Overcoming Ambiguity: Tips for the Army Reconnaissance Course
The Army Reconnaissance Course is the Army’s preeminent leadership school for scout leaders at the platoon and section level. Taught at Ft. Benning in beautiful western Georgia, ARC is currently 4 weeks long.
Eligibility is limited to Army, Marine and partner nation officers in the grades of O-1 to O-2, and staff sergeants and sergeants first class, although sergeants (E-5) may attend the course in some instances. Students are drawn from Cavalry units in both the active and reserve components. Because Armor officers (19A) are more likely to spend time in a reconnaissance unit than they are an armor unit, all active duty 2nd Lieutenants are required to attend ARC upon completion of Armor Basic Officer Leader Course. Reserve component lieutenants can be sent by their unit. Infantry platoon leaders assigned to reconnaissance units (either Cavalry squadrons or Infantry Battalion scouts) also attend the course.
ARC is at once both a highly engaging, informative course and a frustrating fog of subjective ambiguity. I attended the course in early 2018. What follows is an attempt to help future students set conditions for their success at the school. However, the course is continually evolving to meet the Army’s need for adaptable, agile — and whatever other buzzword is in vogue — reconnaissance officers and non-commissioned officers. This means that user experiences vary and what I share has a limited shelf life.
Specific details for the course may be found on the ARC website, which includes this helpful training timeline that breaks down the general training schedule. There are a handful of critical events in ARC that I’ll attempt to highlight while explaining what I noticed were trends among those who successfully passed those events. `
Entrance Exam — Arguably a course that holds itself out as the foundation-building course for reconnaissance tactics and doctrine shouldn’t have an entrance exam. Since not all students are products of ABOLC (where reconnaissance tactics are handwaved in the classroom and only really taught in the final field phase) there should at least be an official study guide available. Unfortunately there is not.
To pass the entrance exam make good use of the recommended reading list on the ARC website. It is a hassle to sift through those Army publications, but rest assured the exam only hits the high points. FM 3–98, Reconnaissance and Security Operations, and ATP 3–20.98, Reconnaissance Platoon, are your two bibles for that exam. A working knowledge of operational terms and graphics, land navigation word problems (think back to your ROTC or OCS written Land Nav exam) and some basic vehicle identification round out the test. If you are worried about any of these and you are not a 19A, find a Second Lieutenant that just got out of ABOLC and ask them for help. They’ll point you in the right direction. Fail it the first time? No problem, you’ll get retrained, a night to study and then be retested the following morning. Just about everyone passes the retest.
Bushmaster — Operation Bushmaster is a gut check event. It starts on the second day of the course and involves the best land navigation training I’ve seen so far in the Army. It is also one of the worst times of your life — or so it seems going through it. After being issued weapons and equipment your “Cav” (as the small groups are called — each group is between 6 and 10 students) will depart for the training area. Once you are out there you will spend the next 4 days or so learning self-location, honing day and night land navigation skills, and learning that a map and compass are nice but not absolutely necessary if you plan your route properly.
Expect to sleep about 3 to 4 hours every 24 hours. The rest of the time you will be walking through swamps, up hills and down hills, maintaining — or attempting to maintain — stealth. My Cav ended up walking 62 miles.
There is a basic packing list for Bushmaster issued by ARC, but anything else you bring in your rucksack is up to you. I’d recommend ditching that second pair of boots and getting used to wet feet. Bring extra socks (Fox River and Darn Tough) an extra pair of insoles, and a couple of t-shirts and a change of underwear and all will be well. Also bring a smoking jacket, waffle top or woobie to ward off the chill overnight. Bring matches or a lighter to start fires with, too. One 2LT in our Cav made it his mission to light fires whenever he could to help us stay warm. He remains a great American.
Classroom / OPORD Phase — After that first FTX the course becomes more mental and less physical. There is a week dedicated to classroom instruction on the fundamentals of reconnaissance and security, planning considerations for various types of reconnaissance missions, and overall comprehension of doctrine. In this phase you learn, by the book, how to execute the key tasks associated with area, zone, and route reconnaissance.
If there is one downfall to this period it is that sometimes the instructors, in their desire to generate ambiguity (because a lot of ambiguity and confusion generates adaptability and forces creative problem solving, apparently), fail to identify learning points worthy of further discussion. It is great that ARC wants students to be engaged and driving the learning environment. Yet frankly, there are times a student doesn’t know what he or she doesn’t know and isn’t positioned to identify what questions he or she should be asking.
After a few days in the classroom and conducting practical exercises, the first Operations Order will be issued. According to ARC cadre the schedule usually works out so students have a full weekend to complete their own platoon order. While students only need a “GO” on one of the two OPORDs, getting a “NO GO” out of the gate isn’t helpful to your frame of mind when you have even less time to develop your second OPORD. Take both OPORDs seriously, prepare all of the overlays required of students, and do not, under any circumstances, violate the Commanders Reconnaissance Guidance (CRG) or fail to adhere to the fundamentals of reconnaissance and security.
When you brief your order cadre will interject and create scenarios they want you to respond to. The grading, then, is partially on the order, partially on your overlays (automatic failure if you skip an overlay) and partially on how you react to the scenarios they create. Is it subjective? Yes, but make a decision, stick to it, and articulate why you made that decision. Indecision is very bad for your score.
Last Stand — The end is near with Last Stand, the final 4-day FTX. While Bushmaster is entirely dismounted and leadership positions aren’t rated (and really don’t exist outside of the patrol leader), Last Stand is mounted for all but one or two missions and every leadership position from section leader on up is rated. You must get a “GO” on both the planning/OPORD (if you are the platoon leader) and execution of the mission. Expect continuous operations since there is very little time to execute priorities of work and have a rest plan.
Under the current course structure, you won’t know if you passed your evaluation until the end of the phase. This is arguably a good thing since it prevents those who passed from checking out and not helping their classmates who are rated later in the FTX.
Teamwork is key in this phase since — as in real life — it is not possible for one or two people to do the entire work of a platoon. If you are given a chance to get a second rated position, go for it. Maybe you passed the first one, but you never know. One NCO who failed this phase in my class would have passed, I’m convinced, if he had simply pushed ahead and accepted a second evaluation.
During your mission it is essential that you maintain situational awareness and know exactly where you and your element are located at all times. Failure to be situationally aware, failure to make a decision under pressure, and failure to follow the fundamentals of reconnaissance will lead to a “NO GO.”
Final Thoughts — ARC is a difficult course to reduce to a few experiences that generate universal tips. It is constantly evolving, so the best advice I can give is be adaptable, put up with the frustrating ambiguity and do your best. Yes, some of it is subjective, but you can’t control the course. You can manage your own response to the subjectivity by putting your best effort into what you can control. Show up ready to ruck for miles on end, treat your feet well, and keep your head in the game. If you do that, you’ll be on track to succeed.
Oh, and don’t fall asleep on the gun during Last Stand. That’s not a good thing. And don’t bother bringing a GPS to the course. Get comfortable using a map and compass and whatever equipment is standard issue for Strykers and Humvees.
