Preliminary reconnaissance is the reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 that is used prior to the principal events of any major theater of war or landing force projection. The term is not similar to the initial word -reconnaissance-, as "preliminary reconnaissance" only prescribes the reconnaissance that is being conducted beforehand, and not during, any deployments, military operations, or movement of troops

Maneuver warfare

Maneuver warfare, or manoeuvre warfare , is the term used by military theorists for a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption brought about by movement...

.

This method of intelligence-gathering generally operates within the highest military intelligence

Military intelligence

Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....

 tiers, or level of the intelligence general staff

General Staff

A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...

, for intelligence collection management

Intelligence collection management

Intelligence Collection Management is the process of managing and organizing the collection of intelligence information from various sources. The collection department of an intelligence organization may attempt basic validation of that which it collects, but is not intended to analyze its...

—as it allows the combatant, landing force, and/or task force

Task force

A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...

 commanders—to better situate and prepare troops for the best feasible deployment, or landing, to achieve the utmost advantage. Aerial

Aerial reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...

 and ground reconnaissance

Terrestrial reconnaissance

Terrestrial reconnaissance, or ground recon, is a type of reconnaissance that is employed along the elements of ground warfare. It is the collection of intelligence that strictly involves routes, areas, zones ; and the enemy...

 elements are collateral to preliminary reconnaissance since it may require both assets to gain the appropriate preliminary intelligence.

Examples of preliminary reconnaissance is best displayed when the United States Marines of the VAC Amphib Recon Company, during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, would reconnoiter the beaches and inland for their landing (task) force commanders, a method consecutively known as amphibious reconnaissance

Amphibious reconnaissance

The concept of amphibious reconnaissance, or commonly amphib recon, are used primarily in conjunction with ground and naval reconnaissance concerning the littoral area bordering coastal or maritime areas of interests...

. The vital intelligence would dictate the actions of the commander's tactical battle plan of landing the troops ashore.