Product 1 of 3

Decide: The High-Payoff Target List

The decide function starts the targeting process. It translates the commander's intent into priorities and engagement guidance.

In the decide function we determine which targets are most worth engaging, and with what to engage them. We use the information from the intelligence planning process, which occurred previously, to create a fires plan that supports the mission. We cannot engage every target. We may run out of ammunition, or, more importantly, we may engage a less important target at the expense of missing a target that is crucial to our plan to defeat the enemy. The decide function produces three products, and you will build them one at a time: the high-payoff target list (HPTL) on this page, the attack guidance matrix (AGM) next, and the target selection standards (TSS) last. Adapted from MCTP 3-31B, Appendix A.

At the end of the third page you will see all three products together on one worksheet, the way a fire support coordination cell (FSCC) actually keeps them.

Two kinds of targets

Before you can build a target list, you must understand two terms:

Term	Meaning	Whose mission?
High-value target (HVT)	A target the enemy commander needs to accomplish his mission.	Enemy's mission
High-payoff target (HPT)	A target whose loss will significantly contribute to the success of our mission. HPTs are chosen from the HVT list.	Our mission

The S-2's list of eight enemy elements in the scenario is the HVT list. Your first job is to decide which of those HVTs are HPTs — the ones worth spending our limited sensors and ammunition on, because attacking them directly helps us seize the bridge.

Nominating High Payoff Targets from the High Value Target List

Situation map of the Kordan bridge sector, showing the coordinated fire line, the restricted fire area and the retain task at the bridge, and the suspected enemy locations. — The map depicts an estimate of the enemy situation. The ? icons represent our estimate of suspected enemy locations. Open the full map and its complete key

Task 1.1 — Nominate the High-Payoff Targets

NOT DONE

From the S-2's HVT list, select the elements that should become HPTs. Remember: ammunition is limited, the attack is in 48 hours, and every mission must serve the plan to seize the bridge intact.

Ammunition supply pointYour commander rejected this as an HPT — and this is the hardest one. It is a real military target, it holds the mortar ammunition, and the commander wants the mortars silenced. But the enemy already has three days of ammunition forward at his firing positions. Destroying the ASP would not stop one mortar round during our 48 hours. High value to the enemy, no payoff for us in this fight. It stays on the HVT list and can be nominated later. ATGM sectionHPT — must be destroyed before our lead vehicles are exposed at the bridge. Field kitchenYour commander rejected this as an HPT. He will not spend fires on the enemy's rear-area comfort. Engineer obstacle teamHPT — if the engineers drop the bridge, the mission fails. Protecting the bridge is requirement number one. Logistics trucksYour commander rejected this as an HPT, for the same reason as the ASP: supply interdiction is too slow to affect this fight. 120 mm mortar platoonHPT — the greatest danger to our troops massed at the crossing. The commander demands they be silenced. Battalion command postHPT — the commander requires enemy command and control to be disrupted. The CP coordinates the defense, and it is how he would call for artillery or reinforcements. Infantry platoonYour commander rejected this as an HPT — and this is the one that pulls hardest, because it is the only element on this list that will shoot directly at our soldiers. But it is beyond the bridge. It cannot stop the crossing; it can only fight us after we have made it. Our mission is to get the bridge and pass the force through, and this platoon does not stand between us and that.

Task 1.2 — HVT or HPT?

NOT DONE

The enemy infantry platoon holds prepared positions beyond the bridge and will fight our assault force. Why is it an HVT but not an HPT in this operation?

Because it is dug in, and artillery cannot defeat infantry in prepared positions.Effectiveness is not the test. We could suppress it if we chose to. The question is whether doing so brings the bridge into our hands, and it does not. Because destroying it does not help us seize the bridge — it can only fight us after a crossing it cannot prevent.Correct. The platoon is genuinely important to the enemy commander's defense, which is what makes it an HVT. It is not a high-payoff target because attacking it does not pay off for OUR mission. Because our assault force outnumbers it, so it is not a threat.It is a threat — it is the one enemy element that will shoot directly at our soldiers. But high-payoff is not a measure of danger. A target is high-payoff when attacking it makes our mission succeed, and this platoon does not stand between us and the bridge.

Task 1.3 — Build the High-Payoff Target List (HPTL)

NOT DONE

Put the five HPTs in priority order using the ▲ and ▼ buttons. Everything you need is in the commander's guidance:

His three requirements are already in priority order — but you have four targets, and the fourth is not simply added to the bottom. Read the last paragraph again and ask which losses would end the mission, and which would only hurt.

1Battalion command post
3Engineer obstacle team
4ATGM section
5120 mm mortar platoon

← Scenario Next: Attack Guidance Matrix →

Decide: The High-Payoff Target List

Two kinds of targets

Nominating High Payoff Targets from the High Value Target List

Task 1.1 — Nominate the High-Payoff Targets

Task 1.2 — HVT or HPT?

Task 1.3 — Build the High-Payoff Target List (HPTL)

Reminder — Brigade Commander's Guidance

Brigade Commander's Targeting Guidance