Which War-fighting function includes ensuring forces are protected?

The correct answer is Protection, as this war-fighting function is fundamentally tasked with ensuring the safety and security of forces in various operational contexts. Protection encompasses a broad range of strategies and measures designed to safeguard personnel, equipment, and information from threats and hazards, whether they arise from enemy forces, the environment, or other risk factors.

This function is critical in maintaining combat effectiveness and operational capability, as it directly affects the morale and sustainability of units in the field. Protection includes active measures such as fortifications, defensive operations, and tactical maneuvers to avoid detection or engagement with adversaries, as well as passive measures like medical support and psychological resilience.

In contrast, other war-fighting functions focus on different aspects of military operations. For instance, Mission Command emphasizes leadership and the execution of operations through decentralized decision-making and empowering subordinates. Intelligence is concerned with gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information to inform decision-makers and enhance situational awareness. Movement and Maneuver focuses on the physical movement of forces to defeat the enemy and achieve objectives. Each of these other functions plays a vital role in operations but does not specifically center on the protection of forces in the same comprehensive manner as the Protection function does.