AFDD 2-1.9, page 24

14 commanders today have the capability to do such things as coerce changes in enemy behavior while minimizing unintended destruction, set operational tempos that adversaries cannot match, effectively anticipate enemy courses of action in some cases, and dominate enemy decision cycles. In past eras, commanders had to rely on their own intuition to apply effects-based methods. Today, the much greater range of possible effects, the sophistication of the capabilities used to impose them, and the increasing realization that costly force-on-force warfare is politically, economically, and even morally difficult, make a systematic approach to EBO necessary. The section below recapitulates the basic principles of an effects-based approach to military operations found in Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) 2, Operations and Organization, and ties those principles into the targeting discipline specifically. It is vital to remember, however, that many effects are created through processes other than targeting. All instruments of national power should be considered in an effects-based approach, and even within the context of force-on-force engagement, such functions as air mobility and ISR can create effects that are crucial to achievement of objectives, or that can substitute for the offensive application of force in some circumstances. This publication, however, focuses upon how effects can be achieved through targeting. PRINCIPLES OF EBO These principles are included here in abbreviated form for ease of reference (see AFDD 2): › Planning, employment, and assessment should be inextricably linked and an effects-based approach should attempt to meld them as seamlessly as possible. › EBO should focus on achievement of objectives and end state; all intended effects should logically support their achievement and objectives at all levels must be logically tied together; in this sense, EBO is an elaboration of “strategy-to-task.” › EBO are about creating effects, not about the platforms, weapons, or methods used to create them. › EBO should consider all possible types of effects, not just destruction and attrition (although these can still be very viable elements of strategy). › EBO should seek to achieve objectives most effectively, then most efficiently; accomplishing the mission comes first, but within that constraint accomplishment should be sought while minimizing cost in lives, treasure, time, and/or opportunities. › EBO cut across all disciplines, dimensions, and echelons of conflict and operations; operations should integrate all appropriate instruments of power, all component efforts, and exploit the fact that tactical actions can have direct operational or strategic consequences. › An effects-based approach recognizes that conflict is a clash of complex adaptive systems.