of
importance. Sometimes, however, it may be found advantageous to list
the operations in chronological sequence, i.e., in the order of their
execution. This point is further discussed hereafter (pages 166 and
192). The commander is at liberty, of course, to use either method
according to its helpfulness in enabling him to visualize the elements
of his problem.

* * * * *

The commander now considers the second feature: advantageous relative
positions. He may already occupy an advantageous geographical location
or locations (see pages 64 (bottom) and 65 (top)), or he may desire to
improve his positions in certain respects. An advantageous position
might be between the enemy and his base, in order to deny it to him.
Another advantageous position might be to windward of the enemy, for
the purpose of making a destroyer attack under the protection of a
smoke screen.

The commander now reconsiders, from the viewpoint of "advantageous
relative positions", the operations deduced with respect to "correct
physical objectives". As a result of this reconsideration, he may find
that certain of these operations may be retained without change,
whereas others may require modification.

Suppose, for example, that two of the operations listed are those
noted above, viz:

"To bomb enemy facilities at Port X", and

"To capture or destroy enemy shipping along trade routes
between the ---- parallels of north latitude and the
---- meridians of west longitude."

From the viewpoint of relative position, it may appear that the first
operation is not affected seriously, if at all. Therefore, this
operation may be left unchanged. However, the second operation may be
definitely affected by relative position, because the best method of
interrupting enemy trade may be to employ raiding forces in focal
areas. Therefore this operation might be altered to the form, "to
capture or destroy enemy trade by raiding focal areas" (with a
designation of the areas).

The commander's study is now likely to suggest operations which were
not apparent when the analysis was confined to the correct physical
objectives, alone. New physical objectives may appear to require
attention. If so, all such new operations are added to the list
compiled.

* * * * *

The commander may now study his list of operations, compiled to this
point, from the standpoint of the third feature, pro