s really present in some strength, then a halt
becomes obligatory and a careful reconnaissance necessary.

(=e=) The leader of every subdivision must always start a
reconnaissance the instant the enemy develops. He may, as in the case
of the point, only send one man around to discover the enemy's
strength; or, if the leader of the main body of the support, he may
send an entire squad. In almost every case the instant he has given
his orders for deploying and firing at or rushing the enemy, he sends
out his man or men to work around to a position permitting a view of
the hostile force. Every noncommissioned officer should impress this
on his memory so that he will not forget it in the excitement of a
sudden engagement.

(=f=) No attempt should be made to subdivide the advance guard of a
small force into all the elements previously described. For example,
the advance guard of a squad is simply a point of one or two men; the
advance guard of a company is usually no more than a squad acting as a
point, the squad actually having several men from 100 to 150 yards in
advance, who really constitute a point for the squad; the advance
guard of a battalion would usually consist of a company or less
distributed as an advance party proper and a point. The advance guard
of a regiment would have no reserve--if, for example, a battalion were
used as the advance guard of a regiment, there would be only a
support, which would be distributed about as follows: A support proper
of about three companies and an advance party (point included) of
about one company.

[Illustration: Fig. 1]

=1030. Reserve.= An advance guard large enough to have a reserve would
be distributed as follows:

[Illustration: Fig. 2]

The distance Z would be greater than Y and Y would be greater than X.
For example, a regiment acting as the advance guard of a brigade
would, under ordinary conditions, be distributed about as follows:

[Illustration: Fig. 3]

As only large commands have a reserve, which would always be commanded
by an officer, noncommissioned officers need not give this much
consideration, but it must be understood that while this fourth
subdivision of the advance guard is the only one officially termed
reserve, the last subdivision of any advance guard actually is a
reserve, no matter what its official designation.

The advance guard of a cavalry command adopts formations similar to
those described above, except that the distances are increa