CCIR in briefings

[Euri]

Having no military background at all can someone please explain how should i treat the list of CCIR available in some briefings? For example I am now reading the briefing of Miss1 of the new campaing saying:

 - indicators and warnings of air attacks

- presence of mines and roadblocks

- status of bridges

Does the above mean I should be expecting enemy air and mines? What about the bridges?

[Combatintman]

Commanders essentially do two things - they lead and make decisions. CCIRs are designed to allow them to make informed decisions and are recommended to the commander by the various elements of the staff. The commander then amends and approves as necessary. They should be things that the commander MUST know in order to successfully execute the plan. CCIRs are comprised of three elements:

FFIRs (Friendly Force Information Requirements). These, predictably are focussed on the friendly force and possibly elements of the ground. They might be something like 'combat effectiveness of A Coy dropping below 80%' or 'the loss of a bridging asset' or, in this instance 'status of bridges'. These will drive the friendly course of action.

PIRs (Priority Intelligence Requirements). These are generally either enemy or terrain focussed, are usually linked to NAIs (Named Areas of Interest) and should reflect activities by the enemy which confirm or deny a particular course of action. They could be something like 'report armour in NAI 1' or 'identify obstacle belt IVO NAI 2'. These should drive the collection/reconnaissance plan.

EEFIs (Essential Elements of Friendly Information). These are things that you want to protect from the enemy's intelligence collectors and will typically be something like 'location of the Battlegroup Reserve'. These will drive the counter reconnaissance and deception plan.

So, just because something is mentioned as a CCIR, it does not mean that it is guaranteed to happen, it just means that if it happens, the commander absolutely MUST know about it.

Implementation in the game is a variable and is dependant on the scenario designer but in some cases VPs can be allocated to support CCIRs. The simplest example of this is the 'Spot' unit objective type. I don't own this title so I can't comment on how this designer has implemented the CCIRs, I suspect they might be a mechanism to give you a clue as to what to expect but without seeing the mission brief this is pure speculation.

[Euri]

Thanks @Combatintman for taking the time for such an elaborate response.

[Combatintman]

3 hours ago, Euri said:

Thanks @Combatintman for taking the time for such an elaborate response.

No problems - happy to help - I deal with this stuff all the time in my day job so it was no trouble putting it together.

[Blackhorse15A]

Quote

CCIRs are comprised of three elements:

Sorry to review such an old thread  Perhaps pedantic, but at least in US and NATO doctrine, EEFIs are not a part of CCIR. CCIRs are things the commander needs to know that will drive some decision. FFIR are things about your own force that will drive a decision. PIRs are things about the enemy or terrain that will drive a decision.

EEFIs do not drive decisions. They are information about your own unit that you want to make sure the enemy does not find out. These are things we already know, but want to protect the information. Not just from spying or comsec issues, but also in how we conduct operations to not reveal it. (Like making it too obvious where the main effort is coming)