During operations in general, defence operations of military regions in particular, military intelligence and reconnaissance plays a role of utmost importance in enabling military regions’ commands and staff offices to grasp information about the enemy and other relevant issues as the basis for making operational resolutions and opportunely dealing with situations. Therefore, researching and proposing measures to improve the effectiveness of the military intelligence and reconnaissance force becomes more significant in both theory and practice.

Military intelligence and reconnaissance (aka recce) in military regions’ defence operations is characterised by its widespread coverage (normally within 6 – 12 provinces and municipalities), both in the mainland and outside the border, with the participation of many components and forces in grasping information about foreign invaders, agents for internal riots and conversions, area situation as well as operations of friendly units and relevant localities. At the same time, the military intelligence and recce force will always be ready for raiding to destroy the enemy’s important targets and for performing some other tasks.

In the initial phase of a Fatherland protection war (if war is to occur) when the enemy’s plots and artifices are still held in secret, the military intelligence and recce force (under military regions) must be quickly deployed to grasp the situation as the basis for making combat resolutions; for that reason, this work should be thoroughly researched both theoretically and practically. This article recommends some measures to improve the effectiveness of military intelligence and  recce during military regions’ defence operations of a Fatherland protection war.

First, sufficiently, elaborately making force preparation in peacetime and during defence operations. Personnel preparation acts as a determinant of the efficiency of military intelligence and recce. It should be noted that the military intelligence and recce force within military regions is comprised of various components with different functions and tasks, such as operational intelligence, operational technical recce, infantry recce, and special recce. Thus, grounded on each component’s specific functions and tasks, commanders of military intelligence and recce units should develop personnel plans both quantitatively and qualitatively in accordance with each area’s particularities, troops’ capacity, and each speciality’s strong points.

In order for good personnel preparation, commanders of military intelligence and recce units should regularly consolidate their units’ organisational structure in an adept, compact, strong manner, while holding political education and combat training courses to improve cadres and soldiers’ knowledge comprehensively, with importance attached to improving troops’ professional competence. It is worth noting that during military regions’ defence operations, the military intelligence and recce force is often organised into small-scale independent units far from all-level commands; therefore, due attention should be paid to recruiting troops with good political backgrounds, pure morality, and personal traits. Great value should be attached to enhancing troops’ political zeal to ensure that under any circumstance they will always be loyal to the Fatherland, the Party, the State, the Military, and the people. Besides, it is essential to focus on improving troops’ determination to overcome hardships and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks. Commanders and political cadres of military intelligence and recce units should introduce tasks and maintain coordination among troops in an elaborate, clear fashion, well conduct party and political work before, during, and after each task, and opportunely grasp cadres and soldiers’ ideology.

Second, enhancing commanding and directing work of military regions’ commands and intelligence and recce offices. Due to its tasks, the military intelligence and recce force is always confronted with difficulties and dangers and has to keep operational secrets; therefore, stepping up commanding and directing work performed by military regions’ commands and military intelligence and recce offices is desperately necessary. To that end, military region commands should proactively direct military intelligence and recce chiefs to identify targets and tasks, regularly manage recce plans, and anticipate the enemy’s attacks on military regions’ areas. At the same time, military regions’ military intelligence and recce chiefs should closely supervise their units’ task performance, particularly in the forward areas.

Based on defence combat tasks and resolutions, military region’s intelligence and recce offices and chiefs should direct military intelligence and recce units at all levels to obtain and report information about the enemy both in the mainland and outside the border to commanders, prepare and submit military intelligence and recce reports to higher echelons, conduct force deployment under the ratified plans, design military intelligence and recce directives which will be approved by military region chiefs of staff, send those directives to relevant units, and make plans for military intelligence and recce coordination with military regions’ provinces, divisions, and affiliates as well as friendly units in their areas. Moreover, military intelligence and recce units should be tasked with grasping information about the enemy and situation as the basis for military regions’ operations. Regulations on reporting the enemy’s situation to commanders and higher-level military intelligence offices should be maintained, while information should be shared with relevant offices and units. As for key recce tasks, it is essential to enhance the engagement of military regions’ military intelligence and recce offices via command chains. To do so, military intelligence and recce chiefs must thoroughly grasp defence combat plans, intensify inspection and supervision to avoid shortcomings, and opportunely adjust and supplement forces and means of recce to gain information about the enemy’s operations in the most efficient way.

Third, maintaining close coordination between military intelligence and recce units in the areas to form a “comprehensive, extensive” recce network. For a thorough grasp of the enemy’s situation, commanders and military intelligence and recce chiefs should well maintain recce coordination so as to promote the synergy of all components and obtain timely, accurate information for each operational task. However, military intelligence and recce coordination is a very complex task as components of this force are scattered in a large area; thus, operational methods must be flexible, creative, and close. Additionally, during military regions’ defence operations, there will be a lot of forces in charge of grasping the enemy’s situation, such as ministerial-level military intelligence and recce, local military intelligence and recce, and friendly units’ military intelligence and recce. Thus, commanders and military intelligence and recce chiefs must clearly identify the contents and participants of coordination as well as each force’s operational range, targets, tasks, and methods of report and information exchange to create a comprehensive, extensive, uniform network for grasping the enemy’s situation. Besides, there should be coordination in some issues, such as areas for handing over prisoners of war, enemy troops who surrender, and enemy documents and places for hiding wounded and dead soldiers. Military intelligence and recce chiefs should employ methods of coordination in accordance with the enemy’s situation and military regions’ combat  plans; coordination work could be carried out via meetings, on maps, or in the field. In case of emergency, coordination could be accomplished via documents, the deployment of cadres to units, or means of communication. Methods of order issuance and situational presentation relating to coordination work should be flexibly applied or combined with each other. In addition, military intelligence and recce units operating close to one another should be proactive in maintaining coordination to gain information about the enemy.

Fourth, providing support for the military intelligence and recce force’s operations. Well implementing this measure will help create a favourable condition for the military intelligence and recce force’s task performance. Amongst the areas of support, keeping secrets and ensuring communications, logistics, and technical support are the most important. Secrecy is a principle in military intelligence and recce operations; it will enable this force to conserve manpower, safeguard combat intent, and cause the element of surprise against the enemy. The contents of secrecy include recce activities, intent, tasks, means, and unit code names. To that end, right in peacetime, it is necessary to focus on rendering cadres and soldiers fully aware of their tasks and the importance of secrecy, improving their professional skills, training them to cleverly employ tactical forms and methods of recce, and bettering their coordination with friendly and local units, especially those operating deep in the areas controlled by the enemy.

Ensuring communications for military intelligence and recce activities is one of the most difficult aspects of support as military regions’ defence operations could last long and fiercely; besides, the enemy is superior to us in terms of electronic warfare and always concentrate on attacking our all-level signal systems. Therefore, military intelligence and recce units should bring into play their internal signal system via various forms and methods, while closely combining with and taking advantage of the signal system within provincial-level defensive zones, friendly units, and higher echelons for the sake of command, direction, and timely report. Logistics and technical support must be relevant to the tasks, organisational structure, and operations of the military intelligence and recce force; military intelligence and recce chiefs and offices must give timely advice to commanders on this work and closely cooperate with local units, party committees, authorities, and armed forces in effectively mobilising resources for this work.

The military intelligence and recce force plays a role of paramount importance in military regions’ defence operations. This article merely puts forward several initial measures for offices and units to research and apply to their assigned tasks.

Sr. Col., Dr., TRAN MINH THAO, National Defence Academy