What is 'risk management' in the context of MDO planning?

• A. Focusing on a single domain only.
• B. Identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks across domains (combat, cyber, information, legitimacy) to preserve mission objectives and forces.
• C. Ignoring cyber risk.
• D. Risk management is not used in MDO.

Answer: (B)

In MDO planning, risk management means identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks across all domains—combat, cyber, information, and legitimacy—to preserve mission objectives and the force. Operations in one domain can create or amplify risk in another, so an integrated approach helps maintain freedom of action, resilience, and mission success rather than protecting just one area. In practice, this involves mapping potential hazards across domains, evaluating how likely they are and how much impact they would have on objectives, prioritizing the most significant risks, and applying controls, adjustments, or countermeasures. It’s a continuous process that adapts as the battlespace and adversary actions evolve. Ignoring cyber risk would leave a critical vulnerability, and treating risk as confined to a single domain misses how interconnected modern operations are—risk management in MDO is about holistic protection of the mission and the force.