wm writes:

How about cases for deliberate attack or movement to contact where our side starts on the offensive--perhaps something more like Marines storming ashore at Tarawa.
Tarawa is actually a terrific case of recon-pull. I could also cite Omaha Beach. When the whole plan went to hell, local leaders took charge and improvised solutions with what they had on hand, finding gaps and exploiting them to establish toe-holds inland. "There are two kinds of people on this beach--those who are dead, and those who are gonna die if they don't get off it." I can cite instances and sources if you want.

I only talked about the "meeting engagement" because Wilf was asking the question on how that might work. Recon pull also works in the defense--in fact, this is where the Germans first got the idea for it as they were economizing forces on the Western Front in WWI. I'd refer you to Bruce I Gudmundsson's excellent Stormtroop Tactics for a detailed discussion, but even Tim Lupfer traces this in his Fort Leavenworth monograph, The Dynamics of Doctrine: The Changes in German Tactical Doctrine During the First World War.

Does this answer your question? They key here is that the situation is uncertain--it doesn't matter what your force mission is (attack, defense, etc).