Operational Reconnaissance

The Armored Troops Newsletter

Elements of an armored division reconnaissance battalion in the summer of 1942

Operational (operative) and tactical reconnaissance are carried out by means of:

1. air reconnaissance and

2. ground reconnaissance

Under current circumstances, headquarters higher than the armored division have few reconnaissance vehicles at their disposal. As a result, armored divisions must depend more and more on their own reconnaissance battalions, which must also serve the needs of higher headquarters for operational reconnaissance. 

In these cases ground reconnaissance must take place in critical areas (Schwerpunkträumen) reported by air reconnaissance. In many unclear areas, for which the responsible superior headquarters are seldom able to provide sufficient orientation, the orders of armored divisions are contingent upon the discoveries of the reconnaissance battalion.¹

Using the armored reconnaissance battalion for its peculiar mission of “clarification” (Aufklärung ) is particularly important in unclear situations and crises.²

If, however, the reconnaissance battalion is employed improperly (as a “fire brigade ” for the division or the corps) it will not be available for its own job, and other units will have to reduce their own combat power by conducting reconnaissance with their own means. 

Opinions of the Inspector General of Armored Troops 

Even when defending against major enemy offensives the armored reconnaissance battalion is an indispensable means of command. Here it ought to be fighting in a mobile fashion in the area where the enemy has penetrated. It should not stay dismounted in a line that has already been penetrated. 

The armored reconnaissance battalion must as a rule maintain contact with the enemy and observe his movements.  

Source: This article is a translation of “Reconnaissance: Evaluation of the Lessons Learned Report of an Armored Division on the Eastern Front,” which was published in the Nachrichtenblatt der Panzertruppen, Number 16, October 1944.

1. This passage rests upon two key concepts in the German tradition of maneuver warfare. The first of these is Auftragstakik, the principle that commanders should be given missions to fulfill rather than specific orders to obey. The second is “reconnaissance pull,” which calls upon commanders to exploit, in a rapid and decisive fashion, the recent discoveries of forward elements.

2. This sentence contains a play on words. The literal translation of the word Aufklärung is “clearing up.” However, in various contexts, it can refer to the physical illumination of a concrete object, the clearing up of the weather, the Enlightenment (the period in history characterized by an irrational belief in the power of rationality), or even the explanation of the “facts of life” to children.