This chapter examines who may be targeted in non-international armed conflicts (NIAC) in the context of contemporary counterinsurgency operations against non-state belligerents. It analyzes the International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC) study called Interpretative Guidance on the Meaning of Direct Participation in Hostilities (DPH Study), which endorses the concept of “continuous combat function” (CCF) as a means of establishing direct participation in hostilities. The chapter first considers the law of armed conflict's categorization of civilians and belligerents before turning to a discussion of organizational membership and the implications of subordination to command and control for belligerents and civilians in any armed conflict. It then explains the difference between status- and conduct-based targeting and why the use of conduct undermines the extension of the DPH rule to define enemy belligerent forces. It presents a proposal of how to reconcile the DPH Study with status-based targeting presumptions to maintain the distinction between civilians and belligerents.