Which of the following is the second step in IPOE?

• A. Describe environmental effects on operations
• B. Define the Operational Environment
• C. Evaluate the threat
• D. Determine threat COAs

Answer: (A)

In IPOE, you first establish the boundaries and scope of the Operational Environment, then you assess how that environment will influence your actions. Describing environmental effects on operations translates the OE into practical implications for planning and execution. It looks at how factors like terrain, weather, population, infrastructure, and political or legal constraints will shape mobility, endurance, sensing, decision cycles, and risk. Only after understanding these effects do you evaluate threats and develop threat COAs, which come in later steps. That’s why describing environmental effects on operations is the correct second step.