Area of responsibility
Encyclopedia
Area Of Responsibility is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to a Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan
Unified Combatant Command
A Unified Combatant Command is a United States Department of Defense command that is composed of forces from at least two Military Departments and has a broad and continuing mission. These commands are established to provide effective command and control of U.S. military forces, regardless of...

 (UCP), that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and conduct operations; for which a force, or component commander bears a certain responsibility. The term may also be used in other countries worldwide but it originated within the United States armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

. This system is designed to allow a single commander to exercise command and control of all military forces in the AOR, regardless of their branch of service.

The President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 signed the U.S. Unified Command Plan (UCP) 2008 on December 17, 2008, establishing the up-to-date boundaries for the newest Command, United States Africa Command
United States Africa Command
The United States Africa Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U.S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations – an area of responsibility covering all...

 (USAFRICOM), and all changes to boundaries of the other Commands.

Combatant commanders may designate theaters of war, theaters of operation, combat zones, and communications zones. Joint force commander
Force Commander
Force Commander can refer to:* Force commander , a command post in the British Army and several other armed forces or multinational forces* Star Wars: Force Commander...

s may define additional operational areas or joint areas to assist in the coordination and execution of joint operations. The size of these areas and the types of forces used depend on the scope, nature, and projected duration of the operation.

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Combatant commanders and other joint force commanders use the following organization of the battlespace at the operational level of war. Combatant commanders are assigned an area of responsibility in the Unified Command Plan.
  • Theater of war, the area of aerial, terrestrial
    Ground warfare
    Ground warfare or land warfare is the process of military operations eventuating in combat that take place predominantly on the land surface of the planet....

    , and naval/littoral
    Littoral
    The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

     that is, or may become, directly involved in the manner of combat; either defined by the National Command Authority
    National Command Authority
    National Command Authority is a term used by the Department of Defense of the United States of America to refer to the ultimate lawful source of military orders. The NCA comprises the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense jointly, or their duly deputized successors, i.e...

     or a combatant commander, This area doesn't normally encompass the combatant commander’s entire area of responsibility.

  • Theater of operations, a sub-area within a theater of war defined by the force commander required to conduct or support specific operations. Different theaters of operations within the same theater of war will normally be geographically separate and focused on different enemy forces. Theaters of operations are usually of significant size, allowing for operations over extended periods of time.

  • Combat zone
    Combat Zone
    Combat Zone was a music video program on Canadian music tv station MuchMusic. The show involved two popular music videos playing the roles of the combatants. During the hour-long program, viewers could either call in or text-message their votes for one of the two competing songs...

    , areas required by combat forces for the conduct of operations.

  • Communication zone
    Military communications
    Historically, the first military communications had the form of sending/receiving simple signals . Respectively, the first distinctive tactics of military communications were called Signals, while units specializing in those tactics received the Signal Corps name...

    , the rear part of the theater of war or theater of operations (behind but contiguous to the combat zone) that contains lines of communications, establishments for supply or evacuation, and other agencies required for the immediate support and maintenance of the field forces. The Marine Corps component commander will normally focus his efforts to deploy, support, and sustain his forces, particularly the MAGTF, in the communications zone. He will normally locate his headquarters close to the joint force commander, who usually establishes his headquarters in the communications zone.


Understanding the joint battlespace at the operational level of war in which forces will operate is an important step in setting the conditions for their success. Force commanders must understand the relationship between the Area of Operation (AO), Area of Interest, and Area of Influence.

By analyzing his AO in terms of his area of influence and area of interest, a force commander determines whether his assigned AO is appropriate. This analysis may include the forces’ capabilities to conduct actions across the warfighting functions.

Area of operation

The Areas of Operation
Area of operation
In U.S. military parlance, an area of operations is an operational area defined by the force commander for land, air, and naval forces conduct of combat and non-combat activities...

, or AOs, are areas that component and force commanders define their tactical operability. It is also known as close battlespace. The commanders focus on establishing command and control in this area; which encompasses all aspects of fire support
Fire support
Fire support is long-range firepower provided to a front-line military unit. Typically, fire support is provided by artillery or close air support , and is used to shape the battlefield or, more optimistically, define the battle...

naval gunfire
Naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...

, air
Close air support
In military tactics, close air support is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are close to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces.The determining factor for CAS is...

 and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 superiority—in order to provide his ground forces the support they need. Also, the commander sets up force protection
Force protection
Force protection or FP is a term used by the US military to describe preventive measures taken to mitigate hostile actions in specific areas or against a specific populous, usually Department of Defense personnel , resources, facilities, and critical information.-See also:*Pentagon Force Protection...

 and supportive arms, such as logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...

 or reinforcements.
The term "area of operations" has long been used in the U.S. Army, for the geographic areas of interest to much smaller units than the combatant commands. It has especially been used among U.S. Army Special Forces.


The commander can choose to organize his AO so that his subordinates have contiguous or noncontiguous AOs:
  • Contiguous AO—In a contiguous AO, all the subordinate commands' share one or more common boundary within supporting distance of one another in the battlespace. A commander may establish their battlespace in a reflection of linear operations, where there is a continiuty and contiguous array of units across the area of operation (AO).

  • Noncontiguous—A noncontiguous Area of Operation is one where one or more subordinate AOs do not share a common boundary. The commander establishes noncontiguous AOs when a more likely situation is one where the task force conducts non-linear operations within a noncontiguous battlespace and within an operational framework with noncontiguous deep, close, and rear areas.


Operation Restore Hope in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 during 1992–1993, is an example of a battlefield framework with noncontiguous areas. The United States' Marine Air-Ground Task Force
Marine Air-Ground Task Force
The Marine Air-Ground Task Force is a term used by the United States Marine Corps to describe the principal organization for all missions across the range of military operations. MAGTFs are a balanced air-ground, combined arms task organization of Marine Corps forces under a single commander that...

s' (MAGTF) rear area was centered around the separate sites of the embassy compound
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...

, port, and airfield in the city of Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....

, while its close area was widely scattered around the towns and villages of the interior that were occupied by the MAGTF. The MAGTF’s deep area included the rest of the country and particularly those population and relief centers not under the joint force commander's supervision.

Areas of influence

In an area of influence, the component or force commander assigns his subordinate units to conduct missions in and out of this area. Communication
Military communications
Historically, the first military communications had the form of sending/receiving simple signals . Respectively, the first distinctive tactics of military communications were called Signals, while units specializing in those tactics received the Signal Corps name...

 is key, either for reconnaissance to report intelligence or fire support for ground forces.

Sometimes known as distant battlespace, it is useful to the force commander as a tool in assigning subordinate areas of operations and in focusing intelligence collection
Intelligence collection management
Intelligence Collection Management is the process of managing and organizing the collection of intelligence information from various sources. The collection department of an intelligence organization may attempt basic validation of that which it collects, but is not intended to analyze its...

 and information operations to shape the battlespace to facilitate future operations. Today’s area of influence may be tomorrow’s AO.

Area of interest

The key term of area of interest are particularly of areas that are of interest to the component or force commander; the location of friendly and enemy forces, and the capabilities that may be an advantage, the infrastructure, and key terrain that concern the commander.

The size of the area of interest normally exceeds the commander’s operational reach, which are mainly stressed within the scope of deep operations
Deep operations
Deep battle was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by a number of influential military writers, such as Vladimir Triandafillov and Mikhail Tukhachevsky who endeavoured to create a military strategy with its own...

.

While the area of interest includes the AO and area of influence, the area of interest may stretch far beyond the other parts of his battlespace.

It may also have areas of interest around airbases in other countries neighboring the task force's AO.
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