Special reconnaissance
The SR role frequently includes covert direction of airstrikes and indirect fire, in areas deep behind enemy lines, placement of remotely monitored sensors, and preparations for other special forces.
Like other special forces, SR units may also carry out direct action and unconventional warfare, including guerrilla operations.
Since such personnel are trained for intelligence collection as well as other missions, they will usually maintain clandestine communications to the HUMINT organization and will be systematically prepared for debriefing.
[2] However, some countries do not honor these legal protections, as was the case with the Nazi "Commando Order" of World War II, which was held to be illegal at the Nuremberg Trials.
While SR has been a function of armies since ancient times, specialized units with this task date from the lead-up to World War II.
Drawing on personnel from Australian, British, New Zealand and other Allied forces, it included Coastwatchers and "special units" that undertook reconnaissance behind enemy lines.
[6] During the War on Terror, the US Army began to develop a limited number of special reconnaissance platoons at the battalion level of conventional infantry units.
These platoons were most often composed of Ranger-qualified soldiers and given selection of advanced training in order to allow them to work in close conjunction with Special Forces and US Government Agencies.
[7] Conventional infantry formations have long had dedicated reconnaissance units, such as scout platoons, that can operate forward of a main line of troops.
The duration of an LRS mission depends on equipment and supplies the team must carry, movement distance to the objective area, and resupply availability.
Despite being a large scale operation by SR standards, an early example is the attack by elements of the 77th Infantry Division on Kerama Retto before the main battle.
Operation Trudy Jackson, which involved the capture of Yeongheungdo, an island in the mouth of the harbor before the Battle of Inchon, by a joint CIA/military team led by Navy LT Eugene Clark is much more in the SR/DA realm.
Lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles with imagery and other intelligence collection capabilities are potentially useful for SR, since small UAVs have low observability.
[21] It is routine for SR units to emplace such sensors both for regional monitoring by higher headquarters' remote sensing centers, as well as for tactical intelligence during the mission, as they are an improvement over tripwires and other improvised warnings.
[22] A mixture of SR, DA, and seizing opportunities characterized the Sayeret Matkal's Operation Rooster 53, originally planned as a mission to locate and disable a radar.
For example, during the Falklands War of 1982, UK Special Air Service delivered eight 4-man patrols via helicopter deep into enemy-held territory up to 20 miles (32 km) from their hide sites several weeks before the main conventional force landings.
The patrols reconnoitered Argentinian positions at night, and then due to the lack of cover moved to distant observation posts (OPs).
Examples of difficult strategic targets included Ho Chi Minh trail infrastructures and logistic concentrations, and the Scud hunt during Operation Desert Storm.
[23] SR units detect, identify, and locate targets to be engaged by lethal or nonlethal attack systems under the control of higher headquarters.
During Operation Desert Storm, the US senior commanders, Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf were opposed to using SOF ground troops to search for Iraqi mobile SCUD launchers.
Operating at night, Air Force MH-53J Pave Low and Army MH-47E helicopters would ferry SOF ground teams and their specially equipped four-wheel-drive vehicles from bases in Saudi Arabia to Iraq.
Early coordination between SR and air support in Vietnam depended on visual and voice communications, without any electronics to make the delivery precise.
Post-strike reconnaissance, also called bomb damage assessment (BDA) is the visual, photographic, and/or electronic surveillance of a target that has been attacked to measure results.
The British Special Air Service were pioneers in vehicle SR, going back to their operations in North Africa during World War II.
Some highly trained troops, such as United States Navy SEALs or British Special Boat Service may parachute into open water and swim to the target.
In some extreme situations, wounded personnel who cannot travel may be killed by their own side, to avoid capture and interrogation which could compromise the special reconnaissance mission.
[9] A variant described for US personnel was explained to a US forward air controller, by a MACV SOG officer, "If I decide that there's no way we can effect your rescue [in Cambodia], I'll order the gunships to fire at you to prevent the enemy from getting their hands on you.
Software-defined radio, along with standard information exchange protocols such as JTIDS Link 16, are enabling appropriate communications and situation awareness, reducing the chance of fratricide, across multiple military services.
SR personnel generally report basic information, which may be expressed with the "SALUTE" mnemonic They will provide map overlays, photography, and, if available, sensor data.
SR troops are also trained in more advanced reporting, such as preparing multiple map overlays of targets, lines of communications, civilian and friendly concentrations, etc.
