Planning Initiation is defined as the recognition by an appropriate authority of potential for military capability to be employed in support of national objectives or in response to a potential or actual crisis.

• A. Starting to plan a mission from scratch
• B. Writing the final orders
• C. An appropriate authority recognizes potential for military capability to be employed in support of national objectives or in response to a potential or actual crisis.
• D. Planning Initiation

Answer: (C)

Planning Initiation centers on the moment an appropriate authority recognizes that military capability could be used to support national objectives or to respond to a potential or actual crisis, and thus authorizes the planning effort. This recognition starts the formal planning process, aligning future actions with national goals and crisis needs. It isn’t simply starting to plan from scratch—that’s the activity that follows the decision to initiate planning. It isn’t about drafting or issuing final orders, which come later after a plan has been developed and approved. And it isn’t just restating the term itself; it is the formal acknowledgment by the empowered authority that a planning effort is warranted due to strategic needs.