Special reconnaissance

Special Reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units of highly trained military personnel, usually from Special Operations Forces (SOF) who avoid combat with, and detection by, the enemy. In the United States SR is recognized as a key Special Operations capability at the level of the US Secretary of Defense:


 * "Special Reconnaissance is the conduct of environmental reconnaissance, target acquisition, area assessment, post-strike assessment, emplacement and recovery of sensors, or support of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) operations."

The special operations units that carry out SR missions include Paramilitary Operations Teams from the CIA's Special Activities Division, United States Army Special Forces, Marine Corps Force Recon, United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, Navy SEALs; British Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and Special Reconnaissance Regiment, Israeli Sayeret Matkal and other "reconnaissance units", Russian and former Soviet Spetsnaz and Razvedchiki, Canadian Joint Task Force 2 and Canadian Special Operations Regiment, Australian Special Air Service Regiment, French 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, and a variety of other units. See Special reconnaissance organizations.

From the intelligence perspective, it is a HUMINT collection discipline. The SR mission is not espionage if they are in uniform, according to the language of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. This continues the language of the Hague Convention of 1907. Countries do not always honor this legal protection, as with the Nazi Commando Order of WWII, which was held illegal at the Nuremberg trials.

Their operational control is likely to be inside a compartmented cell of the HUMINT, or possibly the operations, staff functions. Since these 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. They operate significantly farther than the furthest forward friendly scouting and surveillance units; they may be tens to hundreds of kilometers deeper.

Increasingly, the SR role is broadening beyond information gathering. The most common addition is to direct air, and possibly missile, strikes into areas deep in enemy territory. SR may also include placement of remotely monitored sensors, and may be specific preparation for other SOF actions, such as direct action (DA) and unconventional/guerilla warfare (UW).