Intelligence Preparation of the FOW Battlefield
By Chris Jackson
When a military staff at any level receives a mission from their higher headquarters, one of the first things they work on is an Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB). This process defines the battlefield in terms of area, effects of the terrain, and how the terrain and the enemy will affect the ability of the unit to accomplish its assigned mission.
It provides the commander and staff a framework to determine how they will accomplish the mission by defining what decisions the commander needs to make about where to allocate his resources and what signs from the enemy to look for that indicate his intentions. Units are then assigned tasks based on these decisions and the process begins at the next lower headquarters.