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3 The former are discussed in this document within an effects-based framework, covered in separate chapters on planning, execution, and assessment. A final chapter describes the continuous activities involved in targeting readiness and the responsibilities associated with support to warfighters that are not tied to particular conflicts or operations. These include such things as peacetime target development, creation and maintenance of targeting support architectures, influencing the development of munitions, and the training and equipping of targeting staffs. The three basic aspects of effects-based operations (EBO)—planning, employment, and assessment—cannot be divorced from one another. When we discuss a “target,” we speak of what the target itself brings to the fight—its intrinsic or acquired characteristics. When we wish to discuss how we regard the target—the things we attribute to it, the value or degree of sensitivity we place upon it, and the approach we take toward it, we are speaking of “targeting,” the process used to define how we will act against the target. The purpose of targeting and its associated processes is to provide commanders with a means of linking the end state to objectives designed to attain it, linking those objectives to subordinate effects at all levels, and linking the effects to specific actions against targets throughout the battlespace. The processes of planning, tasking, targeting, and assessing effects provide a logical progression that forms the basis of decision-making and ensures consistency with the commander’s objectives and the end state. The planning, tasking, and targeting processes are flexible enough to provide solutions in situations ranging from limited-scope, quick-reaction tactical operations to broad multiple-theater campaigns. In all situations, this primary focus is to assist the commander to most effectively employ air, space, and information resources to achieve joint force and national objectives. TARGET CHARACTERISTICS Every target has distinct intrinsic or acquired characteristics, the most important of which affect how the entity or behavior is targeted. Intrinsic characteristics are the initial, original, or designed characteristics a target. Acquired characteristics are changes that modify, enhance, or augment the intrinsic characteristics of the target. These characteristics form the basis for target detection, location, identification, and classification for future surveillance, analysis, strike, and assessment. In general, there are four categories of characteristics by which targets can be defined: physical, environmental, functional, and cognitive. These are briefly described below. The lists of example characteristics are not intended to be exhaustive, and some characteristics may belong in more than one category. Physical Characteristics. These are features that describe what a target is. These are discernable to the five senses or through sensor-derived signatures. These may