At this moment, I have no real idea of how to form a new Recce troop, or even a recce squadron. I find it slightly disconcerting that some seem to place the troop leaders primary task as replen. This can actually be conducted by any joe blow in a suitable vehicle. Dispatch riders on motorcycles can pick up reports and tapes, but in theory, in our digitalised world, all of the pertinent information will be transmitted through that wondrous piece of equipment, the TCCCS family of radios.
However, here are some random thoughts.
It appears to me that we will no longer be conducting traditional recce in the advance. Instead, I think we will be conducting one of several tasks:
patrolling: Patrolling, which seems to be a task that we will continue in most of our present and future ops. No need for the troop leader to conduct replen, the patrols would be returning to a base location upon completion of their patrol. In actual fact, there is no real need for a troop officer in such a case. The prime emphasis would be on patrol commanders. Are two Coyotes required? Why waste expensive Coyotes jammed with surveillance gear for such a task? Patrolling could most likely be done better by other vehicles, LAV III in a higher threat area, Gelandewagons for lower threat.
Security: This, of course, is one of recce's traditional tasks, providing a screen to friendly forces. In this case, a Coyote is required with all of its surveillance gear to provide the early warning. Are two coyotes required? In almost all cases, the answer is no. One coyote is required, with sufficient manpower to operate the equipment and provide security for a longer term deployment. A Coyote and a LAV III? A Coyote and a Gelandewagon? A Coyote and a Bison? Almost any configuration of two vehicles would work. If a LAV III or a Bison were to be used as the second vehicle, enough supplies could be carried to keep the OP operational for a minimum of a week, don't you think?
Convoy escort: Again, a waste of a surveillance vehicle. This task could be done arguably better by LAV III, or even MBT's.
Rear are security: OK, far too many variables here, I admit. Any combination of OP's, patrolling and escorts could be utilized.
Any of the above tasks could be completed to a much higher standard if UAV's were to be employed, especially if there was a sufficient quantity of them to provide 24 hour coverage of the area of concern. Of course, this will never happen. We will never have sufficient numbers, and even if we did, the weather would never cooperate.
I suppose that my basic argument is not that we don't need an 8 car troop. What I am arguing is that we do not need an 8 car Coyote troop. What we need is an 4 car Coyote troop, and four additional vehicles of some sort. Looking through the above, it would seem to me that an 8 car troop made of a mix of Coyote and LAV III would provide the best mix. In cases where it would be deemed best to have a Coyote/Gelandewagon patrol, then we should utilize the Reserves. I am also against the argument of using the troop officer as a resupply resource while in the screen. Use the troop officer as part of the screen, by all means. But don't have him cruising around in a surveillance vehicle dropping off beans and toilet paper, please!