John J. McGrath
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 272
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From the Foreword: Scouts Out is a wide-ranging historical survey of theory, doctrine, organization, and employment of reconnaissance units since the era of mechanization in the early 20th century. Reconnaissance and counter reconnaissance are battlefield missions as old as military history itself and missions for which many armies have created specialized units to perform. In most cases, these units were trained, equipped, and used differently from the majority of an army's fighting units. Horse cavalry performed these missions for centuries, for it had speed and mobility far in excess of main battle units. Once the horse was replaced by mechanization, however, the mobility advantage once enjoyed by the horse cavalry disappeared. Since the early 20th century, the search for the proper mix of equipment, the proper organization, and the proper employment of reconnaissance units has bedeviled armies around the world. This survey uses a divers variety of historical cases to illustrate the enduring issues that surround the equipping, organizing, and employment of reconnaissance units.