1. The task, together with the purpose, which clearly indicates the action to be taken and the reason therefor. 2. In common usage, especially when applied to lower military units, a duty assigned to an individual or unit; a task. 3. Missions are statements of the objective to be accomplished for a given situation. Missions will describe the situation and will include who, what, when, where, why, and how the BMD system will perform. They contain employment direction and procedures to BMD forces for a given situation to achieve specific defense objectives. (USSPACECOM)