A planning team walks through a COA using a map and discusses enemy reactions. This is:

A planning team walks through a COA using a map and discusses enemy reactions. This is:

• A. Compare COAs
• B. Wargaming
• C. Mission analysis
• D. Plan approval

Answer: (B)

The activity described is wargaming. When a planning team walks through a course of action on a map and actively discusses how the enemy might react, they’re simulating potential opponent moves to see how the COA holds up under pressure. This helps reveal weaknesses, timing conflicts, and unforeseen risks by turning conditions and assumptions into concrete, visualized outcomes. It’s not just analyzing or comparing options in the abstract; it’s testing the plan against plausible enemy responses in a structured, map-based exercise. This differs from mission analysis, which is about understanding the problem, constraints, and objectives before shaping courses of action; and from plan approval, which is the formal sign-off on a chosen approach. It’s also distinct from merely comparing COAs, which is about evaluating multiple options against criteria, rather than deeply probing how any single COA behaves when faced with enemy reactions.

The activity described is wargaming. When a planning team walks through a course of action on a map and actively discusses how the enemy might react, they’re simulating potential opponent moves to see how the COA holds up under pressure. This helps reveal weaknesses, timing conflicts, and unforeseen risks by turning conditions and assumptions into concrete, visualized outcomes. It’s not just analyzing or comparing options in the abstract; it’s testing the plan against plausible enemy responses in a structured, map-based exercise.

This differs from mission analysis, which is about understanding the problem, constraints, and objectives before shaping courses of action; and from plan approval, which is the formal sign-off on a chosen approach. It’s also distinct from merely comparing COAs, which is about evaluating multiple options against criteria, rather than deeply probing how any single COA behaves when faced with enemy reactions.