Which step is NOT part of the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB)?

The step that does not belong to the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) is conducting crowd control. IPB is a systematic process used to analyze the environment, terrain, and enemy forces to enhance decision-making for military operations. It includes defining the operational environment, which sets the stage for understanding the context of the battlefield, describing environmental effects on operations, which helps in assessing how various factors like terrain and weather can influence both friendly and enemy actions, and evaluating the threat, which focuses on understanding potential adversaries' capabilities and intentions.

Conducting crowd control, however, is typically associated with law enforcement or security operations rather than the strategic and tactical analysis performed during IPB. It falls outside the scope of intelligence preparation and is more about managing civilian interactions and ensuring public order during military operations, rather than preparing and analyzing battlefield conditions and threats. This distinction clarifies why conducting crowd control is not part of the IPB framework.