During what phase do planners typically validate assumptions?

The phase where planners typically validate assumptions is during the Course of Action (COA) Development. In this stage of the Military Decision Making Process, planners take the critical assumptions identified during the earlier phases—especially during the Mission Analysis—and examine them to ensure they hold valid under various scenarios.

Validating assumptions is essential during COA Development because these assumptions influence the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed courses of action. If an assumption is found to be invalid, it may require adjustments to the COA or even a reevaluation of the mission itself.

In contrast, during the Mission Analysis phase, planners focus primarily on understanding the mission, the operational environment, and the requirements needed to achieve the objectives, rather than validating assumptions for specific COAs. The COA Comparison phase is mainly about weighing the merits and drawbacks of developed COAs against criteria such as effectiveness, feasibility, and suitability, while the Orders Production phase involves finalizing and disseminating the operational orders and does not involve the validation of assumptions. Thus, COA Development is the critical phase for this validation process.