Army long-range surveillance soldiers and an Air Force joint terminal attack controller perform a high-altitude , low-opening jump during the U . S . Air Force Weapons School ’ s Joint Forcible Entry Exercise 14B on 4 December 2014 over the Nevada Test and Training Range at Nellis Air Force Base , Nevada . ( Photo by Sr . Airman Thomas Spangler , U . S . Air Force )
Operational Surveillance and Reconnaissance Battalion
Capt . Brian Fitzgerald , U . S . Army
Corps and joint task force commanders require persistent , long-duration surveillance assets to report priority intelligence requirements from denied areas . Three assets are suited to these operations : special operations forces ( SOF ), unmanned aircraft systems ( UASs ), and long-range surveillance ( LRS ). Commanders have been less inclined to use organic teams from LRS companies , relying more on nonorganic SOF and UASs to collect high-priority information — largely because of the ineffective and outdated organization of
66 January-February 2017
MILITARY REVIEW