The battalion was founded on July 1 1943 from the existing long range reconnaissance patrols (Kaukopartiot).
Organisation
The different companies were named after their commanders.History
No long range reconnaissance units were used during the Winter War, but training for these began during the spring of 1940. Most of the men were veterans from the war, but some were refugees from eastern Karelia and Ingria. About 150 men were trained before the beginning of the Continuation War. At first the units only had as few as 15 men, but during the war this was increased up to 60 men. On July 1, 1943 the units were organised in the 4th Detached Battalion. In 1944 a special unit with amphibious He 115 planes was founded to support the battalion.