Leveraging Operational Preparation of the Environment in the GWOT

USSOCOM's effective execution of operational preparation of the environment (OPE) is a critical component in the strategy for winning the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). OPE is a series of activities that seek to enable future operations by allowing U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) personnel to enhance their situational awareness and understanding within an area of interest and improve operational responsiveness. Joint Publication 3-13 defines OPE as "non-intelligence activities conducted to plan and prepare for potential follow-on military operations" conducted under Title 10 authority. Through predictive analysis and preemptive action, the United States can identify potential terrorist support areas, enhance situational understanding of these regions, and set the conditions to find, fix, and finish terrorists in these locations as or even before they take root. Conducting OPE in concert with our host and partner nation allies in areas of current or potential future terrorist activity is the means by which we can unobtrusively enhance our situational understanding and expedite the targeting and destruction of terrorist networks. OPE does fulfill key requirements outlined in the various national strategies to include disrupting and destroying terrorist organizations of global reach, denying safe haven, sustaining our intelligence advantage, and posturing for strategic uncertainty. It is an excellent method of achieving situational awareness and understanding, extending operational reach and responsiveness, and ultimately shorting the time between find to finish. Maximizing the effectiveness of OPE in support of the GWOT will require the following measures. Although USSOCOM has in fact developed a comprehensive unconventional warfare campaign plan and an OPE planning framework it would benefit from having an OPE specific campaign plan that operationalizes OPE in an effort to both guide its conduct and synchronize its effects. A comprehensive OPE campaign plan would