Operating environment Wikipedia

It is necessary to make a classification of allied, adversary and neutral actors . The military operates in a geographical area that might be in space, air, land, or sea. While an operation is unfolding in an area, there is an informational environment that is being engaged at the same time. The time from concept to market, the timing of sales, the right time to begin a marketing campaign.

Religious leaders can provide ethical and moral insights that motivate their parishioners to act. They tend to have a high degree of credibility and moral authority and first-hand information about the origin and development of the conflict, from the point of view of each of the parties involved. Religious communities and leaders are essential what is operational environment actors in any AoO to engage and influence to reach military objectives. Religion is an important pillar in the cultural identity of each of the communities that are involved in a conflict. Religion plays an important role in building the world and can be a reason for cultural and spiritual exchange, a source of mutual respect and solidarity.

Operating environment

The way people behave in public spaces or events is also influenced by culture. This behaviour transmits information related to customs, interests, and power relations in each society. Training in cultural awareness is the first step to provide soldiers with the ability to understand the effect of cultural factors on the OE.

The personnel of a military operation must attain a high level of cultural competence. Consequently, one of the most important challenges is the incorporation of socio-cultural knowledge in all phases and activities of the military operation. This socio-cultural competence or the ability to «operationalize» culture is fundamental in planning and decision-making in a military operation, particularly when it comes to counterinsurgency operations or hybrid war scenarios . A great effort is necessary to use culture in the most appropriate way to promote dialogue and mutual knowledge. The members of a military operation need not only to respect the cultural norms of the different human groups of the AoO to avoid mistakes that can be dramatically negative for the mission’s objectives.

Types of Operational Environments

On the contrary, in high context societies , the indirect style is predominant. The participants in a conversation rely on non-verbal elements to determine the real meaning of the message. Collier developed a theory of cultural identity that illustrates how the various cultural identities of an individual are created . According to this model, these multiple identities are not mutually exclusive, nor they are static or immutable.

NATO must continue its efforts to operationalize culture to face emerging hybrid challenges. UHE enables the overall understanding of a crisis by emphasising a ‘population-centric’ view, focusing on the population’s perception regarding the safety and security of their environment, including what they perceive as threats. This could include, for example, a population threat assessment versus the traditional threat assessment , as well as assessments of the population’s vulnerabilities, strengths, and resiliencies. MH, FABN, and C-SASE can be used as thematic lenses to support the development of overall UHE in providing comprehensive situational awareness, in addition to traditional planning and assessment of operations. While the Protection of Civilians agenda advances, civilians are still the ones who pay the highest toll during armed conflict.

Understanding the Operational Environment: the Human Dimension

Therefore, it is necessary to combine our current knowledge and methods and our common sense and experience with a new framework that integrates culture in the planning and execution of operations. All the majority religions of the world contain values https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ ​​and traditions to justify violence and war, but also valuable resources to promote the non-violent resolution of conflicts and peace. Religious communities are well-structured organizations, which can communicate effectively and efficiently.

• Forces must remain provisioned to sustain a fight over the operation.
• It is at the core of NATO’s values and it is being expressed in and through its operations.
• What’s interesting is that while time is a constant, the way it’s seen isn’t.
• The population of a certain AoO is the set of the local human groups.
• Of course, invasions aren’t the only military operations, but this gives you an idea of how an operational environment can dictate how a military branch operates in one place versus another.

However, Selmeski adds that it is necessary to increase these capacities to communicate and relate more effectively with local populations of different cultural heritage to increase the ability to influence their actions and perceptions . As the Art of War continues to evolve, so must the techniques and methods in which military personnel prepare for armed conflict and war. One way to do it is to «operationalize» the analysis of social networks through a deep study of the human environment that will provide an understanding of the society in which the military operation is to be carried out. This advanced level of understanding of the human factors of the AoO will provide many advantages when developing plans to achieve more efficiently and effectively the objectives of the military mission . Cultural competence will also be essential in a hybrid warfare environment. It is crucial to assess how basic government functions and services can continue during emergencies and disasters or in the face of external attack of any nature.

Operational Environment Classifications

It also facilitates interaction with the population, informs us about individuals, groups, and organizations more relevant in the AoO and allows us to influence them. A military plan will not work if the population and its needs are not understood from a culture-centric perspective. Cultural competence is not an end, but a way to make culture operationally relevant . The operationalization of culture is an invaluable tool in those conflicts in which the «human terrain» plays a fundamental role . Cultural awareness and understanding are necessary but insufficient components to achieve the cultural capacity that a military organization needs to meet current and future security challenges.

It’s one of the critical tools of the United States military in its strategic pursuits. Different times and dates have different meanings, and the cultural perceptions of what is allowed during specific times can be crucial. The OE is not necessarily an entire country; it can be just a very small region. Even in smaller spaces, knowing the political structure and influences is very important. The Army Doctrine Publication and Army Doctrine Reference Publication lists the eight operational variables. You want to make sure your company is the right fit for the region and for the people who live there as well as the ones who will be working there.

How is a business’s operational environments useful?

It should be noted that an important part of the knowledge and skills that soldiers need in a multicultural environment are affected by attitude. Those who show some vital characteristics for intercultural sensitivity should be selected and trained to be the «face» of the military operation and interact directly with the local population. Some characteristics are vital to the cross-cultural sensitivity of military personnel and must be learned and practiced. It is essential to include cultural awareness training in the curricula of all military education institutions.

The OE has evolved to become an extraordinarily complex, dynamic, and adaptive system in which new actors, both state and non-state, interact (SHAPE and HQ SACT, 2008.). During the last two decades NATO military forces have been involved in overly intricate operations due to the diversity of the actors involved that make up a complex EO . Historically wars involved direct conflict between two military forces. However, the conflicts of the second half of the 20th century involved much more than military activities and operations. In today’s armed conflicts, economic, political, and social factors have become as important as purely military capabilities.

operational environment

The existence of a convoluted and unstable international security context at the beginning of the 21st century, which causes new international challenges, has been pointed out by various organizations. In the simplest possible terms, the operational environment is the physical and virtual space where a military conducts a wide array of humanitarian, combat, support, and protective actions. These are places that allow another country’s military forces to come in and conduct operations. Think of these countries as friendly ones who want the military there to protect their citizens or work with their military. It’s crucial to note that the OE is a complex system and human behavior drives it. Many different people are doing different things within an OE, and that adds to the complexity.