Small Unit Methods

[Dalle]

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[indent] Reconnaissance[/indent]

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Recon or Recce is information gathering in unknown terrain. Recon is a part in the militaries intelligence system and is in this case of course conducted by small units, usually called a "Patrol" to maintain a low profile with concealment or "stealth" as some would call it. With side units, a "Recon Company" can be ordered to conduct recce and delaying actions in an area quite a few square-kilometers large, or act as sensors for the infantry further deep in friendly lines.


Mission Planning


Recce isn't something you just send a squad into enemy lines to check a spot. You're moving into terrain that's possibly hostile with no immediate support. Things that should be planned are:

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• Recon Question? - Are there enemies in this terrain, is that bridge still up, has the enemy evacuated this village?
  
  
  
• Observation Points (OP)? - This could be by looking at the map so you can plan your route. Though never settle on a mediocre one.
  
  
  
• Where and When? - Where's the object? What angle should they look from? When should there be Eyes-On-Target? Where does the enemy terrain begin? A Recon mission can be from 1h to 3 Months long on paper, it could even be longer.
  
  
  
• How do we move? - Has there been enemy contact in the terrain? How do we avoid those spots? Do we units in the terrain?
  
  
  
• Capability? - Can they do this recon? Logistics? Is it too far? How do they get there? This could require Special Forces, Special Operations Capable or dedicated units to complete this task.
  
  
  
• Communications? - You can't constantly broadcast on the radio with the battery and risk for enemy SIGINT. How often should reports be sent? What should break radio silence? See
  
  
  
• In Case of Contact? - What happens if we're exposed? What do we do if we make contact (Call it in, Destroy maps, Break Radio)?
  
  
  
• Side Missions? - Should we be ready to conduct and ambush somewhere? Do we need to be close to this side mission as well?
  

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Once you have all these things set you can essentialy begin a Recon Mission. Stag and Resting lists can be set flexibly as they can't be planned. As you can see this is a thoughtful mission. You don't just send someone into the enemy terrain and hope they get to a water tower and they start looking at it. You're sending troops in there because you DON'T know and need to figure this out. The reasoning to figure this out could be anything, say a simple sensor to know what the enemy is doing? The enemy has been advancing and the formation needs for warning in case it can withstand an attack? We are to attack and need to know locations of the enemy and what they do once we begin our attack? All of these things link up through the Intelligence feed and is what commanders all the way from the Squad Leader to the Prestige 5 General through 11 Seasons of COD MW2 uses to fight the war.



Recce Report

A Small but important part of Recce is to send what has been spotted. All these reports are documented through command and helps them get a pattern on the map back at command staff. There's no such thing as too many reports. Your report said there were 5 guys but you now see 6? Make a new report with this info. The most basic recon report look like this:

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• Time - Date & Time.
  
  
• Location - Where is this happening, be detailed "Left of the red house from our angle"
  
  
• Number - How many of what? If you see 4 Grunts rifle rifles. 2 Guys with Pistols and 3 Vehicles, you say all of that.
  
  
• Type - If you see armoured vehicles and they look like Mechanized, call in Mechanized. If they have rifles on their backs and are setting up a tent and there's a high ranker? It look like a Staff. Unsure? Then say so.
  
  
• Activities - What are the enemy doing? "Marching down the road to the south east." "Enemy is conducting Fire Mission" "Enemy is picking Berrie--?? Wait, that's a local."
  
  
• Symbol - Could be registration plate, unit patches, a lightsaber, what the uniforms look like. You can describe what a vehicle looks like here as well, or if you know simply say "Gully Jumper with registration plate xxxxxxxxxx"
  
  
• Sent by - "Sent by Foxtrot 1-3"
  
  

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Command will not interrupt you while you send the report. Though they are allowed to question details of the report.

Depending on the Listening Method set, you usually write these down on in a Datapad/Paper. You then correct it into the radio and have all recon reports compiled and sent at the same time. Or you could send it while you see it if those are your orders.


Patrolling


Patrolling is used when a large area of terrain is to be observed. Say your platoon is to look through an area that is 100km away from nearest friendly formation. Command want you to look through terrain that's 20 Square km. Depending on time and risks, a Patrol can be anything from 2 men and 10 men. Low risk could be that we judge there are no enemies in this terrain but just have to make sure. High risk mean that there are enemies. Patrolling should always be carried out with light equipment. Rucksacks/Bergens should be left at the base.

Say if there's a high risk of enemy contact in this terrain, the Platoon Leader can decide that the squads maintain their cohesion and patrol the area in different "zones" he/she make on a map. This mean that in case of contact, the squad will have the firepower to withdraw from the fight.

If there's a high risk and only 1 Squad can patrol these 20 Square km? Then the Squad Leader might have to split the squad into 2 man teams to patrol the terrain. These patrols should have left their heavy equipment at the base such as AT, and only be moving with at maximum 24h of food. Communication means are usually limited at this point, one way to indicate contact is 1-use flares at the enemy position. Once this happen the entire squad is recommended to regroup at a rally point to withdraw from the recon.

If it's a low risk zone and you quickly need to scan it, the Platoon Leader can split the squads however they like to cover as much area quickly. The point is that there's flexibility. A Squad will always be capable to fight in case of contact, a 2-man team is usually too weak. Always remember that no matter the size, if you make contact -- The enemy will know that you're there too and begin their counter-meassures.

A Method that is usually done by all forces in unfriendly terrain is called SOLO

STOP
OBSERVE
LISTEN
OFTEN



As it says, randomly conduct STOP or when you believe you hear or spot something in this type of terrain.

No reason to make a GIF here as there's already the ones for how to conduct combat and this is literally just walking. Send recon reports if you spot something and just don't turn it into a damn attack and you're doing it right!

Observation Point

The unit is constantly observing from a fixed position on a point of interest such as a road, lane or city, which is known as "Object". The OP (Observation Point) Should focus on stealth and always have the Combat Position preperations. An observation Point can be away from a base, though must be easy to get too in that case. Or if the terrain allows, integrated into the base. There are many ways to build an Observation Point and I will show you a simple line of thought, but let your imagination run free as that is what we do in real life! Just think about the logistics and the stamina. Imagine being in a 10m wide OP with 8 men that's essentialy just a made up tent and you have to crawl 50m in the rain just to get to cover and empty your gutts. If you decide to build it IC, try to make it Stealthy, Make it stealthy through IR (Use branches, leaves to cover you), Small and give you cover from the elements.

An OP should preferebly always be staffed by 2 men. You can choose to put the radio in the OP or in the basing depending on exposure. Line of thought is that the Radio is more defendable at the base. If the OP is close to a road you could put an AT there in case of exposure. The 2nd man could be observing a different angle in the OP, be used as rear security but should always be ready to write recon reports.

Those who aren't on Observation Post, maintain Basing routines. Of course there's a list of for how long you will be on each station so you can do rest. This is where numbers are important, the more troops you are the more sleep you will get and through that you have more stamina. I don't want to see any "Sniper Teams" be at one spot for a month just to take "One Shot"! Or worse, one guy with a sniper! You get risk of brain damage after about 50h of no sleep, try 720h!