Army Aviation Warfighting Center
17
MAP PREPARATION CONSIDERATIONS (CON’T)
nADDITIONAL NVG CONSIDERATIONS
•HIGHLIGHT ROUTEs
•PLOT ROUTEs AND ACPs FIRST
•MARK TOWERS, BEACONS, CITIES, ETC.  
1.  Meteorology - Specific weather conditions affect the amount of illumination.  Cloud cover may limit the amount of illumination from the moon and other celestial sources.  Restrictions to visibility such as fog, drizzle, smoke, and haze also limit the amount of available light.
2.  Protection of night vision - Crew members must protect their night vision.  There are numerous techniques listed in TC 1-204.
3.  Aircraft preparation and maintenance - Sufficient time should be allowed for scheduled maintenance and pre-flight inspections to be performed during daylight hours.
4.  Plan for possible contingencies - Emergency LZs, holding areas, downed crew rally points, and code names are examples of contingencies to be considered during mission planning.
5.  Standing operating procedures (SOP) - Repetitive actions that are performed by the aircrews need to be incorporated into the unit SOP.  This relieves the requirement of planning for these actions each time a mission is performed.