MOVIMIENTO AMPLIO DE TRABAJADORES Y JUBILADOS -MATRAJU

4-7. The BCT commander’s reconnaissance and security planning guidance gives a clear understanding of the reconnaissance and security organization’s task and purpose, specifically the BCT’s cavalry squadron. Reconnaissance and security guidance explains tempo, the level of detail, and covertness required, the reconnaissance objective, and guidelines for engagement, disengagement, and bypass criteria, and displacement criteria. The commander develops his planning guidance based on the BCT mission, commander’s intent, timeline, and enemy to satisfy information requirements and identify opportunities to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative. The BCT commander specifies different reconnaissance and security planning guidance for each phase of an operation and adjusts the components of his guidance when appropriate. The commander’s reconnaissance and security planning guidance consists of the following components:

z Tempo, level of detail and covertness required.

z Reconnaissance objective.

z Engagement, disengagement, and bypass criteria. z Displacement criteria.

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4-8. Tempo, the level of detail, and covertness required of the cavalry organization to accomplish reconnaissance or security operations tasks are described in four ways: rapid, deliberate, stealthy, and forceful. (See figure 4-1.) Tempo is the relative speed and rhythm of military operations over time with respect to the enemy (ADRP 3-0). Rapid and deliberate are levels of detail that are mutually exclusive in all cases, as one cannot be rapid and deliberate at the same time. However, cavalry organizations can oscillate between the two from phase to phase or even within sub-phases of an operation. Stealthy and forceful indicate mutually exclusive levels of covertness. Commanders choose the appropriate form of reconnaissance or security operations task, balanced with the mission variables of METT-TC, to complete the mission. 4-9. Rapid action dictates that the level of detail for reconnaissance and security operations is limited to a prescribed list of critical tasks or priority intelligence requirements. Rapid action is appropriate when time is of the essence and only a limited number of information requirements are necessary to accomplish the mission. 4-10. Deliberate action implies that the organization must accomplish all critical tasks to ensure mission success. Deliberate action allows the organization more time to answer all information requirements. Detailed and thorough reconnaissance and security operations require time intensive, comprehensive, and meticulous mounted and dismounted efforts to observe reconnaissance objectives and develop the situation.

4-11. Stealthy action emphasizes avoiding detection and engagement dictated by restrictive engagement criteria. Stealthy reconnaissance and security operations typically takes more time than aggressive reconnaissance and security operations. Stealthy reconnaissance utilizes dismounted scouts to take maximum advantage of cover and concealment to reduce signatures that lead to compromise. The BCT commander uses stealthy reconnaissance when time is available, detailed reconnaissance and stealth is required, enemy forces are likely to be in a specific area, when dismounted scouts encounter danger areas, and when restrictive terrain limits effectiveness of mounted reconnaissance or security operations.

4-12. Forceful action develops the situation by employing reconnaissance and security forces, technical means, and direct and indirect fire systems that can move rapidly to develop the situation. Forceful reconnaissance and security operations require firepower, aggressive exploitation of action on contact, operational security, and training to survive and accomplish the mission. Forceful reconnaissance and security operations are appropriate when time is limited, detailed reconnaissance is not required, terrain is open, environmental conditions allow for mounted reconnaissance, and when dismounted reconnaissance cannot complete the mission within existing time constraints. Forceful reconnaissance and security

operations do not preclude the judicious use of dismounted reconnaissance to reduce risk as long as the organization maintains the tempo of the operation.

Figure 4-1. Variations of action

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4-13. Reconnaissance objective is a terrain feature, geographic area, enemy force, adversary, or other mission or operational variable, such as specific civil considerations, about which the commander wants to obtain additional information (ADRP 3-90). A reconnaissance objective focuses the cavalry organization’s area of emphasis. Four categories form the area of emphasis—threat, infrastructure, terrain and weather effects, and civil considerations. The commander often assigns more than one category to cavalry units even though the tasking organization recognizes that a broad focus in multiple areas dilutes the cavalry organization’s ability to collect information. Narrowing the scope of operations helps to focus the cavalry organization to acquire information to develop the situation for future operations.

4-14. Threat prescribes the identification of the enemy’s locations, composition, disposition, and strength within an assigned area of operation. Infrastructure dictates gathering information pertinent to the understating of the operational environment. Terrain and weather effects confirm step two of the intelligence preparation of the battlefield process (describe environmental effects on operations) and is accomplished by analyzing and determining the influences that the five military aspects of terrain and the military aspects of weather will have on future operations. The five military aspects of terrain are observation and fields of fire, avenues of approach, key terrain, obstacles, and cover and concealment, expressed in the Army memory aid OAKOC. The military aspects of weather include visibility, wind, precipitation, cloud cover, temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure (as required). Civil considerations reflect the influence of manmade infrastructure, civilian institutions, and attitudes and activities of the civilian leaders, populations, and organizations within the operational environment on the conduct of military operations. The commander and staff analyze civil considerations in terms of the following categories: areas, structures, capabilities, organizations, people, and events, expressed in the memory aid ASCOPE. (Refer to ATP 2-01.3 and ATP 3-34.80 for additional information.)

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4-15. Engagement, disengagement, and bypass criteria prescribe events and conditions that require initiation of engagement with the enemy, disengagement from enemy contact, or bypassing the enemy. Engagement, disengagement, and bypass criteria outlines parameters for cavalry units to engage the enemy with direct or indirect fire based on the level of threat, levels of risk, required levels of covertness, and preservation of the force.

4-16. Engagement criteria are protocols that specify those circumstances for initiating engagement with an enemy force (FM 3-90-1). Regardless of engagement criteria, it is not enough to state in the operations order that engagement criterion is either restrictive or permissive; the operations order must describe conditions relative to the enemy situation to ensure complete understanding.

4-17. Disengage is a tactical mission task where a commander has the unit break contact with the enemy to allow the conduct of another mission or to avoid decisive engagement (FM 3-90-1). Disengagement criteria describe the events and conditions that necessitate disengaging from enemy contact or temporarily breaking enemy contact to preserve the force. Compromised cavalry units or scouts who find themselves in a position of disadvantage provide no information or security value and should temporarily break contact to reestablish observation as soon as the tactical situation permits. As with engagement criteria, specific conditions are described that require disengagement.

4-18. Bypass criteria are measures during the conduct of an offensive operation established by higher headquarters that specify the conditions and size under which enemy units and contact may be avoided (ADRP 3-90). Bypass criteria describes the events and conditions that necessitate maneuver around an obstacle, position, or enemy force to maintain the momentum of the operation. Bypass criteria describes the conditions that necessitate maneuver so as not to decisively engage or fall below a certain combat strength when deliberately avoiding combat with an enemy force.

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4-19. Displacement criteria define triggers for planned withdrawals, passage of lines, or reconnaissance handovers between units. As with engagement, disengagement, and bypass criteria, the conditions and parameters set in displacement criteria integrate the BCT commander’s intent with tactical feasibility. Conditions are event driven, time driven, or enemy driven. An example of event driven conditions are associated priority intelligence requirements being met, enemy contact not expected in the area, and observed named areas of interest or avenues of approach denied to the enemy. Time driven conditions is ensuring the time triggers are met (for example, latest time information is of value.) An observation post compromised by threat or local civilian contact is a threat driven condition. Failure to dictate conditions of displacement, nested within the higher scheme of maneuver, results in mission failure.