fill those gaps.

Initiate collection or requests for intelligence to fill gaps to the level of detail required. Include all identified significant characteristics of the battlespace, not just enemy forces, in priority order.