Colorado Technical Homeland Security Future and Evolving Challenges Paper For this assignment, you will develop a 2-page executive summary that includes th

Colorado Technical Homeland Security Future and Evolving Challenges Paper For this assignment, you will develop a 2-page executive summary that includes the following:A problem statementA description of background, key stakeholder positionsFacts and assumptionsThe courses of action (COA) that have been consideredThe findingsYour recommendations Running Head: COURSE OF ACTION
Course of Action
Theodore Proia
Colorado Technical University
May 1, 2019
COURSE OF ACTION
Theodore Proia
In times of catastrophe and existential threats, there is usually of confusion when it comes
to having the situation under control. Such situations demand a course of action (COA) that
handles every aspect of the situation with maximum results. It is, however, important to carry out
an analysis of different courses of action to settle for the most appropriate one which then helps
the leader in making the final decision. This paper, therefore, establishes the most practical
course of action by utilizing the technique of screening for the suitability, feasibility,
acceptability, distinguishability, completeness, and evaluation criteria.
Components of Course of Action
Distinguishability
Every Course of Action must have significant differences from the other COAs. This
differences may be as a result of personnel and equipment available, variations in task
organizations, time of operations (day or night) as well as the differences in maneuverability
(Power, 2019). For instance in the times in times of a terrorist cells busting operation, one course
of action may call for early morning operations while another may call for late night, with each
seeking to ensure stealth.
Acceptable
A specific plan of action is considered acceptable if it succeeds in a given mission or
purpose and the risks involved are worth the risks. The risks involved include human resources,
material as well as the time required. Additionally, the actions must be in line with legal
constraints. For instance, while conducting a COA analysis for terrorism cell one course of
action may call for utilizing twenty men, whereas another, a riskier approach would have the
men to ten. However, the main questions would be as to whether both are per legal requirements.
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COURSE OF ACTION
Theodore Proia
Feasible
Feasibility implies that the personnel selected should be in a position to accomplish a task
within the available time, space and resources (Power, 2019). Anything short of this implies that
a plan will fail.
Suitability:
A plan is suitable as long as it accomplishes the mission. Each method is evaluated to
check whether it can achieve the task within the specific parameters, such as time, personnel and
resources, failure to which a course poof action is aborted. However, the team leader has the
privilege of changing the specifics of the mission, which implies that the new details are updated
to each course of action and reevaluation commences.
Completeness
A course of action is complete when it answers the what, where, when, why and how. In
essence, it should state the mission in its complete version without living any loose ends.
Evaluation Criteria
Before starting the actual comparison, it is essential that stakeholders carefully and
meticulously define or establish the evaluation criteria. All stakeholders need to agree on the
requirements to eliminate time wastage by fostering a common understanding of the basics on
one hand while on the other the knowledge helps reduce subjectivity (Power, 2019).
Additionally, the establishing evaluation criteria beforehand help eliminate redundant criterion,
since it offers the opportunity to weight each criterion before its actual usage. However, there is
no standard for measuring a criterion since each Course of Action is situational dependent.
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COURSE OF ACTION
Theodore Proia
Comparison Matrix
An example of a Course of Action selection involves planning to ambush terrorist cells in
upstate New York. In this instance, there are there COAs with each passing the screening
technique as potential COAs. The evaluation criteria include Quick delivery and entry of
personnel, integration, ease of transition from phase to another, the simplicity of the COA,
Safety, and Protection of staff, Flexibility of COA, as well as whether the COA meets critical
needs.
Matrix
Comparison Criteria
COA 1
COA 2
COA 3
Quick Delivery And Entry
Of Personnel
Integration
Negative (-)
Zero
Negative (-)
Negative (-)
Positive (+)
Zero (0)
Ease Of Transition From
Phase To Another
Simplicity
Zero (0)
Negative (-)
Positive (+)
Zero (0)
Zero (0)
Negative (-)
Safety And Protection Of
Personnel
Flexibility
Zero (0)
Positive (+)
Zero (0)
Negative (-)
Positive (+)
Zero (0)
Meets Critical Needs
Positive (+)
Zero (0)
Zero (0)
TOTALS
-2
+2
-1
Key Positive (+) = Good
Zero (0) =Fair
Negative (-) = Poor
Remarks
(More Positive is better)
In this case, COA number 2 is the practical course of action.
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COURSE OF ACTION
Theodore Proia
References
Power, D. (2019, May 2). What criteria should be used for evaluating proposed plans? Retrieved
from Planning Skills: http://planningskills.com/askdan/9.php
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