Military Review English Edition March-April 2016 | Page 98

employed, the “squadron’s reconnaissance operations
yield an extraordinarily high payoff in the areas of
threat location, disposition, and composition, early
warning, protection, and battle damage assessment.”20
Reconnaissance operations have the direct effect of
allowing commanders to accept or initiate combat at
the time and place of their choosing, thus maintaining
the BCT’s freedom of maneuver and initiative during
the critical early phases of the airborne assault.21
During the assault phase, the main assault
force—comprising three infantry battalions, engineers, a fires battalion, and a mission command
node—can approach a target lodgment while the reconnaissance squadron approaches a secondary drop
zone. Though the assault force must mass firepower
on the lodgment, the reconnaissance squadron is not
limited to a single piece of terrain. Instead, it can use
its superior maneuverability to find and report on
the enemy while avoiding direct engagement. Any
area capable of receiving multiple heavy drops and
up to five hundred paratroopers can suffice for the
secondary drop zone. Such an area can be secured

and marked by the special operations forces that
precede a forcible entry operation. When the main
assault force lands on the lodgment, its fight begins;
the force works to clear an airhead and prevent the
enemy from impeding air landings.
Meanwhile, the reconnaissance squadron is not
concerned with holding terrain but rather with finding and, as necessary, fixing enemy forces that seek
to influence friendly actions on the intended lodgment. Upon landing, the two mounted troops move
to their vehicles, inserted by heavy drop moments
before paratroopers exit their aircraft, and they
quickly begin to disperse. They expand the security
zone around the target lodgment, establish screen
lines, provide terminal guidance for air power, assess
battle damage, and make adjustments for artillery.
The mounted troops, working in concert with aerial
ISR, provide real-time reporting on enemy locations,
composition, and disposition, as well as early warning of enemy reactions to friendly forces.
Simultaneously, the dismounted troop moves to targets designated as secondary objectives for the primary
assault force. The dismounted troop observes
and reports on these objectives and remains available for retasking by the
commander to observe
named or targeted areas of
interest. The individual reconnaissance teams of the
dismounted troop provide
imagery and full-motion
video from a ground
perspective to the joint
force commander and
staff. This enables them
to prioritize targets and
facilitate a target handover with battalion scouts
as the infantry battalions
expand the lodgment and
turn their focus toward
their secondary objectives.
(Photo by Spc. L'Erin Wynn, 49th Public Affairs Detachment)
After the battalion scouts
Paratroopers with 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne
link up with the disDivision, establish security 26 October 2015 during a rehearsal for a live-fire exercise in preparation for
Combined Joint Operations Access Exercise 16-01 on Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
mounted reconnaissance
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March-April 2016  MILITARY REVIEW