Dismounted Reconnaissance Troop - Army Electronic Publications ...

Reconnaissance Operations
planning and executing the troop mission. The guidance enables him to clarify his own intent for his
subordinate leaders. The commander’s guidance consists of three areas:
Focus of reconnaissance.
Tempo of reconnaissance:
Stealthy or forceful.
Deliberate or rapid.
Engagement criteria (if any), both lethal and nonlethal:
Aggressive.
Discreet.
FOCUS
3-11. The focus of the reconnaissance allows the DRT commander to determine which critical tasks he
wants the troop to accomplish first. It narrows the troop’s scope of operations to help get the information
that is most important to squadron and brigade operations. It helps define where to concentrate information-
gathering activities and allows the commander to select which critical tasks must be accomplished and with
what asset(s). Reconnaissance focus must be linked to the tasks of answering the brigade and squadron
CCIR, supporting targeting (lethal and nonlethal), and filling additional voids in information requirements.
In small-scale contingency operations, the focus might be terrain-oriented or threat security force-oriented.
In an environment involving stability operations, the focus might be on determining local populace
sentiment or on identifying local paramilitary leaders. While all critical tasks have some degree of
applicability in any given operation, certain ones are more important for specific missions and must be
clearly articulated at each level.
Threat
3-12. The reconnaissance objectives of the troop must be focused on one or more of the following:
Threat/enemy.
Terrain.
Infrastructure.
Society.
3-13. It is critical to quickly identify and define the threat. The DRT is able to conduct reconnaissance
against threats ranging from conventional military forces to poorly equipped and loosely organized local
elements. To offset U.S. technical and tactical superiority, the threat will develop its own asymmetric
warfighting methods that fit within its objectives, training, culture, and available equipment.
Civil Considerations
3-14. Gaining an awareness of how the local society affects military operations, as well as the impact of
military operations on the society, is critical to the troop commander as he makes tactical decisions.
Understanding how operations affect the society begins with collecting information on the size, location,
composition, and temperament of the society. This process requires an understanding of cultural and human
factors such as religion, ethnicity, language, and political and tribal organization.
Terrain
3-15. Terrain analysis is based on a focused reconnaissance of the AO. Reconnaissance identifies voids in
terrain-related information requirements that a map or digital analysis cannot satisfy. The troop must see
and understand the terrain as it affects friendly forces, threat forces, and civilian population. For the DRT to
be effective with terrain-based analysis, the terrain should be restrictive or otherwise suited for the
capabilities of the DRT. The leaders use the factors of OAKOC. (See FM 3-21.10 for a detailed
discussion.)
16 November 2010 ATTP 3-20.97 3-3