ATTP 5-0.1 Commander and Staff Officer Guide - Army Electronic ...

Chapter 7
Selecting and Writing Indicators
7-21. Staffs develop indicators that provide insights into MOEs. Indicators must be measurable,
collectable, and relevant.
7-22. Staffs can gauge a measurable indicator either quantitatively or qualitatively. Imprecisely defined
indicators often pose a problem. For example, staffs cannot measure the indicator “Number of local
nationals shopping.” The information lacks clear parameters in time or geography. Staffs can measure the
revised indicator “Average daily number of local nationals visiting main street market in city X this
month.” Additionally, staffs should design the indicator to minimize bias. This particularly applies when
staffs only have qualitative indicators available for a given MOE. Many qualitative measures are easily
biased, and Soldiers must use safeguards to protect objectivity in the assessment process.
Condition 1: Enemy defeated in the brigade area of operations.
MOE 1: Enemy kidnapping activity in the brigade area of operations disrupted.
• Indicator 1: Monthly reported dollars in ransom paid as a result of kidnapping operations.
• Indicator 2: Monthly number of reported attempted kidnappings.
• Indicator 3: Monthly poll question #23: “Have any kidnappings occurred in your neighborhood
in the past 30 days?” Results for provinces ABC only.
MOE 2: Public perception of security in the brigade area of operations improved.
• Indicator 1: Monthly poll question #34: “Have you changed your normal activities in the past
month because of concerns about your safety and that of your family?” Results for provinces
ABC only.
• Indicator 2: Monthly K through12 school attendance in provinces ABC as reported by the hostnation
ministry of education.
• Indicator 3: Monthly number of tips from local nationals reported to the brigade terrorism tips
hotline.
MOE 3: Sniper events in the brigade area of operations disrupted.
• Indicator 1: Monthly decrease in reported sniper events in the brigade area of operations.
(Note: It is acceptable to have only one indicator that directly answers a given MOE. Avoid
complicating the assessment needlessly when a simple construct suffices.)
Condition 2: Role 1 medical care available to the population in city X.
MOE 1: Public perception of medical care availability improved in city X.
• Indicator 1: Monthly poll question #42: “Are you and your family able to visit the hospital when
you need to?” Results for provinces ABC only.
• Indicator 2: Monthly poll question #8: “Do you and your family have important health needs that
are not being met?” Results for provinces ABC only.
• Indicator 3: Monthly decrease in number of requests for medical care received from local
nationals by the brigade.
MOE 2: Battalion commander estimated monthly host-nation medical care availability in battalion area of
operations.
• Indicator 1: Monthly average of reported battalion commander’s estimates (scale of 1 to 5) of
host-nation medical care availability in the battalion area of operation.
Figure 7-2. Sample of end state conditions for stability operations
7-23. A collectable indicator has reasonably obtained data associated with the indicator. In some cases, the
data may not exist or the data may be prohibitively difficult to collect. For example, the indicator “Average
daily number of local nationals visiting main street market in city X this month” is likely not collectable.
This number exists, but unless a trusted source tracks and reports it, Soldiers cannot collect it. The revised
indicator “Battalion commander’s monthly estimate of market activity in city X on a scale of 1 to 5” is
collectable. In this case, the staff did not have a quantitative indicator available, so they substituted a
qualitative indicator.
7-24. An indicator is relevant if it provides insight into a supported MOE or MOP. Commanders must ask
pertinent questions, such as does a change in this indicator actually indicate a change in the MOE? (Which
is the cause and which is the effect is not the point here; what matters is that a correlation exists.) What
factors unrelated to the MOE could cause this indicator to change? How reliable is the correlation between
7-4 ATTP 5-0.1 14 September 2011