The strength of the patrol will generally depend on its mission and on the number of messages that it will probably send back. The larger the patrol the greater the probability of the enemy seeing it. On the other hand, if it is too small, it will not have sufficient members to send in important information and continue operations. Captain Waldron in his book, "Scouting and Patrolling," recommends a patrol of a leader and six selected men for ordinary reconnaissance. This number makes it possible for the patrol leader to place a man out on each flank, a man in advance, two to remain with him and one to remain in the rear as the get-away man. The officer who sends out the patrol determines its strength. COMMANDER The leader should be an officer or a noncommissioned officer. He must have good judgment, be cool, be quick in making a decision, be strong in physique, have initiative, and be brave, but not to the extent of rashness. Besides his regular equipment he should have a good pair of field glasses, a compass, a watch, wire cutters, pencils, a message book, and a map of the country. INSTRUCTIONS The officer sending out a patrol should give it instructions on the following points: 1. Information of the enemy and of friendly supporting troops. 2. The mission of the patrol. This will include the general direction in which it is to go. 3. How long the patrol is to remain out. 4. Where messages are to be sent. PREPARATION Before going out the patrol commander will make a careful inspection of the members of his patrol in order to see: 1. That the members are in a suitable condition for the duty to be performed. (Not drunk, sick, lame, having a bad cough, etc.) 2. That each man is properly armed and has the requisite amount of ammunition. 3. That the accoutrement is so arranged that it will not rattle or glisten in the sunlight. 4. That no man has anything about him that will afford the enemy valuable information in the event of capture. At the conclusion of this inspection he will, in the presence of the officer sending out the patrol, go over his orders, giving his men all the information that he has of the enemy and his own troops; state the duty (mission) of the patrol so that all may know what they are going to accomplish, and he will follow this with a statement of his general plan for carrying it out. He will designate an assembly point should the patrol be dispersed. He will designate a second in command should he be disabled. FORMATION [Illustration: SUGGESTED FORMATIONS FOR PATROLS] It is impossible to lay down any hard-and-fast rule governing the formation and conduct of the operations of a patrol. Each situation will have to be worked out by itself. The patrol should assume the general formation of a column of troops on the march; that is, it will have an advance guard, a main body, flankers and a rear guard. These several elements may each be represented by only one man. CONDUCT OF THE PATROL