1-5. A primary planning assumption for commanders and staffs is that government organizations and Department of Defense (DOD) affiliates are currently under observation by adversaries and will be under observation by threats and enemies across one or more domains within OEs. Operational and functional concepts are translated through warfighting functions into tasks for the development of plans, orders and, ultimately, unit missions. Commanders develop protection priorities for each phase of an operation or major activity. They integrate and synchronize primary protection tasks and additional protection tasks to reduce risk, mitigate identified vulnerabilities, and act on opportunity. When properly integrated and synchronized, the tasks and systems that comprise the protection warfighting function effectively preserve the force.