After an intensive staff meeting, Major Allen is tasked with analyzing potential threats in a newly emerging hostile region. His staff now must identify critical gaps in the commander's knowledge of an operational environment as a guide to establish their initial intelligence requirements. This will enable the commander to assess facts and make assumptions about how friendly and threat forces will interact in the operational environment. Based on selected data points and inputs, which sub-step of mission analysis in the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) is Major Allen primarily focused on