Recondo is an
American militaryThe United States armed forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States.The history of the United States armed forces dates to 1775, even before the Declaration of Independence marked the establishment of the United States...
term for a combination of
RECONnaissance and
DOughboy (or
CommanDOThe term commando, in English, means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means élite light infantry and/or special forces units, specialised in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and effect...
) special training or a graduate of a Recondo school.
In 1958 the Commanding General of the
101st Airborne DivisionThe 101st Airborne Division — the "Screaming Eagles"— is a U.S. Army modular infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for action during the Normandy Landings and in the Battle of the Bulge...
Major GeneralIn the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general. Major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the...
William WestmorelandWilliam Childs Westmoreland was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak from 1964 to 1968, with the Tet Offensive. He had adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. He later served as U.S. Army Chief of...
noticed a failing of
proficiency and
initiativeIn political science, the initiative provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance, or, in its minimal form, to simply oblige the executive or...
in
squadIn military terminology, a squad is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. In countries following the British Army tradition this organization is referred to as a section...
,
fireteamA fireteam is a small military unit of infantry. It is the smallest unit in the militaries that use it and is the primary unit upon which infantry organization is based in the British Army, Royal Air Force Regiment, Royal Marines, United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Air...
and
patrolA patrol is commonly a group of individual persons or military units that are assigned to monitor a specific area .- Military :...
leaders during an exercise code named WHITE CLOUD. General Westmoreland was a veteran of the Normandy invasion and realised the importance of small unit leaders and individuals who had been separated from their parent units to take action against superior enemy forces.
Recondo is an
American militaryThe United States armed forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States.The history of the United States armed forces dates to 1775, even before the Declaration of Independence marked the establishment of the United States...
term for a combination of
RECONnaissance and
DOughboy (or
CommanDOThe term commando, in English, means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means élite light infantry and/or special forces units, specialised in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and effect...
) special training or a graduate of a Recondo school.
History
In 1958 the Commanding General of the
101st Airborne DivisionThe 101st Airborne Division — the "Screaming Eagles"— is a U.S. Army modular infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for action during the Normandy Landings and in the Battle of the Bulge...
Major GeneralIn the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general. Major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the...
William WestmorelandWilliam Childs Westmoreland was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak from 1964 to 1968, with the Tet Offensive. He had adopted a strategy of attrition against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. He later served as U.S. Army Chief of...
noticed a failing of
proficiency and
initiativeIn political science, the initiative provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance, or, in its minimal form, to simply oblige the executive or...
in
squadIn military terminology, a squad is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. In countries following the British Army tradition this organization is referred to as a section...
,
fireteamA fireteam is a small military unit of infantry. It is the smallest unit in the militaries that use it and is the primary unit upon which infantry organization is based in the British Army, Royal Air Force Regiment, Royal Marines, United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Air...
and
patrolA patrol is commonly a group of individual persons or military units that are assigned to monitor a specific area .- Military :...
leaders during an exercise code named WHITE CLOUD. General Westmoreland was a veteran of the Normandy invasion and realised the importance of small unit leaders and individuals who had been separated from their parent units to take action against superior enemy forces. The General decided that his Division needed relevant training to rectify their deficiencies before their deployment.
The
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
sent many of their officers and senior non-commissioned officers to the eight week
Ranger SchoolThe United States Army Ranger School is an extremely intense, 61+ days, combat leadership course, oriented to small-unit tactics, and conducted in three separate three-week-long phases - at Fort Benning, Georgia, U.S.A., , at Camp Rogers and Camp Darby, Georgia, 'the Mountain Phase' at Camp...
. However not every unit leader could be sent to the course. One of the missions of a graduate of the Ranger School was to train his platoon or squad members in Ranger tactics. A 2nd Lieutenant Donald Bernstein suggested that some of the 101st Airborne's Ranger trained personnel start a school for the entire division in Ranger tactics. When the idea was brought to General Westmoreland he recommended that Major
Lewis L. MillettLewis L. Millett was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Korean War for leading the last major American bayonet charge.-Biography:Millett served during World War II and the Korean War for seven years....
command the two week school.
To emphasise
reconnaissanceReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
and
doughboyDoughboy is an obsolete slang term for a United States Army infantryman, best known from its use in World War I, although it dates back to the Mexican–American War of 1846–48.- Etymology :...
(standard
infantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of the Combat Arms they are the backbone of armies...
) skills, the school was called "Recondo". The Recondo insignia of the graduates of the school would be an Indian arrowhead pointing downwards to symbolise assault from the sky to the ground in the colours of black and white for operation by day and night. The patch would be worn on the graduate's pocket. To avoid confusion, the graduate of the school would be considered a "Recondo" rather than "Ranger" trained; the latter being a graduate of the eight week Army Ranger School.
Training and missions
The two week day and night course included training in
- Patrolling
Patrolling is a military tactic. Small groups or individual units are deployed from a larger formation to achieve a specific objective and then return. The tactic of patrolling may be applied to ground troops, armoured units, naval units, and combat aircraft...
- Land Navigation
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain. Participants are given a map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points...
- River Crossing
- Mountaineering
Mountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, backpacking and climbing mountains. In Europe it is also referred to as alpinism, while in the Americas the term refers to a particular style of mountain climbing, that involves a mixture of ice climbing, rock climbing, mixed...
to include abseilingAbseiling , rappelling in American English, is the controlled descent down a rope; climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection...
- Hand to hand combat
Hand-to-hand combat is a generic term often referring to weaponless fighting conducted from a military based point of view. This distinguishes it from combat sport...
- Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape
- Code of Conduct
- Helicopter
A helicopter is an aircraft that is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. Helicopters are classified as rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from fixed-wing aircraft because the helicopter achieves lift with the...
and Liaison aircraftA liaison aircraft is a small, usually unarmed aircraft developed before World War II and primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messengers. The aircraft were also used for battlefield reconnaissance, air ambulance, column control, light cargo...
operations
A February 1960 article in
Army magazine described Recondo tactics as "dedicated to the domination of certain areas of the battlefield by small aggressive roving patrols of opportunity which have not been assigned a definite reconnaissance or combat mission". The mission of a Recondo type patrol was to cause as much havoc to the enemy as an opportunity presented itself.
A Recondo patrol could be used
- immediately after the seizure of an objective when the enemy was disorganised
- as a screen for retrograde
A withdrawal is a type of military operation, generally meaning retreating forces back while maintaining contact with the enemy. A withdrawal may be undertaken as part of a general retreat, to consolidate forces, to occupy ground that is more easily defended, or to lead the enemy into an ambush...
operations
- to eliminate guerrilla activity
- to develop a situation in front of a rapidly advancing larger force
- to conduct feints
Impressed by the concept and results of the Recondo programme, other U.S. Army divisions adopted the concept.
In 1960, General Westmoreland became
SuperintendentThe commanding officer of the United States Military Academy is its Superintendent. This position is roughly equivalent to the chancellor or president of an American civilian university. The officer appointed is by tradition a graduate of the United States Military Academy, commonly known as "West...
of the
United States Military AcademyThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. Established in 1802, USMA is the oldest of the United States's five service academies. The military garrison at West Point was occupied in 1778 and played a key...
at West Point where he created a Recondo school for the cadets.
Vietnam War
General Westmoreland became commander of the American forces in the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
in 1964. He ordered his pet project, the creation of a
MACVThe U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MACV, , was the United States' unified command structure for all of its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War....
Recondo school in 1966 to replace Project LEAPING LENA, later
Project DELTAFor the modern United States Special Forces unit see Delta Force.Project DELTA was one of three Greek letter special forces reconnaissance projects formed by the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MACV during the Vietnam War to collect operational intelligence in remote areas of South...
that consisted of
5th Special Forces GroupThe 5
th Special Forces Group is a United States Army Special Forces unit that was activated on September 21, 1961 during the Cold War.-Unit History:...
instructors who trained American soldiers and Marines as well as members of other Allied forces in
Long Range Reconnaissance PatrolLong Range Reconnaissance Patrols, or LRRPs , were special small four to six-man teams utilized in the Vietnam War on highly dangerous special operations missions deep into enemy territory.-History:...
tactics. The course required a high level of physical fitness and concluded with an actual combat patrol prior to completion of the course to demonstrate the students knowledge and capabilities.
A
U.S. MarineThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
military intelligenceMilitary intelligence is a military service that uses intelligence gathering disciplines to collect informations that informs commanders decision making process....
officer remarked that the Recondo school produced "Junior Rangers" where everyone had the opportunity to earn a Recondo patch. The Officer felt that the Marine equivalent was
boot campUnited States Marine Corps Recruit Training, commonly known as "Boot Camp" is a program of initial training that each recruit must successfully complete in order to join the United States Marine Corps...
where everyone who made it through earned the
Eagle, Globe, and AnchorThe Eagle, Globe, and Anchor is the official emblem of the United States Marine Corps. The current emblem traces its roots in the designs and ornaments of the early Continental Marines as well as the British Royal Marines. The present emblem, adopted in 1966, differs only by a change in the eagle...
.
The 20 day course had a failure rate of one third and was disbanded once General Westmoreland was replaced by General
Creighton AbramsCreighton Williams Abrams Jr. was a United States Army General who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968-72 which saw U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fall from 530,000 to 30,000. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until shortly before his death in...
in 1970. The course graduated over 3,000 American and 333 Allied troops.
Other Recondo training
- The French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
offers a similar type CommandoThe term commando, in English, means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means élite light infantry and/or special forces units, specialised in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and effect...
training within each Regiment.The graduate wears a Commando badge on his or her pocket.
External links
- 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION RECONDO SCHOOL http://www.lcompanyranger.com/101recondo/101recondpage.htm
- Green Beret magazine feature http://www.281stahc.org/DELTA/DeltaMag1.htm