Many people thought it was strange of me when I first chose to make a study on the organization and workings of a troop formation in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Wouldn't it be easier, they reasoned, to make a similar study of a more "conventional" business organization? My argument is that perhaps no other organization has the kind of clear-cut structure, hierarchy of roles and complex task allocation than the armed forces--it takes more than just toughness and guts to run a military organization. The purpose of this study is not an ego trip into the world of men in uniform; rather, its intentions are to consider management concepts applied in running a particular troop formation known as reconnaissance troopers. Military intelligence is of outmost importance to any commander. Every operation in the armed forces is preceded by a carefully planned intelligence gathering process. The men trained for such covert reconnaissance operations are specialists in their own right and are known collectively as reconnaissance troopers in the Singapore Armed Forces. At the regimental level, reconnaissance troopers are commonly known as "infantry scouts" and our study focuses on the scout (Recon) platoon from the 3rd Singapore Infantry Regiment (3 SIR).
