What is the worst thing that a force can do before going into battle? The worst thing that a force cannot do is have improper planning. In the article Anaconda- A Flawed Joint Planning there was some key steps that were missed in the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP). The article describes five errors that the unit could have avoided by using MDMP. However I am only going to discuss four out of the five errors and there are as follows: Poor Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield, Underestimating Airpower Deployment Time, Lack of Tactical Coordination for Close Air Support and the Lack of Operational- and Strategic-level Coordination. The first error that occurred was poor intelligence preparation of the battlefield. The …show more content…
Instead of a ground attack with only rotary wing support which is one COA. The CJTF would have had multiple COAs with fixed wing support. The result would have been less casualties and a more efficiently fought battle. The fourth error that occurred during the battle of Anaconda was lack of operational- and strategic-level coordination. This error occurred because the CAOC was not involved. The result of the CAOC not being involved was the CJTF not having aircraft at key times. The CJTF would have had the CAOC involved if they would have completed the OAKOC in the IPB process. By completing the OAKOC it would have giving the CJTF answers to other steps of the MDMP. Under the OAKOC the CJTF would have realized the effects of the terrain on the military operations. The CJTF would have realized the observation and fields of fire would be critical. Under observation and fields of fire the CJTF would have realized they needed to coordinate with the CAOC for ISR and engagement areas. The reason why the CJTF needed to coordinate with the CAOC is, because the enemy was using the mountainous terrain and the ISR could have given Intel for the battle. Under avenues approach the CJTR would have notice the CAOC could have coordinated a kill box for the ambush coalition forces. The key terrain would have been the caves in the mountains. The CAOC would have had ISR assets flying verifying the positions of the caves and enemy fighting positions. The obstacles