Finally, the critical vulnerabilities portion of the wheel must be defined. Critical vulnerabilities are, An aspect of a critical requirement which is deficient or vulnerable to direct or indirect attack that will create decisive or significant effects (JP 5-0, GL-10). Critical vulnerabilities can be found in the capabilities section, the requirements section, or even both of the sections at the same time. It is the commanders job to identify all three sections of the Center of Gravity wheel for not only his enemy, but also the forces he/she is responsible for. The analysis of the center of Gravity and its components will help to identify the enemys weakness and how to best exploit that weakness.
To determine the enemies as well as a nation's own center of gravity, one may first work through all of the building blocks that make up the center of gravity. This process will help to properly identify courses of action needed to attack the enemy and possibly even the actions needed to go on the defense. The center of gravity can also be reverse engineered as most centers of gravity are quite obvious. The challenge is to develop the supporting critical capabilities, requirements and vulnerabilities. Do not fall blindly into the reverse engineering trap though. As we have learned from Leyte Gulf, the Japanese paid the price for this assuming that ADM Halsey was the center of gravity for the US forces. .
Utilizing the Enemy Center of Gravity Determination matrix I will show not only Japans center of gravity, but also the allies. The first two blocks of the matrix which need to be identified are the objectives, strategic and operational. The strategic objective at this point of the war for Japan was to make it to the negotiating table to pen a negotiated settlement. On the contrary, the allied forces wanted nothing less than unconditional surrender. The operational objective in Leyte for the Japanese was to defeat the allied invasion force.
