A. The Appropriate Effect Desired.
The appropriate effect desired, the first factor listed, is the goal toward which the commander is working. He is enabled to form an understanding of this essential aspect of his problem through (1) a grasp of the salient features of the situation, (2) a recognition of the incentive to solution, and (3) an appreciation of the assigned objective. He expresses this understanding by (4) formulating the mission.
The sequence in which the commander takes up these considerations is a matter for his own choice. Usually, directives from higher authority (see Chapter VIII as to the Order Form) give him, first, information as to the situation; thereafter, such directives assign him a task (or tasks) involving one or more assigned objectives. For this reason, the sequence so indicated is the one utilized here.
(1) Summary of the Situation. Before the commander can decide whether he wishes to maintain the existing situation or to change it, he requires a mental picture of its salient features. On beginning the Estimate, the available information is therefore briefly summarized. The picture presented here will show in broad outline ([page 79]) the opposing forces as disposed in localities which constitute relative positions with reference to each other. Details are reserved for Section I-B of the Estimate.
The appropriate data are noted on the chart, and study of the chart goes hand in hand with the development of the Estimate.
The summary of the situation may include statements as to present activities of own and enemy forces. It may recite significant occurrences. It does not attempt to compare or to deduce; such processes are deferred until Section I-B. The commander extracts, from the information furnished by higher authority, such data as are pertinent to his own problem. He includes these data in his own summary, supplementing them by information from other sources, to the extent deemed advisable. In the exercise of judgment as to the content of his summary, the commander is influenced by the fact that the summary is the point of departure for visualizing the appropriate effect desired.
(2) Recognition of the Incentive. In basic problems (the type now under discussion, see [page 117]), the commander finds his incentive in directives received from higher authority. Under the procedure of the Estimate, a notation of that fact, with a citation of the directive(s), is all that is required to indicate that the commander has formed a proper recognition of his incentive.
(3) Appreciation of the Assigned Objective. A correct understanding of the nature and of the involvements of the assigned objective is, naturally, an essential to the establishment of the basis for the solution of a problem of the first step.
At this stage of the Estimate the commander cannot, however, expect always to reach a final conclusion as to this matter. He will have opportunity for further consideration, later, in Section II. It will be realized that, after intervening portions of the Estimate have been worked out, the commander will be in a position to examine the assigned objective again, and to make a more thorough analysis.
In a basic problem, the commander is assigned his objective by higher authority, usually in the form of an assigned task. Although, as stated on [page 84], such task may be expressed by one of various methods, a properly conceived task always indicates, either specifically or inferentially, an objective (or objectives).