Regional Analysis Course

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Students of the Special Warfare Education Group (Airborne) attending the Regional Analysis Course for the Civil Affairs and Psychological Affairs Qualification Course are expected to be able to conduct a system of system analysis of the operational environment. The 20-day course is designed so that students are familiarized with the PMESII-PT variables and its subvariables in the first half of the course. Once the familiarization phase is complete, students will use it to analyze their own assigned countries and pressing regional issues to write an executive summary paper and prepare a final group presentation for the ambassador/commander.

This course is intended to be a foundational course to develop a basic competence for the system of systems analysis using the PMESII-PT analysis. By breaking down the operational environment to the basic building blocks, students' ability to conceptually grasp and understand the world's regions will greatly improve.

Below is a list of the PMESII-PT variables and its subvariables.


PMESII-PT Variables and Subvariables

→ Political Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Attitude Toward the United States
  2. Centers of Political Power
  3. Type of Government
  4. Government Effectiveness and Legitimacy
  5. Influential Political Groups

→ Military Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Military Forces
  2. Government Paramilitary Forces
  3. Non-State Paramilitary Forces
  4. Unarmed Combatants
  5. Nonmilitary Armed Combatants
  6. Military Functions

→ Economic Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Economic Diversity
  2. Employment Status
  3. Economic Activity
  4. Illegal Economic Activity
  5. Banking and Finance

→ Social Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Demographic Mix
  2. Social Volatility
  3. Education Level
  4. Ethnic Diversity
  5. Religious Diversity
  6. Population Movement
  7. Common Languages
  8. Criminal Activity
  9. Human Rights

→ Information Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Public Communications Media
  2. Information Warfare
  3. Intelligence
  4. Information Management

→ Infrastructure Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Construction Pattern
  2. Urban Zones
  3. Urbanized Building Density
  4. Utilities Present
  5. Utility Level
  6. Transportation Architecture

→ Physical Environment Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Terrain
  2. Natural Hazards
  3. Climate
  4. Weather

→ Time Variable and Subvariable Settings

  1. Knowledge of the AO
  2. Cultural Perception of Time
  3. Key-Event Resolution
  4. Information Offset
  5. Tactical Exploitation of Time
  6. Key Dates, Time Periods, Or Events

Created by Joo-Sung Daniel Park.

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