From the viewpoint of control of modern complex anthropocentric objects, such objects can be adequately described by the conceptual mathematical model called Etap. This model formal izes both the domain of operation of the anthropocentric objects and the set of tasks to be carried out on the object. Operational goal setting is the first phase of the control of an anthropocentric object. In terms of the Etap model, operational goal setting is the change in the typical situation of the current session of the object operation. The proposed operational goal setting algorithm uses a priori informa tion (a specified sequence of typical situations that ensures the accomplishment of the current session of the object operation, a priori specified set of threats that can emerge in the course of the operation session, a knowledge matrix with the terms of linguistic variables for each pair typical situation-threat) and the current data (obtained from the object's crew and onboard measurement system). For the description of the operational goal setting task, the following concepts are used: the crew circumspec tion, the crew situational awareness, and the crew situational confidence.