A rendezvous point is an agreed location where specified people are to meet at a stated time or in a specified situation. For isolated personnel, it may serve to reunite a separated group or to make an arranged contact with actual recovery forces. In this entry, RV means the rendezvous point.
Meeting intent and a position report
A position report states where a person is. A rendezvous point connects a location with a shared intention: who is to arrive there, when or under what condition, and what is to happen after they meet? “I am at this location” and “We will meet at this location” may contain the same coordinates, but they prompt different actions. The second statement gives the parties a common destination.
After an unexpected separation, a prior agreement can preserve that shared intention even when the parties cannot see or contact one another. Each knows the intended meeting point and the conditions for going there. A person who chooses a different location alone initially changes only their own intention. The others continue to follow the agreement they know. A change must actually reach them before it becomes a shared meeting point again.
Location, conditions and available means
Every party must be able to identify the same location. A distinctive terrain feature can serve this purpose if everyone recognizes the same feature; a description or coordinate must refer to the same point. “At the bridge” is inadequate if several bridges are possible or different banks are intended. The agreement must locate the actual meeting point precisely enough to prevent the parties from waiting in different places.
The agreement includes the meeting time or triggering situation and the intended actions at the location. Depending on the mission, recognition procedures, length of stay, an alternate point and action after failed contact may also be specified. These details must fit together: an alternate point is useful only if the parties also know when and under what conditions to use it.
An Evasion Plan of Action, or EPA, can bring these intentions together for an individual, crew or group. They include intended movement, rally points, actions at potential contact or recovery locations, and the communications and signalling equipment actually available. Injury also changes planning: a point that an uninjured person can reach may become unreachable for that same person after an injury. Passengers need to be included in shared intentions where the crew and mission arrangements require it.
Approach and personal assessment
Before entering the rendezvous point, the isolated person checks from a suitable concealed position whether they have reached the correct location and what activity is apparent there or along its approaches. They stop, observe and listen rather than walking straight into an open area. People, vehicles, voices or movement can alter the expected contact situation. A usable approach, a place to remain concealed and a way to leave the area also matter.
An originally suitable location may become unusable because of enemy presence, a blocked approach or the person’s physical condition. If reaching the point would require entering an immediately apparent threat, the person must review the agreed alternative and their remaining capabilities.
A previously agreed rendezvous point can serve as a common destination without a radio. Subsequent contact still requires the prescribed means that are actually present. A visible or audible signal must reach a suitable recipient and may also alert other observers. The person therefore prepares available signalling equipment and uses it according to the agreed contact situation. Indiscriminate calling or continuously lighting the meeting point does not replace the recognition procedure.
Contact, recognition and regrouping
During a recovery contact, location and identity are checked separately. Appearing at the right point, using an expected type of vehicle or knowing the point’s name does not prove that someone belongs to friendly forces. The parties must actually apply the prescribed recognition and authentication procedures. These may include agreed near and far recognition and authentication of the isolated person; the specific signals and replies belong to the relevant preparation.
Once contact is established, the isolated person follows the instructions of the forces actually conducting the recovery. They avoid sudden unexpected movements, secure carried equipment and approach a recovery vehicle only when instructed. The number of people, injuries, observed enemy activity, local obstacles and available signalling equipment are relevant information for those forces. They affect whether and how pickup can be carried out at the intended location.
When a separated group reunites, the members first check who has reached the point and who is missing. Physical condition and available means determine whether the planned movement together remains possible. A rally point enables that reorganization. Reuniting the group and returning it to friendly control may remain separate tasks.
When contact fails
Finding nobody at the agreed point does not tell the person where the others are. The others may arrive later, have failed to reach the point or already be following the agreed alternative. The person therefore compares their situation with the meeting time, triggering condition and alternate arrangements. If the conditions for the planned change are met and the alternate point is reachable, they act on that agreement.
Without a suitable alternate arrangement, the person must decide from the actual situation: what threat is apparent, how long can they remain capable of acting there with their remaining resources, and what reachable option offers more protection? Prolonged exposed waiting can become as dangerous as additional searching. A suspected contact is no reason to make oneself visible on speculation. If a usable connection exists and the situation permits its use, a change can be transmitted; the person’s decision must remain workable if no reply arrives.
RV, rally point and pickup location
In NATO English terminology, RV means rendezvous point; its French equivalent is point de regroupement. In US contexts, a rally point, or RP, is an easily identifiable location where, for example, dispersed members of a unit or an aircrew and passengers following a forced landing can assemble and reorganize. In each case, the agreed function of the point matters. A rally point for one’s own group needs a different contact intention from a meeting point with forces specifically assigned to recovery.
A recovery contact point may also be separate from the actual pickup location. Recovery forces may reach an isolated person at the agreed rendezvous and then move with them to a place that the available recovery assets can use. Whether a vehicle can reach the area or an aircraft can recover people there depends on access, obstacles, threats and the forces available.
RV is also used for recovery vehicle in personnel recovery. In that context, it means the vehicle or platform used for recovery. A rendezvous point names the agreed location; a recovery vehicle names the means of pickup. The intended meaning of the abbreviation must therefore be explicit in arrangements and when reading instructions.