evacuation, and other agencies required for the immediate support and maintenance of the field forces. The Marine Corps component commander will normally focus efforts to deploy, support, and sustain forces, particularly the MAGTF, in the communications zone The commander will normally locate headquarters close to the joint force commander, who usually establishes headquarters in the communications zone. Understanding the joint battlespace at the operational level of war in which forces will operate is an important step in setting the conditions for their success. Force commanders must understand the relationship between the Area of Operation (AO), Area of Interest, and Area of Influence. By analyzing AO in terms of area of influence and area of interest, a force commander determines whether the assigned AO is appropriate. This analysis may include the forces' capabilities to conduct actions across the warfighting functions. Area of operation The Areas of Operation, or AOs, are areas that component and force commanders define as their tactical operability. It is also known as close battlespace. The commanders focus on establishing command and control in this area; which encompasses all aspects of fire support—naval gunfire, air and artillery superiority—in order to provide his ground forces the support they need. Also, the commander sets up force protection and supportive arms, such as logistics or reinforcements. The term "area of operations" has long been used in the United States Army, for the geographic areas of interest to much smaller units than the combatant commands. It has especially been used among U.S. Army Special Forces. The commander can choose to organize his AO so that his subordinates have contiguous or noncontiguous AOs: Contiguous AO—In a contiguous AO, all the subordinate commands' share one or more common boundary within supporting distance of one another in the battlespace. A commander may establish their battlespace in a reflection of linear operations, where there is a continuity and contiguous array of units across the area of operation (AO). Noncontiguous—A noncontiguous Area of Operation is one where one or more subordinate AOs do not share a common boundary. The commander establishes noncontiguous AOs when a more likely situation is one where the task force conducts non-linear operations within a noncontiguous battlespace and within an operational framework with noncontiguous deep, close, and rear areas. Operation Restore Hope in Somalia during 1992–1993, is an example of a battlefield framework with noncontiguous areas. The United States' Marine Air-Ground Task Forces'