Operational Preparation of the Environment

Operational Preparation of the Environment is a term that has come into use by the U.S. Department of Defense, including reasonably traditional military Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace, clandestine intelligence collection that may have a more distant relation to military action, and Operational Preparation of the Battlespace.

In its hearings for the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence expressed concern about blurring between the ntelligence-gathering activities carried out by the [[Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the clandestine operations of the Department of Defense (DOD).

"In categorizing its clandestine activities, DOD frequently labels them as Operational Preparation of the Environment (OPE) to distinguish particular operations as traditional  military activities and not as intelligence functions. The  Committee observes, though, that overuse of this term has made the distinction all but meaningless. The determination as to  whether an operation will be categorized as an intelligence  activity is made on a case-by-case basis; there are no clear  guidelines or principles for making consistent determinations. The Director of National Intelligence himself has acknowledged  that there is no bright line between traditional intelligence  missions carried out by the military and the operations of the  CIA."

The committee observed that any clandestine operation, even legitimately OPE, has the same diplomatic and security risk as an activity subject to reporting to the intelligence committees and leadership as an exceptionally sensitive operation. "DOD has shown a propensity to apply the OPE label where the slightest nexus of  a theoretical, distant military operation might one day exist."

Such activities thus do not come to the notice of the intelligence and defense committtees, which cannot exercise their oversight responsibility. Recent discussions with DOD makes the Committee hopeful that it will be properly notified, but it will consider legislative action to enforce notification if it does not receive it.