Forward Reconnaissance Battalion

Forward Reconnaissance Battalions, also known as FRBs or colloquially as "ferbies", were formations within the Grand Army of the Republic's Special Operations Brigade tasked with carrying out advanced reconnaissance on Separatist-controlled worlds, among other tasks including sabotage and espionage. As their name hinted, the majority of Forward Reconnaissance Battalions were composed of Advanced Reconnaissance Forces troopers and (ARC) commandos. By the end of the Clone Wars, at least ten Forward Reconnaissance Battalions were deployed across the Outer Rim Sieges, totaling a number of at least 6,000 reconnaissance troopers attached to FRB units.

These formations remained intact into the Imperial era, though instead were comprised of scout troopers, Storm Commandos, and Special Commando Advanced Recon (SCAR) troopers.

Composition
The typical Forward Reconnaissance Battalions during the Clone Wars were comprised of around 600 soldiers, and were sometimes supplemented by non-clone auxiliaries such as volunteers, mercenaries, and penal troopers. Air detachments were also assigned to FRB units for air support and transportation, and usually had access to ARC-170 starfighters and LAAT gunships. While the standard clone troopers of FRB units often used unmarked armor, it wasn't uncommon for FRBs to pick up troopers from other battalions (usually stranded in former battlefields), often resulting in units of clone troopers with various armor colorations between individuals. One such example was the FRB unit deployed to Mandalore, in which clone troopers were marked with the colors of the 212th, 501st, 91st, 41st, and 21st despite no longer being part of those respective units. The armor worn by ARF troopers either came in plain white, or digital camouflage pattern that matched the environment (grey for urban/rock terrain, tan/brown for desert terrain, green for forest/woodland/wetland terrain, and red or orange for volcanic terrain). Clone shadowtroopers, which were usually deployed independently of other formations, were sometimes attached to FRB units.

The average infantry composition of an FRB unit (excluding auxiliaries) was as such:
 * 450 standard clone troopers
 * 138 ARF troopers or clone scout troopers
 * 12 ARC troopers (Beta-class)