2-2. Commanders must deliberately plan and integrate the ethical application of military force against an enemy while protecting the force and preserving combat power. Commanders develop protection strategies for each phase of an operation or major activity. They integrate and synchronize protection tasks and systems 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 increase the probability of mission success. Units must consider all protection tasks and systems and apply them as appropriate. Each task and its associated system are typically associated with a staff or staff proponent that performs specific duties.