Preparing for Selection

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 2

This Monday we’ll focus on some speed work with the sprints rather than a longer duration.

It will build up some explosion in your legs and improve your overall running. We’ll hit the exercises heavy this morning and build up some endurance. Focus on correct form and then worry about the speed. Especially with the pushups.

By now after the training program has been in effect for a while, your feet shouldn’t be bothering you too badly after the ruck march from Sunday.

UBRR Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 1-minute Pushups

2 x 1-minute Sit-ups

2 x 1-minute, Crunches

2 x 1-minute, V-ups

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure… go thru the entire circuit before repeating. Then move on to the running portion of the workout.

10 x 40-meter sprints (walk back to the start and begin again)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 1

A little warm-up and a good long Sunday morning rucksack march. Go as fast as you can without running. Go over varied terrain and learn to use the downslope of the hills to make time. As always be sure to stay hydrated during the march. It should be a habit that will carry over to Selection and training afterward.

Becoming dehydrated during a long training event such as a ruck march or long-range movement is a guarantee for bigger problems and failure, keep drinking water during the course.

UBRR Training:

Warm up

20 Pushups

20 Sit-ups

6-mile rucksack march over varied terrain. Try to keep your pace better than the standard, (90 minutes maximum). And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 7

Back in the gym this morning before heading out for a 3-mile run in 24 minutes or less. We’ll break up the routine next week with some speed interval running, that will help to build up your short area quickness and speed. But for today it is back, shoulders and a run.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Seated Rows

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, front

3 x 10 Seated Rows

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Seated Bent-Over Delt Raise

3 x 10 Dumbbell Shoulder Press

3 x 10 Arnold Dumbbell Press

3-mile run (24 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Planning and Plotting Your Route During Land Navigation in Selection

This week, we’ve hit on a variety of subjects in regards to the basics of Land Navigation, what we call the 101 level of topics. It is the absolute best place to start. Practice the basics and become so well versed in it until you can teach the class in them. It is always preferable to start at square 1 and work up.

And, it is good practice for even those much more experienced troops when getting ready for Selection into Special Operations Forces to brush up on the basics. Considering that Land Navigation is one of the biggest obstacles to candidate’s paths to selection, it is never a bad idea to be supremely prepared.

In previous pieces this week, we took a look at basic Map reading, setting your pace count, orienting the map and plotting your starting location. Now we’ll get into the plotting and planning of your route. While it sounds very easy on paper, having a proper route planned is much more detailed than just drawing a straight line.

Plotting Your Target Point: In our post from yesterday, we’ve plotted and then double-checked our location so that you know exactly where you are starting from. Now you plot your first point in the exact same way.

Read to the right and up and using the 1/50,000 map scale, carefully plot your eight-digit grid coordinate to the point that you are navigating to. Remember, four-digit grids get you to within 1000 meters, six-digit grids to within 100 meters and an eight-digit grid gets us to within 10 meters. Now, double check your plot and ensure you’ve got it right. Are you certain to your plot? Good, that is the first step.

Now measure the distance between the two points. Remember this is straight line distance and not walking distance. Your actual traveling distance will vary quite a bit from Point A to Point B depending upon your route selection and the terrain that you’ll encounter along the way

Planning the Route: There are two basic ways you can get to where you’re going. Either will get you to where you’re going but for your purposes in Selection, one may prove to be a much better option. Don’t worry about what the other guys are doing. This is an individual evaluation and you are in this part alone.

Dead Reckoning – Dead Reckoning is a system that is done in two steps. The first is getting an azimuth from your starting point using your map and protractor and determine the distance to where your point is located at. The next step is to convert the grid azimuth to a magnetic one using the declination diagram and use your compass and your pace count and apply what you’ve already learned and walked to your point by staying as close as you can to your azimuth.

This system is best used on shorter distances such as a compass course and not for distances covering many clicks (kilometers).

Your position can be checked from time to time using both resection or intersection when there are terrain features available. Dead Reckoning has some advantages; it is easy to teach the neophyte navigator and in open terrain, especially in grassy areas or desert type regions, it is easier to stay on the azimuth. It works well in a desert type of environment where the navigator can pick out a landmark or terrain feature far in the distance and the navigator can easily negotiate around small obstacles.

The Dead Reckoning system is at a distinct disadvantage when you’re facing the terrain that is covered with thick vegetation, intermittent streams, draws, and swampy areas. The Star Course in Hoffman that SFAS candidates use make Dead Reckoning a dicey proposition. However, it can and does work. I know several SF guys who plowed thru the Land Navigation course using this exact method. I wouldn’t recommend this but it can be done at times and will work. But perhaps the second method is the better way to go.

Terrain Association – Terrain Association Is more difficult to plan but is much less forgiving of mistakes and generally a lot less time consuming than Dead Reckoning. It requires a more detailed map study of where you’re going and how you plan to get there but the time spent planning your movement is better served than trying to plow your way thru the thickets and swampy areas.

The advantages of terrain association are obvious. If you veer off course in Dead Reckoning, you are in trouble. Because you could have drifted left or right. But using terrain association, your position is easily checked and adjustments made on the fly. Especially where terrain features are more prominent.

Selection and identification of terrain features is key here. Plan your route using handrails as a guide and ensure to plot checkpoints along the way. Someone emailed me and asked me, “wouldn’t that add distance to what you’ll be walking?” and the answer is yes. However, while you may be walking farther, you’ll be moving much more economical once you see how thick some of those swamps and thickets are.

Ensure your map is oriented and use the available terrain as a guide. You won’t be following a specific azimuth per se, but more of a cardinal direction to your checkpoints using your map to guide you. If you’re operating in an area with distinct rolling hills and ridgelines, this kind of navigation is a snap.

You can use the roads both the improved and the unimproved as a guide but the best advice is don’t be a roadrunner. The cadre will catch you and that won’t bode well for you. You are allowed to parallel the roads but not too closely. Make sure that you plot a backstop on your route that you can identify as having gone too far.

A word of caution about the roads on military bases especially in Hoffman. There a lot of them out there, and most are not on the map. While there are exceptions…You’ll become familiar with “Five Points” but for the most part, those are at times difficult to judge. Just be careful.

In almost every case, most especially in SFAS that once you come upon a paved road. Stop. In SFAS you will never be crossing any of those. Let me repeat that… you will never cross a hard, paved road in the course. While a few of the points may be near them, you’ll never cross over a paved road to get to them but you can use those as a handrail at times.

As I type this, I’m already smiling because in your class, as certain as I am about the hair on my head, someone in your class will cross the road. It happens in every class and despite the cadre making it a point not to do it, someone will. Bet on it. Don’t be “Ned the Navigator.”

Plot checkpoints along the way to ensure that you are on track and on target. Any mapped feature you can readily identify along the way is a checkpoint that you are where you think you are..Choose an attack point that will put you no farther than 200-300 meters from your point. What is an attack point? An attack point is a point no more than 200-300 meters from your target that you can use as a base to try to find the point.

As you encounter ways around the draws and thickets, you’ll no doubt see where others have tread before you and those well-worn paths are a good indicator that this is the best spot to cross a draw…if you have to.

Once you identify your attack point, use dead reckoning and plot an azimuth to your point. Once you get to where you believe you are at the point is, if you are not seeing it, stop and make small circles of about 25 meters to find it. If that doesn’t work, go out another 25 meters until finding it. In SFAS, the points will be easier to find, once you get close as a cadre member will be there and if it is at night will probably have a small fire going.

These short articles on revisiting the basics are good practice. And that is exactly what you should be doing. If you live on a military base, they may have a land navigation course set out that you may get to practice on. If not, check out the civilian orienteering clubs in your area.

In our next land nav, piece, we’ll touch on some of the other skills you may need to brush up on. Until then, if you have any questions, feel free to email me [email protected] or Tweet them to me (@SteveB7SFG) and I’ll be happy to answer them. Either privately or in a post such as this (without naming names).

Photo courtesy of DOD

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 6

Continue to prep for the UBRR. Friday is a Leg Day and we’ll work them out good today in the gym. We are going to break up the 3-mile run into one-mile segments. Take only a minute’s rest in between runs and then do the best you can.

Make note of your times in the run and your workouts in your workout log book. Remember to stretch well before and after your workout and hydrate.

Training:

3 x 10 Pullups

3 x Goblet Squats 20-15-12 reps (lighter dumbbell)

3 x 10 Barbell Squats

3 x 10 reps Standing Arnold Press

3 x 10 Deadlifts

3 x 10 Lunges (medium dumbbell)

30 x “V” ups

3 x 1 mile run with 8 minutes maximum for each, 1-minute rest in between. Run those as fast as you can

Stretch well after completion

Passing Selection Land Nav: Have an Accurate Pace Count

In helping candidates prepare for Selection, we’re going back to the basics and hitting on and revisiting all of the topics that generally give candidates the most issues. The three biggest issues that stop candidates from being selected, and are foremost on their minds (judging from the emails we get) are Physical fitness preparation, rucking and land navigation.

After the first few days of Selection, you’ll get to experience the Land Navigation course firsthand, and if that happens to be the Star Course in Hoffman, NC at SFAS, then you’ll experience all three in the toughest individual land nav course in the military.

But as we’ve stated, the biggest failure is the failure to prepare. If you are properly prepared, there is no reason you can’t do what thousands of Special Operations Forces troops before you have accomplished. It is more of a mental block than anything else.

Our physical training program which we publish daily will help you attain the level of physical fitness that you’ll need to not just pass the course but to excel. It is a 17-week preparation for the rigors of Selection and starts slowly, works its way up to where you should be ready to go. Included in that is plenty of rucksack marching. We’ll revisit some more rucking tips in the very near future as well. Which brings us back to the Land Navigation course.

Everyone has heard the legends of the Land Nav course. Yes, the course is tough, it is the toughest individual land navigation course you’ll find in the US military. But it isn’t anything a cool head and a prepared candidate can’t pass. So, before we get to our subject matter this morning, it is time for an anecdote from “back in the day.”

The Legend of Diablo – One of the first classes we ran in at SFAS back in the fall of 1988, a class was getting ready to start a practice night navigation run when one of the candidates, who’d been acting really squirrelly, told the cadre member at his point that he couldn’t go out that night because Diablo (aka the Devil) was waiting for him.

The cadre member at first was dismissive of the young candidate, but then realizing he was legitimately freaked out, tried explaining that while the great Satan may exist, he’d never been seen in Hoffman, although most candidates would argue that he designed the course. The cadre member called it in and two of the roving vehicle cadre members pulled up to the point and after a few minutes, they had the young, scared candidate out on the course. The point being, if you can’t go out on your own navigating in the dark, Diablo or not, you can’t be in SF.

So off he goes. Thirty minutes later, the same candidate returns to his start point, totally freaked out and covered in blood, not his own. The stock of his weapon was cracked, covered with blood and hair. The candidate tells the cadre member that the ground opened up and Diablo tried to pull him into hell.

The call went out and every rover flew over to that point. The kid refused to go back to where he killed “Diablo” and the cadre tried to retrace his steps. In just a few minutes, they found the spot where the area looked like a mass murder had taken place. Fearing the worst, the flashlights came on and they reported back.

As the candidate was busting thru the underbrush, hearing his approach, a young deer, a fawn had gone to ground. The unlucky candidate actually paused directly over it. When he turned on his red lens flashlight, the fawn spooked and leaped to its feet, actually coming up between his legs. The kid then proceeded to bash the deer’s head in to where it was unrecognizable. It had to have been more than 50 blows from his weapon. Blood was everywhere.

The cadre members carried the poor unfortunate fawn back to the point where no amount of persuasion would convince the candidate that Diablo didn’t “come out of the ground” to get him. He was done. And was gone quickly. While Hoffman may seem like the Devil’s playground, you won’t have to worry about him coming out of the ground.

So, without further ado, we are on to one of the most basic of skills in moving during navigation, and that is your pace count.

Having an Accurate Pace Count is Very Important: To be successful during the land navigation course requires, plotting the points accurately, planning a good route (which we’ll get to soon) and having an accurate pace count. In certain areas, with very distinct terrain features, your pace count isn’t as important because you can pinpoint your location by identifying the surrounding terrain. But in places like Hoffman where terrain features are very indistinct, knowing your pace is very important because you’ll need to know how far you’ve traveled.

The first thing you must do is to set up a 100-meter course on flat terrain. Walk it three times and every time your left foot hits the ground, count it. Take the total number of steps you’ve walked and divide by three. That is your baseline pace count. If you are near a track or a football field, you can use that or just take a spool of 550 cord and mark out 100 meters and put some knots in it or tape it to keep the correct distance You’ll thank me later.

Now wait until dark and walk the flat course again, three times. Your pace count will probably increase in the dark, keep a notation in your notebook that should always be in your pocket. Mark down what your pace count is for daylight on flat terrain and your night pace count.

Now take your 550 cord out into the woods and try to find some rougher, hilly terrain. Lay out the 550 cord and walk the course again three times in the day and three times in the dark. Did your pace count increase with the difference in terrain? It should have.

Now complete this exercise again in the woods but with a rucksack on and repeat the steps in rough hilly terrain, day and night. Your pace count should increase dramatically with a heavy rucksack on especially once you start hitting hills and thicker vegetation.

Remember, if you plan to use your Ranger beads every time you travel 100 meters. Slide the lowest bead to the bottom. Most of them come with nine beads after you slide nine down, the next 100 meters brings you to a klick and you can push them all back up to the top. I highly recommend using them or making your own out of 550 cord, it is a valuable tool and comes in handy so that you don’t have to remember exactly how far you have to go and how far you’ve gone.

Remember this…your pace count is just a piece of the puzzle. You have to plot your points correctly and get an azimuth to where you are going. Your pace count should give you a very good reference point as well as using terrain association off of your map.

A couple of things to consider, when the weather turns on you, and it will, the rain, snow or sleet will cause you to take shorter steps and increase your pace count, especially at night. Exhaustion will do the same thing. As you get tired during the course or during a field training exercise, your level of exhaustion will increase your pace count even if moving during daylight hours in open terrain.

In time, you’ll become a seasoned pro at this and will know just by the conditions that you are dealing with what your pace count will be. And it will change over time. My pace with just web gear on flat terrain was 62 back in the days of Phase 1 at Camp Mackall.

But with a rucksack and a heavy load, it went up to 73. But I noticed after I had been in Group for a while and your rucksack becomes a part of your body, my pace counted lessened to between 68-69 depending on conditions. You’ll find that you will have similar results.

Another tip on pace counts. If you plot your point and you have 4 kilometers (klicks) between points, don’t try to keep a pace for the entire distance. Pick out a terrain feature or road intersection as an attack point. Use deliberate offset (More on that later) to find it. Keep your pace count to that attack point and make a notation with a grease pencil on your map case. If any of your fellow students or training partners have been in either the Ranger Regiment or an Airborne or Light Infantry unit, they’ll probably have some experience doing this.

It is a great way to check your pace and see how close you come to your plotted points. By the time you finish Selection and the subsequent qualification course, you’ll find you pace counts and distances are coming really close to the distances when you plot them on your maps.

But failure to keep a pace count can really hurt you if become disoriented, especially in the dark. It is a valuable tool that every successful SFAS candidate should use while you’re out on the course.

So, when navigating, keeping an accurate pace count is not only a helpful aid but essential. If you find that you’ve drifted on the course, the distance traveled will definitely help get back on track and find your points.

Failure to prepare will result in course failure. And getting lost is the ultimate embarrassment. That will get you a red face when the cadre has to search for you and usually ends up with the candidate doing the long walk to the trucks back to Ft. Bragg. The last thing you want to see is your rucksack in the hallway.

We’ll get to some more Land Navigation tips and some important Map Reading do’s and don’ts in some of our upcoming articles soon. Until then, if you have any questions, feel free to email me [email protected] or Tweet them to me (@SteveB7SFG) and I’ll be happy to answer them. Either privately or in a post such as this (without naming names).

Photo courtesy of DOD

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 5

Continue to prep for the UBRR and focus on some speed work today with the runs. Speed work will help with your endurance and explosion. Work on using perfect form when doing your exercises.

The cadre at Selection are meticulous at grading form. The time to get it right is now. Then the graded test in the course will be much easier. Remember, everyone gets graded the same.

Training:

5 x 1-mile run Go as quickly as you can with a minimum of 5-minute rest between runs. Record your average mile time.

5 x 30 seconds of Pushups.

5 x 30 seconds of Sit-ups

1 x 20 Knees-to-Elbow hanging from the pull-up bar, or until muscle failure

2 x 10 pull-ups or until muscle failure

Stretch well after completion

Land Navigation 101: Pinpoint Your Location, Orient the Map

Yesterday we looked at getting back to the very basics of Land Navigation and some of the terms and skills that candidates in the Special Operations Selection courses will have to know. Today, we’ll take an in-depth look at a few of those skills which will help you get started in your prep for Selection.

This is geared for the new navigator, someone with little to no experience doing any kind of navigation with a map and compass. I was asked a question in an email why land navigation is so important in the era of GPS where your location is pinpointed for you.

It is a good question, a legitimate one and the answer to that is two-part. First, what happens if, on a mission, you lose your GPS signal or worse the satellites’ signals are blocked? That’s the wrong time to learn that your map and compass skills are severely lacking. So, although the availability of GPS systems is part of our military gear now, SOF (Special Operations Forces) troops all have to know how to operate the old-fashioned way…just in case.

The second reason is that it remains a critical evaluation tool for the prospective Special Operations candidate. The two biggest obstacles that face candidates in Selection are the physical fitness and land navigation obstacles that cause the vast majority of failures in the courses.

Both, while considered only physical in their challenge are still more of a mental block than anything. And in the vast majority of cases, the real cause of failure was simply a failure to prepare.

Our PT program should help candidates prepare for the rigors of the course and with land navigation, if you aren’t comfortable with a map and compass, then you must get out and practice. The land navigation course at SFAS, also known as the Star Course or the Hoffman Triangle is no joke. It is tough, in fact, it is the toughest individual land navigation course you’ll find in the US military.

Back when I was a youngster, much like most of you now, and going thru the course, a Land Nav instructor told our class that if you can navigate in Camp Mackall, you should be able to navigate anywhere. While I haven’t been everywhere in the world, I’ve been to many many countries and it is an extreme challenge. Every area of the world in which you’ll someday operate has its challenges but they can all be met …and have been.

Like anything else, Land Navigation is one of those skills that while it isn’t hard to learn the basics, mastering them in a field environment takes practice. The more a candidate practices, the better he’ll get at any task he takes on.

So, with that in mind, let’s begin by orienting the map and then plotting your start point on a specific course. From there, we’ll branch out into different skills with practical exercises in subsequent articles.

Orient the Map – Why do we orient the map and what is the purpose of it? Orienting the map makes it much easier for the navigator to read the map and to identify the different terrain features in front of you when navigating.

What does it mean to have the map oriented? The Army schoolbook answer is: A map is oriented when it is in a horizontal position with its north and south corresponding to the north and south on the ground.

Perhaps that doesn’t make any sense…like most Army definitions. However, in layman’s terms, it means when you’re holding your map in front of you, the terrain matches up exactly as it is shown on the map.

It makes it much harder to try to read your terrain features upside down or sideways. So, now we get to the actual orienting the map. If you are using an Army lensatic compass, remember that a compass measures magnetic North. So, don’t forget to check your declination diagram which is located on your marginal information at the bottom of your map. Most military issue maps take the guesswork right out of it and tell you how to convert the declination of azimuths from grid to magnetic and from magnetic to grid next to the declination diagram.

With the map in a horizontal position, take the straightedge on the left side of the compass and place it alongside the north-south grid line with the cover of the compass pointing toward the top of the map. This procedure places the fixed black index line of the compass parallel to north-south grid lines of the map.

Keeping the compass aligned as we said in the last paragraph, rotate the map and compass together until the magnetic arrow is below the fixed black index line on the compass. You’re almost there…. But not finished yet!

Now rotate the map and compass in the direction of the declination diagram.

If the magnetic north arrow on the map is to the left of the grid north, check the compass reading to see if it equals the G-M angle (if memory serves me well it is 8 degrees for the Hoffman area) given in the declination diagram. Voilà! The map is now oriented.

While this sounds ridiculously simple, too many people mess this up and start off on the wrong foot. Don’t be Ned the Navigator. When I was a cadre member at SFAS we’d always speak to the student about land nav using “Ned the Navigator” as an example.

Just like “Little Johnny Jones”, Ned was a smartass and knew everything about everything and we were wasting his precious time with these refresher classes. He was an expert and knew it all. Think I’m exaggerating? Think again. Oh and guess who was the first guy that got lost? So, take your time and do it right the first time.

One beautiful Sunday day navigation course had one Ned walk on his azimuth for about 13 miles and he ended up calling from a pay phone at Rockingham Raceway which is about as far from Camp Mackall as the dark side of the moon. Don’t be like Ned.

So with your map oriented, now take your time and try to pick out the terrain features as they lay out in front of you. Just be advised, in the Hoffman area, the terrain features aren’t as distinct and are a bit harder to distinguish. That’s why you’ll always hear from the cadre and it is true, that if you can navigate with ease in Hoffman on the “Star” course, you will be able to navigate just about anywhere.

In certain areas, you’ll be able to orient your map just by using terrain features. What we call terrain association. And when the terrain allows, it is quicker and easier to navigate using the available terrain. If you’ve ever navigated in the mountains, you’ll find this is much easier and you’ll find that this way is much preferable than dead reckoning. And it definitely comes in handy when having to call for fire in a jiffy… (which is a class for another time)

Creating a Start Point – Now the map is oriented in the direction that you’re moving, the next thing is you must create a starting location. The starting point is where you are standing at. Now pull out your protractor.

Don’t lose your protractor, in case you didn’t get that, let me repeat and add a foot stomp. Can you hear it? DON’T. LOSE. YOUR. PROTRACTOR. Always keep it secured inside your map case until you need it and ensure it is in there before walking off and hitting your points, especially at night. Nothing worse than losing a protractor during land navigation. While you can get by without one and we’ll add a future piece on going without one, it makes things unnecessarily much harder. So, take the few seconds to check.

Now read the grid lines to the right and up and make sure that you’re using the 1/50,000 scale for the map, which is in the upper right corner of the protractor. That will automatically ensure that the protractor is facing the right way and isn’t flipped over.

Remember a four-digit grid, gets you to within the grid square or 1000 meters. A six-digit grid to within 100 meters and an eight-digit grid gets you within 10 meters. A good rule of thumb to remember is to forget about where the plastic is cut out of the protractor. Always align the 0’s and check it twice. Ensure you plot it twice to get the exact spot.

Now we have a starting point, that is right where you are standing. To double check, shake a tree branch and watch for it to move on the map… Don’t laugh, someone always falls for that old one.

So, we have our map oriented and our starting point plotted. This is where it gets interesting and where we get our navigation from point to point started. This is the easy part but regardless, practice doing this until it becomes second nature and is there is never a doubt on how to do it. Are we all set? Are you sure??? Do it again.

Next up in one of our future posts we’ll look at plotting and plan a route.

Photo courtesy DOD

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 4

We’re going to do a smoker this morning of pushups, sit-ups, and crunches that you can either do at the gym or on the ground and then head back out on the rucking trails. Let’s pump these out as quickly as possible, understanding that there isn’t a time limit but to build up your endurance.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

100 pushups (no time limit)

100 sit-ups (no time limit)

100 crunches

5-Mile Rucksack march: Go as hard and as fast as possible without running. Log your time in your workout log book and hydrate, during the ruck.

Stretch well after completion

Land Navigation 101 – Starting From Scratch

Many of the people who read our articles here in SpecialOperations.com have either just volunteered for a Special Operations school slot or have already done so and are either waiting for a class date or to enter the military from Day 1 with Basic Training.

For those who are interested in getting thru both the grind of the courses that you’ll encounter, we strongly recommend that follow our PT program that will help you attain a level of physical fitness to not just pass the course but to excel. It is a 17-week physical fitness training program that starts gradually and works your way up to where you should be ready to take it on.

Everyone who volunteers for Selection always has concerns and questions about rucking. We touch on that a few times every week in our PT program and we’ll continually post rucking articles on the site that you’ll no doubt find helpful. Part of the battle is the proper fitting of your boots, socks and dealing with basic foot care. It starts with the individual. Taking care of your feet is paramount in Special Operations and if you do it properly, the road thru Selection and qualification will be much easier and less painful…guaranteed.

So today, we’re going to jump into Land Navigation, one of the other key areas that end up failing the majority of candidates who volunteer for Selection. There are basically two reasons that people fail at land navigation. One is the course, especially the one in Hoffman, NC that is used in both SFAS and the SFQC is exceptionally difficult, the most difficult, toughest individual land navigation course you’ll find in the US military.

And the second reason for failure is the same as for the physical failure…lack of preparation. Just as lack of preparation will sink a candidate physically, the same, perhaps even more so will do it for land navigation.

But before you all psyche yourselves right out of passing, remember this. Thousands and thousands of land navigation students have passed the course before you and thousands more will pass it in the future. It is far from impassable, so get that in your head. Difficult? Absolutely, but it is something that everyone who is properly prepared can get a first time go on.

So, we’re going to start with the absolute basics of land navigation, just like our PT program and go from there. Map Reading is the start. Can you do it and do it like second nature and in the dark? If the answer isn’t a resounding yes, then let’s dig in and begin.

If you don’t have access to a land navigation site or course on a military base, all is not lost, while those are preferable, it isn’t a necessity. However, there are plenty of military manuals, study guides and civilian orienteering clubs that will offer classes and practical exercises to get a neophyte map reader up to expert level in no time. Most of them would be more than willing to help out any candidate who is aspiring to become a Special Operations member.

When I was a cadre member at SFAS in Camp Mackall, I frequently taught that condensed block of instruction for Special Forces candidates. At that time, it was more of a refresher of those particular skills that candidates were already expected to know when they arrived. Those soldiers who came from a Ranger or Airborne, Light Infantry background were obviously quite experienced in this and were immediately engulfed with questions from fellow candidates.

For those candidates who are in the military already, seek out those NCOs or officers who were in those type of units and ask for their help. They can give you some good tips and help out with any problem areas that will arise in your train up.

My advice is to know map reading and land navigation to the point that you could teach a class on it long before you arrive at Selection. For those that aren’t yet in the military, it may present more of a challenge but it isn’t impossible.

The skills and terms that you should be very familiar include but won’t be limited to:

Contour Lines– what are contour lines? Know the 3 types and how they appear on the different terrain features. Also, know how to find and identify the contour interval on each map sheet
Terrain Features– How many are there? Know how to be able to identify each
Declination diagram– Be able to identify it on the map and know how it works. Be able to immediately know what the declination is for your area.
Azimuth and Back azimuth– Identify what it is, how it used and how to calculate it using the declination diagram. What are the two ways it can be measured?
Orienting a Map– What is the definition of it. How many methods are there to do it and be able to do it using each way
Intersection- What is it? How is used? and most importantly how is it determined
Resection– What is it? What is it used for? And be able to do it easily
Dead Reckoning– What is the definition? Know the steps that entail using it. (many candidates use this exclusively but not all accurately)
Field Expedient Direction– How many ways are there to determine it? Be able to perform each one
8-digit Grid Coordinate– What does this measure? How close will that take you to a point on the ground?
6-digit Grid Coordinate– What does this measure? How close will that take you to a point on the ground
Colors on the Map– How many are there and what do they denote?
Mils to degrees– How many mils equal one degree? How is each on used?
Circle– How many mils? How many degrees?

These are just a sample of terms and skills that you’ll need to know in Selection. Scan the list above. Are you an expert (or very close to it) on each one of these skills. If the answer is no for any of them, then you aren’t ready for Selection and need to spend some time training. Even if you are, you should get in some good practice beforehand, especially if you haven’t done it in a while.

Invest a nice map case, one that will keep your maps dry and allow you to make some marks on the clear portion with a grease pencil to make any notes to help you along. And secure your map case to your body. Secure everything to your body. Your map case, your weapon, and your compass. Sounds elementary school level…right?

Every class I was involved, a candidate thrashing thru the draws, and thickets in the swamps of Camp Mackall would lose a map and case because it would get torn right out their pocket. Lose your map, and Selection is over for you. Be smart, dummy cord it to your body.

My favorite map case had a built-in loop that I kept inside my shirt snapped to a D-ring on my shoulder. When I was moving and didn’t need it, it was easily accessible inside my shirt and was safe from loss.

Next, save yourself some time, land navigation isn’t a tactical exercise. Fold your map with the area that you are working in, right on top and easily found. When you stop to do a map check, use your grease pencil to check off where you are, then you have a quick reference point for the next leg of the journey. Nothing wastes more time than fumbling with a map under a poncho with a red lens flashlight and trying to unfold it..

Invest in those Ranger beads that allow you to keep your distance accounted for. Again, it sounds almost crazily simple, but moving thru the thick terrain, trying to keep track of checkpoints and attack points (we’ll get to those soon!) and it really easy to lose track of the distance traveled.

We’ll cover a variety of more topics on these and do some practical applications in the very near future. Remember the only stupid questions are ones that go unasked.

Photo courtesy of DOD