And it helps show enemy vulnerabilities and likely opportunities. Conducting an IPB helps friendly forces reduce the uncertainties of future Threat action by projecting the enemy's probable courses of action. The rear area IPB analyzes enemy capabilities and doctrine for rear area operations in relation to local weather and terrain, the mission, and the battlefield situation. It helps us predict what effect enemy actions and other factors may have n our own ability to operate. The overall nature of the friendly and enemy forces is considered in light of the operating environment.
Information is added, adjusted, or deleted as the situation changes.
The results help friendly forces forecast events and allocate resources. IPB is undertaken at all levels. Corps and divisions include the rear area in their IPB, but their focus is on the maneuver elements and on the events and situations likely to affect combat operations. It is the rear area commander who expands the IPB's focus on the rear area and on particular specialty concerns. Later in the cyclical process, MP area and zone recon patrols provide information to fill in gaps or update information on critical areas.