Land Navigation

Locating an Unknown Point by Intersection: Land Nav 101

In our ongoing refresher series of articles dealing with Land Navigation, we’ll move on to another basic skill that all Special Operations candidates should know how to conduct. And they should know this before they attend one of the Selection courses for the different units.

We’re starting with the basics of land navigation, a 101 starter course to refresh the more experienced candidates and give the newer or less experienced troops a starting point to learn the finer points of map reading and land navigation.

It is a good idea for everyone to brush up on all of these skills. As we’ve often said on these pages, the two biggest failure areas for Special Operations candidates are the physical tasks and land navigation. Especially in the Special Forces (SFAS) course. Which leads us to today’s topic.

The Army’s study guide lists the definition of Intersection as the location of an unknown point by successively occupying at least two (preferably three) known positions on the ground and then map sighting on the unknown location. While this may not be a particularly common factor in Selection, it is a skill that every Special Operations trooper should know.

It can be used to locate distant or inaccessible points or objects such as enemy targets, danger areas or new structures that are not on the map sheets. There are two methods of intersection: the map and compass method and the straightedge method.

The Map and Compass method:

Orient the map using the compass as we discussed in an earlier post
Locate and mark your position on the map (Always double check)
Determine the magnetic azimuth to the unknown position using the compass
Convert the magnetic azimuth to grid azimuth using the declination diagram
Draw a line on the map (grid azimuth) from your position to the unknown one
Move to a second and third known point and repeat steps 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
The location of the unknown position is where the lines cross on the map.
Determine the grid coordinates to the point, preferably an eight-digit grid coordinate

This is the best, most efficient way to get it done. In a tactical situation, you can move to multiple points and get all of the required information to locate and pinpoint the unknown position. This is the much-preferred method than the following one.

The Straight Edge Method:

The straight edge method is used when a compass is not available. For a Special Operations candidate, this method should be used only as a training event. Because a candidate should never be without his compass. If you’re on the course without your compass, woe to you. But for the purposes of our training…

This is how it is conducted –

Orient the map on a flat surface by the terrain association method, as we’ve discussed here in the previous post
Locate and mark your position on the map (Always Double check)
Lay a straight edge on the map with one end at the user’s position (A) as a pivot point; then, rotate the straightedge until the unknown point is sighted along the edge.
Draw a line along the straight edge
Repeat the above steps at position (B) and check for accuracy.
The intersection of the lines on the map is the location of the unknown point (C).
Determine the grid coordinates to the point, preferably an eight-digit grid coordinate

Obviously, this method isn’t as accurate as the one with the compass but can be used in a pinch. Remember, ensure all of these skills are like second nature to yourself during Selection and you should be in a much better position to succeed. The failure to prepare is the biggest failure for the course and the land navigation course is the least forgiving of all of the courses that you’ll come across.

In our follow-on land navigation pieces, 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, but without mentioning anyone’s name of course.

Photo: Army Study Guide, US Army

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

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

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.

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

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

Selection Land Navigation Refresher: Planning Your Route

We’ve been going over some of the basics that candidates should know before taking on the Selection Course, and with a lot of prospective Special Operations guys coming into the pipeline via the 18X program for Special Forces, most don’t have any experience in Land Navigation. So, many of the questions we get are centered around that.

In previous segments, we touched on Map reading, pace count, orienting the map and plotting your starting location. Now we’ll get into the plotting and planning of your route. A proper plan makes getting there a heck of a lot easier. So, for the more experienced troops this is nothing more than a refresher, but for the younger guys just entering the military, this will be the starting point to getting selected and you should pay attention.

Plotting Your First Point: Okay in our previous segment, we’ve checked and then double-checked our location so that you know exactly where you are starting from. Now you plot your first point 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 where you are going. Remember, four-digit grids get us to within 1000 meters, six-digit grids to within 100 meters and an eight-digit grid gets us to within 10 meters. Double check your plot and ensure you’ve got it right.

Now measure the distance between the two points. Remember this is straight line distance and not walking distance. Your actual traveling distance will vary from point to point depending upon your route selection and the terrain that you’ll encounter. And unless you’re walking in a desert environment, it will be more than the straight line distance, especially in the Hoffman area.

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 SFAS, one may prove to be a better option. Again, don’t go with what everyone else is doing, always do what is right for you. The two ways to get where you are going are Dead Reckoning and Terrain Association. We’ll go over both as each is useful and should be used when the time is right.

Dead Reckoning – This 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 use your compass and your pace count and apply what you’ve already learned and walk to your point by staying as close as you can to your azimuth.

Your position can be checked from time to time using both resection or intersection when the terrain features are 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 also when the distances to be covered are short.

A distinct disadvantage of this method is when you’re facing the terrain you’ll be subjected to in the Hoffman area. Thick vegetation, intermittent streams, draws and swampy areas make Dead Reckoning a dicey proposition. However, it can and does work. I know several SF guys who plowed thru the Land Nav course using this exact method. I wouldn’t recommend this method, but it can be done at times and will work. But perhaps the second method is the better way to go.

Terrain Association – This is a bit more difficult to plan but is much more forgiving of mistakes and as a rule, a heck of 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 draws.

The advantages of terrain association are obvious. If you veer off course in Dead Reckoning, you are in trouble. But using terrain association, your position is easily checked, and adjustments made on the fly.

Selection and identification of terrain features are key here. Plan your route using handrails as a guide and ensure to plot checkpoints along the way. 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.

You can use the roads both the improved and the unimproved as a guide, but the best advice is DON’T BREAK THE RULES! 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 in Hoffman. There a lot of them out there, and many 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.

Always remember and the instructors will drill it into your head, that if you come upon a hardball road. Stop. You won’t be crossing any of those in the course but a few of the points may be near them so you can use those as a handrail at times.

But surer than the national deficit going up, someone in your class is going to cross a hardball road. It used to happen in every class and don’t be surprised to hear about it from the other students. Just don’t be “That Guy”.

Plot checkpoints along the way to ensure that you are on track and on target. Choose an attack point that will put you no farther than 200-300 meters from your point. When you arrive at your attack point, then is the time to use dead reckoning and plot a direct azimuth to your point.

So, do you think you’re ready to take on the “Dagobar System” in Hoffman? Remember everything you have learned, and the best advice is to practice, practice and practice some more. The more comfortable you are using your map, compass, and skills at terrain association now, the easier the course will be for you.

Don’t be Ned the Navigator, and remember, you are always being evaluated.

Photo courtesy of DOD

Selection Land Nav Basics, Pinpoint Your Location, Orient the Map

We’ve been going back over some of the basics in recent weeks as the winter months means an entirely new batch of Selection classes and candidates. And many of the new candidates have questions, just like the last group of prospective Special Operations troops did and we’ll do our best to answer every one of them.

There are always concerns, fears and questions about the Land Navigation course and many students fail and frankly, they fail because they are psyched out at the very beginning either during SFAS or the SFQC. Look, as we’ve said many times, the land navigation course is no joke. It is tough, it is the toughest individual land navigation course you’ll find in the US military.

But once again, and we can’t stress this enough. Thousands of guys before you have passed the course and although it is tough, it is far from impossible. It just takes keeping your wits about you, learning basic skills and practice. If you are a new person in the military or are a junior NCO but hold an MOS where you didn’t spend a lot of time in the field with a map and compass, then these quick refresher pieces are perfect for you.

Land Navigation is one of those skills that while it isn’t hard to learn the basics, mastering them takes practice. And the more you know about it going in, the odds of your being selected go up markedly.

In previous segments, we touched on Map reading and the importance of your pace count. Now we’ll move on to the next step in finding your way around Hoffman. That begins with orienting your map and then plotting your start point on the course.

Prior to Starting Out:
Orient the Map – This makes map reading and using the available terrain features much easier to read. What does it mean to have the map oriented? The 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. If that is as clear as mud, to the average Joe, it means when you’re holding the 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. 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 guess work 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.

While it sounds quite simple, many people mess this up and start off on the wrong foot. Don’t be Ned the Navigator. Ned the Navigator was the example we used in every SFAS class. He knew all about Land Nav and we were wasting his time with the refresher classes at Selection. He knew it all. Guess who was the first guy that got lost? So, take your time and do it right the first time.

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. Voila! The map is now oriented. 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. 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… (that is a class for another time perhaps)

Creating a Start Point – Now the map is oriented in the direction that you’re going to be walking and the next thing is you must create a starting location. The starting point is where you are standing at. Now pull out your handy, dandy Army protractor. But wait.

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

Remember a four-digit grid, gets you to within the grid square or 1000 meters. A six-digit grid gets you 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, but don’t bother shaking a tree, it won’t move on the map. Don’t laugh someone falls for that old one all the time.

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 A to Point B 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 planning a route.

Photo courtesy DOD

Passing Selection, Land Navigation and Map Reading Basics

As we stated in a post last week, we’ll be going over some of the basics in the upcoming days as the newest Selection courses get underway. We get a lot of questions regarding SFAS and especially the Land Navigation Course out in the Hoffman Area, what they call the “Star Course” in the SFQC.

First things first, yes, the Land Navigation course is not easy, and many students fail at either SFAS or the SFQC because they failed it. The course is tough, it is the toughest individual land navigation course you’ll find in the US military.

But the course is far from impossible, thousands of Special Forces soldiers have passed it before you and thousands more will continue to do so and get a first time go. That’s the magic word everyone wants to hear. It just takes some hard work, patience, and the ability to keep a cool head once you experience the draws and lack of terrain features in lovely Hoffman, NC.

But before we get into the tips and some experiences that many of us have come across, the first thing a candidate MUST do is to come to SFAS prepared. I know, I know, “how many times have we heard that?” But it’s true.

This is another area where the better prepared you are the odds of you passing the Land Navigation course increase tenfold. It begins with Map Reading; become an expert in this necessary skill before you show up at Ft. Bragg. There are plenty of manuals, study guides, and civilian orienteering clubs out there that will get you to where reading a map is a snap and a second nature to you.

I hear from many candidates all the time and many, especially the younger guys who are entering the 18X program or younger soldiers don’t have a background in map reading and navigation. I encourage all of those who this pertains to, check into any orienteering clubs in your area. They will vary, of course, but the vast majority will give the neophyte navigator a great deal of practical experience and many of the folks in those clubs can give some great tips on navigation.

This was always my block of instruction at Camp Mackall during my brief time at Selection and at that time is wasn’t overly detailed. It was more of a refresher for skills you were already supposed to know. Those who came from Light Infantry or Ranger Bn. backgrounds were already well-versed in it and if you have any of those type guys in your unit before selection, seek them out and have them help you.

When it comes to map reading, you should know it to the point that you could teach a class on it, before you arrive at SFAS because all of those skills will be tested. Some of (but not all) of the skills you should be intimately familiar with include:

Contour Lines– what are they, the 3 types and how they appear on the different terrain features. Also, know how to find and identify the contour interval.
Terrain Features– How many are there and be able to identify each
Declination diagram– Be able to identify it on the map and know how it works.
Back azimuth– Identify what it is and be able to calculate it
Orienting a Map– How many methods are there to do it and be able to do it using each way
Intersection– What is it used for and how is it determined
Resection– What is it used for and be able to do it easily
Dead Reckoning– What is it and know the steps that entail it (hint…many candidates use this exclusively, but it isn’t the preferred method)
Field Expedient Direction– How many ways are there and be able to perform each one
Azimuth– What is it and what are the two ways it can be measured
8-digit Grid Coordinate– How close will that take you to a point on the ground
6-digit Grid Coordinate– 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?
Circle– How many mils? How many degrees?

These are just some of the skills you need. If you look at these above-listed skills and if you aren’t a whiz at every one (these are just the basics) then you aren’t ready for SFAS and the Star course in Hoffman. So as a word to the wise…take the time and prepare as best that you can.

So, you prepared ahead of time and are a map reading whiz now and can whip out a map and be ready to plot where you are and more importantly, where are you going to. You’re going to need a couple of items that seem trivial but are extremely important. A caveat here, these are just suggestions. They aren’t coming from the mountain so to speak. But I’ve found these worked well.

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…I can’t stress this enough, secure your map case to your body. It sounds stupid and infantile, but far too many candidates fail land navigation because they lose their map in a draw and the Hoffman draws are legendary for stealing maps. I used to see candidates not securing their map cases to their body and use their cargo pockets to stuff their map case in.

My favorite map case had a built-in loop that I kept inside my shirt snapped to a D-ring on my shoulder. It was easily accessible and kept it away from those nasty thickets that would tear it away from my thigh pocket. But that is just a personal preference.

And since you aren’t tactical, be smart. Fold your map with the area that you are working in, right on top and easily found. Nothing wastes more time than fumbling with a map under a poncho with a red lens flashlight. Leave room on the side where you can make notations in grease pencil.

And while you’re at it, dummy cord your weapon to your body as well, ditto for all of your gear. Every class, some tired candidate will stop to do a map check and walk off with his weapon, oops. He’s doing the duffel bag drag to the truck heading back to Ft. Bragg.

Invest in those Ranger beads that allow you to keep your distance locked down. Or you can tie one on your own using 550 parachute cord. The cadre were always pretty liberal with the amount of 550-cord they allowed candidates to have. Bring it. Those little things come in handy and when you get tired, it is easy to forget the distance traveled.

In a future post, we’ll get into some of finer points of Land Navigation and dive into some of the topics that seem to give guys trouble.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email me [email protected]

Photo courtesy of DOD

Finding the “Lost” Land Navigation Point At Camp Mackall

Many of the training pieces that deal with either the Selection course or the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course) we write from a perspective of one of the cadre members, which I was for a time during the early days of Selection.

Passing Selection and the SFQC was/is no easy task and many of the candidates that tried…and failed were good men who just didn’t meet the standards. Passing the Land Navigation course was perhaps the biggest failure producing event in the course. Possibly even more so than the physical events like the runs (with LBE and Weapons) and the Rucksack marches, which were increasingly longer and faster as the course wore on.

Land Navigation, now called the “Star” Nav course is still operated in the same area as the SFQC has always operated in. But back in the day, the central location, the start/finish point was an old rifle range. I understand that is now long gone and there is construction going on out there.

So back in the day, there we were, all bright eyed and bushy tailed candidates who were looking to get a first time go on the Land Nav course. And we all had the same gear, map (Camp Mackall Special), map case, compass, protractor, pencil, grease pencil, notebook, M-16, 55-pound rucksack, and 4 quarts of water.

The points, arrayed in a series of draws, (so they are harder to find of course!) are green metal fence stakes that were placed in the ground with a metal tag and a card punch so that no student would be able to recreate it and cheat their way thru.

We had a series of classes at Camp Mackall in the old classroom that was hot as hell in the summer and drafty and cold in the winter. The information came fast and quick and the Land Nav instructors knew their stuff, having done this for several classes. During this time, we were deemed fortunate as North Carolina was getting deluged with constant heavy rain that only seems to occur in the south or the tropics. The compound at Camp Mackall was seemingly all standing water and the runs and rucks in the evening during the classes were done in mud that seemed to cling to everything in vast clumps.

We finally headed out to the “rifle range” and the cadre gave us an area to set up our poncho hooches. We were basically free to set them up wherever we wanted, it wasn’t like the “Big Army” and every squad in a row. The cadre took us out for a “terrain walk” and quickly reconfirmed our pace counts and then it was off to do the first of our practice land nav courses before the final test.

The first day was more difficult than I had envisioned. The terrain and the thickets were tough, much tougher than I, in my cockiness had given credence to. I found only two points in the day but after talking it over with some of the other students after the day navigation and comparing notes, I approached the night with a renewed sense of purpose and found two points at night and returned within the time limit.

The second day went better, I blasted out fast and found three points in the day. I plotted my fourth but seeing where it would take me, it didn’t make sense to go there and not be able to make it back within the time limit. I again found two points in the night practice course having a good fairly clear lane to the first point and got there quickly, the next one wasn’t bad either. Making it back to the start/finish point in plenty of time before the time limit, I thought that this was going great…. Oh how quickly things change.

Getting back into the poncho hooch, I was glad that I piled the pine straw thick on the ground beneath me. About five minutes are getting in, the sky opened up and we had one of the biggest downpours I’d seen prior to getting stationed in Panama. It poured all night long and the rifle range was looking the Red Sea.

By morning the rain had moved on and we were off to our third and final practice Navigation Course before the final exam the next day. My first point was at the edge of Big Muddy Lake where it opened up into the large part of the water. It would be easily recognizable once I got close. The thickets around the pond were thick. I see now, some of the cadre members have nicknamed this area the “Dagobah System” in a tip of the beret to the Star Wars film franchise which is brilliant.

I knew I was getting close, I could just make out the water through the trees. As I got about 50 meters away, I could see the worn down trail from other Land Nav students. I bolted down the clearing and right to where the point should be and ….nothing. Pulling out my map, I did a check of the area and it matched up perfectly with the map. Scurrying around, I figured it was hidden behind a tree or a shrub. Still nothing.

A few minutes turned into 30 and making wider and wider circles around the edge of the lake was netting nothing. A few moments later, I heard crashing thru the woods and another Land Nav student came out right where I had. We made eye contact but said nothing since the students were forbidden to speak on the course. He obviously had come to search for the same point.

That’s when I made the mistake of doubting myself I shot back into the thicket and started to go west, a few hundred meters later, I came out back on the lake but it didn’t match the map at all, there was a swampy area farther back to the east, I headed to find it and would shoot my way back. At the edge of the swampy area, I came across another point, not mine. But plotting it and shooting a back azimuth to my point, it was exactly where it was supposed to be. I crashed back east around the lake until I got back to where I had originally begun the search. The second student was still there and doing another map check and was now joined by a third student. The #3 guy gave us a shrug as if to say, WTF! Screw it I thought, “It has got to be here…” I whispered. #2 guy looked left and right, and didn’t say anything but nodded.

Time was running out, I headed back, pissed off and frustrated. The SFC at the start/finish point was a big, tall lanky guy who was short and generally sarcastic when talking to students. I told him I got there, searched the area, found the other point back at the swamp and made my way back and the point wasn’t there. A few minutes later the other two students came in with the same story. The SFC cadre member wasn’t having any of this.

“You guys are a f***ing soup sandwich, that point is there, I put the tags on the stake myself four friggin’ days ago.” The other instructors chimed in, calling the three of us some choice names. The NCOIC of Land Nav came over and asked the three of the same things about the point, the location and what the terrain looked like at the edge of the lake. It was then that he and the SFC gave each other a look. “Get your shit and get in the truck.” We looked at each other and thought we were being booted out. We climbed into the back of an Army pickup and they drove us close to the lake. We stopped got out and they said, show us where you’re at. We walked down to the edge of the lake. The two SF guys looked at one another and smiled.

The SFC waded out into the lake about 15-20 feet where the water was up to his neck…reaching down, he said, “the water flooded the lake with the rain…here it is.” The NCOIC laughed…”At least you know it’s here. Let’s get back.”

The next day for the exam, everything fell into place, getting the requisite number of points in the day and night, with a big sigh of relief, I’d passed. As I was turning in my card, the SFC was at the turn-in point. I gave him my card. He glanced at it and said, “These points are all wrong.” Seeing the shocked look on my face, he smiled, “You’re a first time go, get out of here.” I started to walk off when he asked, “you have to swim for any points today?” I said no, everything was fairly dry. He said, “I wasn’t dry. I moved that point back into the edge of the shore in case anyone else had to go there.”

So I guess the moral of the story is, is that you’ll never know what curves will get thrown at you during the course…just hang in there.The solution to the problem may be “just under the surface.”

Photo: US Army

Revisiting the SFAS Night Land Navigation Course

In previous articles, we’ve touched on the different aspects of land navigation. We’ve gotten a few questions and comments about night navigation which is the hardest part of land navigation because all your skills will be tested to the max in the hours of darkness.

Rather than re-hashing the entire Land Navigation series of articles, we’ll hit upon the high points and get across the rough patches that you’ll need to cross to get a first time go at night navigation. While I’ll be speaking in generalities about the Star Navigation course in Hoffman that is used by SFAS, these tips will help you in any Selection Land Navigation course.

Securing Your Gear: Sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? I mean, you want to be in Special Operations and you’re here in Selection and this guy is writing that I have to tie down my gear like a noob? Yep. Most definitely. Every class that I was a cadre member for in SFAS had candidates losing maps, protractors, compasses etc. I can tell you that things haven’t changed that much out there. The Hoffman draws will feed on your gear. Tie everything down. And that includes your weapon.

Get a good smaller map case, preferably one with a lanyard and tie it to your gear and then stuff it into your shirt. You don’t need one of those huge ones that the mech guys used to be so fond of. Fold up your map so that the terrain you’re walking in is the only part showing. It makes it much easier to find where you are.

I can’t stress this enough; tie everything down, you think it is embarrassing tying all of your equipment down like a boot? Trust me you don’t want to be the red-faced candidate who has to tell the cadre members that he’s lost his map or compass.

Pace Count: Knowing your pace is very important, and even more so in the dark. What is your pace count with just your web gear? How different is it with a rucksack on? Your pace count will vary between day and night and it will increase as you tire. And depending on the type of terrain that you are operating in.

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 you, my pace counted lessened to between 68-69 depending on conditions. You’ll find that you will have similar results.

Route Planning: Route planning and selection are even more important at night as opposed to during the daylight as many of the features are invisible or nearly so in the dark. Trying to use dead reckoning for 5-6 clicks in the dark is a very, very tough proposition.

And instead of moving for those 5 (or more) kilometers as a single movement, do a series of short movements and use the checkpoints along the way that you designate on your map and it will be much easier to keep track of and check your pace count.

Set checkpoints and handrails such as ridge lines or streams that you can terrain associate with and move out with a purpose while using your pace count. Use dead reckoning once you get to your attack point. That way if you get turned around, you have a known point you can go back to try it again.

Plot your points on the map using the smallest possible mark and write down all the information on either a small index card or tear a sheet off your notebook and place this inside the map case for quick reference.

Moving Out with a Purpose: One of the things that you’ll have to get good at and quickly is being able to move out in the darkness and cover some ground. Special Operations Forces own the night and the only way to get really good at it is to practice.

And the most useful feature of your compass at night is the bezel ring. If you’re following a basic azimuth, rotate your bezel ring so that your North seeking arrow aligns with the luminous bubble. So, say if you are traveling on an azimuth of 65 degrees, your North seeking arrow will be in the approximate 10 o’clock position, rotate the bezel ring so the bubble aligns with the North seeking arrow and it is a quick way to keep on your azimuth, especially in the dark.

Also, remember that each click in the bezel ring is three degrees. Keeping your compass at waist level now will allow you move out. Once the luminous dot and the North seeking arrow are aligned you are moving in the right direction.

If the terrain and conditions allow it, then shoot a point in the distance and move to it. But as we said above, you don’t want to use dead reckoning for long distances in the dark. Once you get better at it, terrain association is faster, easier and will allow you to find your way without getting lost. Your pace count then becomes just another way to check your progress and reference where you are on your map checks.

Just a few reminders, your visual range estimation is likely to be well off during the darkness. And your pace count, depending on the terrain is likely to vary a bit. And finally, your natural drift will likely be intensified in the dark, you’ll quickly find this out as you find yourself on the course. One way to combat this and I’ve heard this works for many navigators is to change hands holding your compass frequently.

Avoid the draws if you can, but if you have to, cross one check your compass every 20-25 paces as it is easy to get turned around in those things. There have been a ton of students out there, if you see a well-worn path that cuts across a draw, it probably means that the students before you have found the path of least resistance across the draw and I’d take advantage of that.

At Selection, an SFAS cadre member will be at the points to check you in and give you the next point on the course, but occasionally you’ll come across those green Engineer stakes with a tag on them. They’re land navigation points for the SFQC. Take the time, stop, and use the eight-digit grid on them to help you pinpoint your location. That is just like having a built-in GPS on the course. Those are placed in exactly where they’re supposed to be and they’re a great tool to use.

Red lens flashlights only! Don’t talk to other students while on the course but once you are done with the events of that particular event during the practice navigation, sit down and disseminate the information about what you saw and experienced with the other candidates. That is a good way to find out potential trouble spots and avoid them if possible.

Trust your map, pace count, and your azimuth as you move out on the course. And never let doubt creep into your mind. Your map and compass aren’t going to lie to you on the course. Your training and keeping a cool head will get you thru this. Thousands of SOF guys before you have done this and you can too.

You’ll become very familiar with many of the names and places on the map. Several remain from my time but there are a few new ones as well.

Five Points
Puppy Palace
Lake Baggett
Bones Fork Creek
3 Wire Road
Jurassic Park
Scuba Road
Dagobah (I don’t know who named this area in the north, but it is absolutely brilliant.)

Photo Courtesy of DOD