What three actions do commanders focus on during MDMP?

During the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP), commanders focus on understanding, visualizing, and describing the situation and potential courses of action.

Understanding involves comprehensively grasping the operational environment, including enemy capabilities, friendly forces, and the overall mission context. This foundational step is critical as it allows commanders to identify the challenges and opportunities present in the operational landscape.

Visualizing is the process where commanders picture how operations might unfold based on their understanding. This involves mentally forecasting various scenarios and outcomes, enabling them to anticipate changes and adapt plans effectively. Visualization helps in ensuring that all elements of the operation align with the mission objective and the commander's intent.

Describing follows as commanders articulate their understanding and visualization to their staff and unit leaders, allowing for a shared understanding of the situation and the way ahead. This step is essential for effective communication within the staff and for building a cohesive operational approach.

The other choices, while related to the MDMP, do not encapsulate the primary focus areas of the commander's actions during the process. Concepts like briefing, analyzing, and approving are part of the broader actions taken during MDMP but do not capture the core focus on comprehension and strategic thinking that is intrinsic to effective command.