Depth of penetration

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 missions, within the scope of the battlespace

Battlespace

Battlespace is a term used to signify a unified military strategy to integrate and combine armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea, and space to achieve military goals. It includes the environment, factors, and conditions that must be understood...

, are characterized by the depth of penetration required, in terms of time, risk coordination, and support requirements. Information is gathered by commanders at all echelons and is used to prevent surprise, permit the timely maneuver of ground forces, and to facilitate the prompt and effective use of supporting arms

Fire support

Fire support is long-range firepower provided to a front-line military unit. Typically, fire support is provided by artillery or close air support , and is used to shape the battlefield or, more optimistically, define the battle...

.
Close
Military commanders use forward platoon

Platoon

A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...

 and company

Company

A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...

-sized elements of their own organic forces, to perform close reconnaissance ("short-range" reconnaissance), such as: the recon/scout platoons in infantry battalions; reconnaissance platoons in armored regiments/battalions

Armoured warfare

Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war....

; or "intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance"

ISTAR

ISTAR stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing the information they gather.Information is collected on...

 (ISTAR) companies that are organic to intelligence brigades/battalions.

These mission normally are conducted in the area between the forward positions to the rear, extending forward of the "Forward Edge of the Battle Area"

Front line

A front line is the farthest-most forward position of an armed force's personnel and equipment - generally in respect of maritime or land forces. Forward Line of Own Troops , or Forward Edge of Battle Area are technical terms used by all branches of the armed services...

 (FEBA) to the "Fire Support Coordination Line" (FSCL). This area is usually in the commander's Area of operation

Area of operation

In U.S. military parlance, an area of operations is an operational area defined by the force commander for land, air, and naval forces conduct of combat and non-combat activities...

 (AO). It is directed toward determining the location, composition, disposition, capabilities, and activities of enemy committed forces. Close reconnaissance covers the ground between the forward positions that are within the FEBA, to the rear of the zone covered by 'distant' (or medium) reconnaissance assets.

Distant
The units that provide distant reconnaissance (or known as "medium" reconnaissance) capabilities are usually organic to, or attached to regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

al/brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

, division (military)

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

-level, corps-level

Corps

A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...

 commands. It is usually directed toward determining location, disposition, composition, movement of supporting arms (i.e. artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 emplacement), and the reserve elements

Military reserve force

A military reserve force is a military organization composed of citizens of a country who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. They are not normally kept under arms and their main role is to be available to fight when a nation mobilizes for total war or to defend against invasion...

 of the enemy committed forces. Distant reconnaissance is conducted between the FEBA, beyond the FSCL, to the rear of the commander's area of influence. Dedicated scouts serving with infantry, tank, artillery, engineer, or logistics units will generally position themselves about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) in advance of the forward units where possible.

Modern-day commanders have units such as the U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper

Scout Sniper

Scout Sniper is a secondary MOS designator of U.S. Marine Corps infantrymen and reconnaissance Marines that have successfully graduated from a USMC Scout Sniper School. Scout Snipers provide close reconnaissance and surveillance to the infantry battalion...

 and Light Armored Reconnaissance

United States Marine Corps Light Armored Reconnaissance

The United States Marine Corps Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalions, or LAR Battalions, are fast and mobilized armored terrestrial reconnaissance units that conduct reconnaissance-in-force ahead of the battalion landing teams or division infantry forces...

 units, or similar, at their disposal. Light armor such as Armored personnel carriers and light fast vehicles (similar to Sandrail

Sandrail

A sandrail, or sand rail, or sandcar, or "rail" is a lightweight motor vehicle specifically built for traveling across a wide variety of off-road terrain. Sandrails are popularly operated on actual sand dunes, such as Glamis, Pismo and Rasor in California, St...

s) such as the Light Strike Vehicle

Light Strike Vehicle

The Light Strike Vehicle is an improved version of the Desert Patrol Vehicle it replaced. Several Light Strike Vehicles exist, including a version by Chenowth, the UK's Longline LSV and the Spider Light Strike Vehicle by Singapore Technologies Engineering...

 are used with reconnaissance (scouting) units for much added armored protection, firepower, speed and mobility; to include, excellent communications, procurement of short- and long-range (remote) sensors

Remote sensing

Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...

, such as thermal imagery, ground surveillance radar and seismic sensors

Geophysical MASINT

Geophysical MASINT is a branch of Measurement and Signature Intelligence that involves phenomena transmitted through the earth and manmade structures including emitted or reflected sounds, pressure waves, vibrations, and magnetic field or ionosphere disturbances.According to the United States...

, [and if…] in range of the artillery fan, they have the much needed indirect fire support

Indirect fire

Indirect fire means aiming and firing a projectile in a high trajectory without relying on a direct line of sight between the gun and its target, as in the case of direct fire...

, when the need arises. In effect, these units are often replicate miniature combined-arms task forces (or battlegroups).

Deep

At the highest command level of a committed force or component (the division

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

, corps

Corps

A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...

, or field army

Field army

A Field Army, or Area Army, usually referred to simply as an Army, is a term used by many national military forces for a military formation superior to a corps and beneath an army group....

-level), the force-level reconnaissance is employed to perform deep reconnaissance (or "long-range surveillance"), which is conducted beyond the force (or component) commander's area of influence to the limits of the area of interest

Deep operations

Deep battle was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by a number of influential military writers, such as Vladimir Triandafillov and Mikhail Tukhachevsky who endeavoured to create a military strategy with its own...

 (i.e. the geographical area from which information and intelligence are required to execute successful tactical operations, and to plan for future operations). Deep reconnaissance is oriented toward determining the location, composition, disposition, and movement of enemy reinforcements, combat support

Combat support

In the United States Army, the term combat support refers to units that provide fire support and operational assistance to combat elements. Combat support units provide specialized support functions to combat units in the areas of chemical warfare, combat engineering, intelligence, security, and...

, and combat service support

Combat service support

Combat service support is a subset of military logistics. Combat service support is more limited in depth than logistics, as it primarily addresses those factors directly influencing combat operations.-United States Army:...

 units, in order to shape and describe the battlespace.

While almost every front-line military unit is sometimes assigned to do limited patrolling, or surveillance, of one kind or another, this kind of stealthy scouting—far from friendly forward operating base

Forward Operating Base

A forward operating base is any secured forward military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support tactical operations. A FOB may or may not contain an airfield, hospital, or other facilities. The base may be used for an extended period of time. FOBs are traditionally supported...

s—is a particularly dangerous mission. Scouting specialist, or reconnaissance operators, may protrude as far as 25 – forward of the FSCL. In practice, reconnaissance or scouting platoons, typically of 20–40 men (4–6 men per squad/team), can probe beyond the FEBA, usually in means of 190 – from any friendly ground forces, however, this extreme distance excludes any advantages of operating under the supporting arms fan; such as naval gunfire

Naval gunfire support

Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...

 or artillery support, but are not limited to close air support

Close air support

In military tactics, close air support is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are close to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces.The determining factor for CAS is...

.

In the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, some brigades and divisions have separated, and structured into Long-Range Surveillance

Long Range Surveillance

Long Range Surveillance units are specially trained elite Surveillance units of the United States Army that are employed by Military Intelligence Units for gathering information from deep within hostile territories....

 (LRS) units, which can go deeper beyond the front line; in which, the units are reorganizes into a Brigade combat team

Brigade combat team

The brigade combat team is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the US Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its attached support and fire units. A brigade combat team is generally commanded by a colonel , but in rare instances it is commanded by...

 model with enhanced reconnaissance. As of 2007, however, scout specialists were being removed from some brigades, such as the Stryker Brigade.

See also

• Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
  Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
  The Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance is a subordinate command of the United States Strategic Command, one of the ten Unified Combatant Commands under the United States Department of Defense and co-located with the Defense Intelligence Agency...