Alamo Scouts

Alamo Scouts, 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit
Active	1943–1945
Allegiance	Federal
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Regiment
Role	Reconnaissance and raids
Size	138
Engagements	World War II Southwest Pacific Theater

The Alamo Scouts (U.S. 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit) was a reconnaissance unit of the Sixth United States Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. The unit is best known for its role in liberating American prisoners of war (POWs) from the Japanese Cabanatuan POW camp near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines in January 1945.

The Scouts were organized on Fergusson Island, New Guinea, on 28 November 1943. Their purpose was to conduct reconnaissance and raider work in the Southwest Pacific Theater. The scouts often operated deep behind Japanese lines. They were under the personal command of Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General of the U.S. Sixth Army. General Krueger wanted a unit that could provide timely vital intelligence on the enemy's troop numbers, unit types, and locations to the Sixth Army. General Krueger had previously received faulty intelligence reports from other sources outside of Sixth Army.

Krueger sought to create an all volunteer elite unit consisting of small teams which could operate deep behind enemy lines. Their primary mission was to gather intelligence for the Sixth U.S. Army. The unit was so named because of Krueger's association with San Antonio, Texas and because of his admiration for the defenders of the Alamo. The "Alamo" nickname also applied to Krueger's Sixth Army, known as the Alamo Force, a name also applied to the shadow command structure that General MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of the SouthWest Pacific, created to maintain extra control of that Army while it was part of his multi-army Allied Ground Forces branch, under the command of Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey. The Scouts were an ad hoc unit and had no table of organization & equipment (TO&E).

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