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BCT FSCOORD in OIF: targeting by LOOs.

Article Excerpt
The targeting meeting at the brigade combat team (BCT) level is the most important meeting of the week--at least that is the mantra with the 2nd Infantry BCT (IBCT), 2nd Infantry Division, currently forward deployed in east Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

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The 2nd IBCT is focused on multiple operations simultaneously to return Baghdad--deemed the "center of gravity" for Iraq--to provincial Iraqi control by late summer 2007. Provincial Iraqi control would mean that the Baghdad province is self-governing and provides its own security, an incredible undertaking within a limited time span.

How does the 2nd IBCT "get at it"? Through line-of-operation (LOO) targeting. Brigades are resource managers and synchronizers for their battalions to ensure critical assets are at the right place and time for the success of their subordinate units. LOO targeting helps keep units on track and focused on each of the multiple LOOs.

Training for the Targeting Meetings. The biggest challenge for a developing organization is conducting the targeting meeting. Training environments don't inject enough of the realistic problem sets into scenarios designed to train the development and running of an effective targeting meeting. In training, our brigade talked about the targeting meeting; we attended briefings and concepts on how to run the targeting meeting; we even went to the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California, and attempted to run a targeting meeting there.

But the concepts and methods did not "click" across the brigade staff and battalions until we were in the midst of our relief-in-place (RIP) and transition of authority (TOA). Suddenly, the complexity of the environment and the competition for resources identified the need for a developed method of targeting to complete the BCT commander's mission and achieve his end state.

The battalions require focus for success, and the brigade staff requires focus to ensure the battalions' requirements are satisfied. Here's...

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