From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishadvance party/teamadvance party/teamBEFOREa group of people who go first to a place where something will happen to prepare for it → advance
Examples from the Corpus
advance party/team• Henkel made the change-and that resulted in an unusual problem for the advance team.• One of Isambard's advance party, and by the cut of him a man of importance.• I had flown out to Novosibirsk with the advance party at the beginning of September.• Dawson felt as if he were the advance party for a dawn raid.• In this they had the enthusiastic collaboration of professional media advance teams from both governments.• Our advance party had done a big job.• Fields was wearing a set of the new jungle fatigues and boots that the advance party had picked up for him.• Some advance party with orders in preparation for Isambard's reception. 