In Silence Toward The Unknown: Principles Of Special Reconnaissance And Surveillance
Abstract
Recently, the debate surrounding special operations has neglected one of its core activities, specialreconnaissance and surveillance (SR). The application of advanced technology capacities has overtakenthe more traditional intelligence collection. Therefore, SR may become a lost art and science, and certainprinciples need to be considered to support SR missions. The purpose of this thesis is to identify principlesand a theory for SR missions. The thesis asserts that there is a threshold called relative certainty (sufficientactionable intelligence), where a decision maker can make an informed decision based on the intelligencepresented. The chosen approach is a qualitative comparative analysis of historical SR missions, includingin the South Atlantic War of 1982 and the Inchon landing of 1950. Also, this study suggests specialoperations forces can improve mission success with the use of the suggested principles of SR:coordination, review, cover, reporting, and exploitation. Finally, this study asserts that there is a distinctionbetween theories that support special operations in achieving the aim and theories explaining the uniqueutility of special operations, that is, theories for special operations and theories of special operations.Ultimately, special operations engage a unique set of principles to accomplish successful missions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1026868
Entities
People
- Anders Westberg
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School