Army "How to Avoid Getting Lost" Advice

[The Reaper]

Good basic Land Nav instructions, courtesy of steel_eel.

http://www.winnebagobsa.org/forms/venturing_forms/AVOIDGETTINGLOST.PDF

TR

[ns1clrk]

Awesome! I can definitely see why the BSA would link that. Reminds me of what my old Scoutmaster taught us for hiking and the Orienteering badge. Useful stuff, especially for guys who never got to be involved in scouting.

Thanks, TR.

[wet dog]

I had a Ranger buddy who continually got lost in (old) Phase I. When I asked, "How in the hell did you survive 3 years in 1/75 and not know how to land nav".

He said calmly, "Little brother, Rangers don't land nav, we walk around until we find it, now, let's move out."

[FORNAX]

awesome read TR,

I downloaded it, and it's very easy to read and understand.

I have FM 3-25.26 that my recruiter gave me and once I got to Chapter 4, I found it almost impossible to understand, be it because it's poorly written or im not getting it (im thinking the former).

Thanks

[mark46th]

I told my wife that SF guys never get lost. When she thinks I am lost, I tell her I am taking a side trip.

[albeham]

My wife got real mad at me one time..yes one time.. She told me I was lost..Nope I was not lost. just a little confused for a few hundred miles!!

Nice PDF, thanks going to pass it to my Scouts..Why not....

AL

[drymartini66]

Awesome! I can definitely see why the BSA would link that. Reminds me of what my old Scoutmaster taught us for hiking and the Orienteering badge. Useful stuff, especially for guys who never got to be involved in scouting.

Thanks, TR.

It's funny how I fall back on alot of the stuff I learned in scouting and have applied in my Army career.:D

[Back211]

awesome read TR,

I downloaded it, and it's very easy to read and understand.

I have FM 3-25.26 that my recruiter gave me and once I got to Chapter 4, I found it almost impossible to understand, be it because it's poorly written or im not getting it (im thinking the former).

Thanks

HAHAHAH I take the time and read that daily. I think exactly that, everyday.

[Dozer523]

My wife got real mad at me one time..yes one time.. She told me I was lost..Nope I was not lost. just a little confused for a few hundred miles!! . . . AL Just because you take a wrong turn doesn't mean you should turn around. Learned that leading a mech company night road march.

[Richard]

Just because you take a wrong turn doesn't mean you should turn around. Learned that leading a mech company night road march.

Doing a 'banana peel' maneuver with a mech unit must be a real experience. :rolleyes:

Richard :munchin

[Dozer523]

Doing a 'banana peel' maneuver with a mech unit must be a real experience. :rolleyes:

Richard :munchinI wouldn't know. I kept going in the direction of travel and started REALLY reading the map. A few hours later we made the RP.
But my TC thought his name was "Udid Thistamee".

In a related issue (sorta) . . . I once got out of one of those "don't burn your bridges. . . " conversations by pointing out, "I won't need it, I don't turn around."

In retrospect . . . :( (:D)

[x SF med]

Just remember guys... 2 wrongs don't make a right.... but 3 lefts do...

[Abu Jack]

Here are some more simple tips. I wish I had something like this when I was a private. I use them to teach Boy Scouts. Both adult leaders and the young uns.

MAP HANDLING TECHNIQUES
1. Orient the Map – To keep all the features on the map matched to the terrain.
Move the map into the same position as the terrain you are facing. For example, if you are on the shore looking at a lake,orient the map so that the lake is in front of you on the map. And not vaguely sort of on an angle,but aligned exactly as it appears before you. This means that once matched to your surroundings, you may move but the map stays the same relative to your surroundings. If you turn around to look up the hill sloping down to the lake, you just did a 180, but the map is still fixed in its position. Except now you have the hillside in front of you on the map, and the lake behind. There is nothing more confusing than having what we’re looking at on the map actually be at our backs or on some odd angle. We have to make constant mental adjustments until our brains get twisted like a pretzel. It is like trying to drive a car by looking in the rear view mirror. So at all times, keep the map oriented to the terrain. Make map reading easy on yourself.

2. Fold the Map – To keep only the area you need in sight.
We’ve all seen the movie where our hero while driving his car battles with a huge unfolded map,trying vainly to make sense of where he is. It is always a losing battle. If you fold the map down (ideally encased in a plastic sleeve to avoid creasing the map and to protect it in wet surroundings) so that only the part you are using shows, it simplifies your task immeasurably. Every time you consult your map, only where you are and where you are going next is visible. This means you often see orienteers walking or running by with only a small folded map in their hands, surveying only the part that matters to them in the moment. Having only the next 2 or 3 legs showing is a good rule of thumb, speaking of which…

3. Thumbing – To always know exactly where you are without searching around.
You don’t want to have to relocate where you are every time you look at your map. So the easiest way to keep track is to hold your thumb at the spot on the map where you are. Opposable thumbs are a unique evolutionary gift to humankind that orienteers take full advantage of. Then as you progress through the woods or across a field, you inch your thumb along. Doing this consistently eliminates quick confused scanning and keeps you – tah-dah! – On the Map.

NAVIGATION TECHNIQUES

Questions to Ask Before You Start Moving

1. Where Am I Now? – These incorporate all the map handling techniques.
We hope it is obvious that you must first find on the map where you actually are and which way you’re facing before you take your first step or stride. In Orienteering, that is simple. You are at the purple start triangle.(Though since you can’t look at your map until the course begins, you still have to find the triangle and orient the map.) So face North, turn your map over, and find the triangle. Then fold the map to the portion you need, put your thumb just behind the triangle pointing in the
direction you need to go, and ask yourself...

2. Where Am I Going? – What is the control feature I’m trying to find?
You know, it makes a world of difference if you’re trying to find the corner of a building, the junction of two streams, or a boulder. They look very different. So it’s a good idea to know what your target will be once you get there. It is listed on the clue sheet that comes with your map, all written out for beginners, in only symbol form for more advanced. So then consider…

3. What Will Lead Me to That Feature? – What’s the best route from here to there?
We’ve all seen and used handrails. On stairways, along the edge of docks and porches. They keep us safe and steady and lead us to where we want to go without having to think very much. Orienteers use Handrails too, simple straightline (called “linear”) features like trails, fences, streams, and edges of fields “to hold onto” that will lead us most of the way to our next target. On beginners’ courses, they often take you right to the target. On advanced courses, handrails are more subtle terrain features like ridges, rock fields, or large valleys. Handrails are features that make our route choice simpler and let us move without having to think until…

Questions to Ask While You Are Moving

4. How Will I Know I’m On Course? – Checkpoints along the way to keep you on target.
If, for some reason, you encounter a brain fog or are brand new at this, Collecting Features along the way reassure you that you haven’t gotten lost. At least not yet.What should you be passing as you progress? That lake off to your right? This stream you are crossing? The trail joining yours on the left? Any mapped feature you can readily identify along the way reassures you that you really do know where you are. Collecting Features are comforting. They can also alert you to when you are approaching the mother of all collecting features, your Attack Point…

5. How Will I Know I’m Almost There? – Finding a clear feature just before your target.
When people give directions, they’ll often say, “And just before you get to our street, you will pass a 7-Eleven (or the Mark Twain Elementary School) on your right.” The 7-Eleven is your Attack Point – an unmistakable feature that tells you you’re getting close. You know, one of those “you can’t-miss-it” features. And from there, it’s a short route to your destination. Reaching your Attack Point trips your brain from cruise control and scenic reveries to careful navigation mode. When you reach it, you know you’re almost there, control flag waiting for you at the feature you’ve remembered from the control desciptions at the beginning of the leg. (“Let’s see, I’m looking for the far corner of that building just ahead”, or “where those two streams merge”, or “the boulder justto the left after I hang a right at this trail crossing coming up. Yea! There it is!”)

6. How Will I Know If I’ve Gone Too Far? – When bad things happen to good people.

But what if all your best-laid plans go astray (and you with them)? Another page from your friendly giving-directions book: “Now if you get to the Starbuck’s with the Sunoco Station across the road, you’ve just passed our street.” In Orienteering parlance, this is called a Catching Feature. Catching Features are easily identifiable features that you should not be running into before the control. So if it’s staring right at you, you’ve just missed your target. But not to worry, this is a good sign. It means all you have to do is turn around and backtrack a short way. That’s why it’s good to have a Catching Feature in mind. Since no one is perfect (not even the elite runners), catching a mistake right away is a major tactical advantage to cultivate – a close second to actually admitting a mistake in the first place. “Wait a gosh-darned minute! I was supposed to reach that stone wall just as I was leaving the control. I must have gone right by it!” Again, the tortoise beats the hare who has jumped the stone wall and is 2 kilometers downstream scanning for the control that’s just got to be here somewhere.

[mhaggs]

This has been a great thread for me. My concern has always been land navigation. I'm an 18x Candidate scheduled to report for SFAS in October. From those who have "been there done that," is the preparation I am to receive in Basic/AIT/SOPC sufficient for the land navigation course at SFAS?

I have wanted to get out and spend some time with a map and compass but I am not sure where to get a hold of a military grade map, nor have I ever spend time land navigating. I am afraid I would get myself lost.

Anywhere to get some early training??

[The Reaper]

This has been a great thread for me. My concern has always been land navigation. I'm an 18x Candidate scheduled to report for SFAS in October. From those who have "been there done that," is the preparation I am to receive in Basic/AIT/SOPC sufficient for the land navigation course at SFAS?

I have wanted to get out and spend some time with a map and compass but I am not sure where to get a hold of a military grade map, nor have I ever spend time land navigating. I am afraid I would get myself lost.

Anywhere to get some early training??


The Search button is your friend.

TR

[Woodman]

http://home.comcast.net/~rshannonhouse/#_Coaching_Documents
This website has some good advice as well, although with an orienteering emphasis.

[Powder]

Here are some more simple tips. I wish I had something like this when I was a private. I use them to teach Boy Scouts...

This is that great stuff that isn't always layed out in a FM or TC. Thank you for the additional tools.

[FlagDayNCO]

Good basic Land Nav instructions, courtesy of steel_eel.

http://www.winnebagobsa.org/forms/venturing_forms/AVOIDGETTINGLOST.PDF

TR

It is down. They must have become nervous with all the hits their little pdf was getting.

The Requested Page Was Not Found
There is no page of that name on Winnebago Council.

[steel_eel]

http://www.armageddononline.org/PDF/Navigation/AVOIDGETTINGLOST.PDF

http://urbansurvivalsite.com/files/How_to_Avoid_Getting_Lost.pdf

[chuckn0rr1s]

http://www.armageddononline.org/PDF/Navigation/AVOIDGETTINGLOST.PDF

http://urbansurvivalsite.com/files/How_to_Avoid_Getting_Lost.pdf

Thanks for posting this Steel_eel!!

[Lighthouse]

I just moved to Raeford, NC. Is there an orienteering club that anyone is aware of. The closest one I found is in Raleigh. Appreciate the help gentlemen.

[The Reaper]

Going anywhere in Hoke County should count as orienteering.

I doubt that anywhere other than cities or universities are going to have clubs, and geocaching is not quite the same.

TR

[Lighthouse]

Ha! Very true. It's a different world after relocating from NYC. I was granted a visitors pass onto Bragg so I'm looking to get my buddy to take me out to the NTA on some weekends to do some training. I doubt prior service will be allowed to come back to the Army anytime soon though. Just working on being ready for whatever comes up.

[Scimitar]

Lighthouse,

I'm not sure of your experience level, but having had to learn Land Nav in a similar way to you, this is what worked for me.

Basically the advice I was given was
Task mastery + Experience = Outcome


TASK MASTERY
- I spent a whole day "translating" (and I mean translating) the FM 3-25.26
- Then joined two sessions with the local ROTC on one of their Land Nav days, (UNLV and then UCLA),

After this I felt I knew enough to have my Land Nav 'system' down. I was able to score 100% on the course at Fort Hunter Liggett.

The guidance I was given was, learn the tools like a science (i.e. pace counts, attack points, planking, dead reckoning, resection, pace drift, the list goes on, from memory my final list had 27 skill points to master), then practice the tools until it becomes an art.

Your local ROTC group is the Campbell Battalion. Call them, see if they will let you tag along. But don't expect to have your hand held. Come prepared.
Link - Campbell Battalion (http://www.campbell.edu/academics/rotc/department-information/battalion-location/)

Caution: I've been advised not to learn with the local Orienteering crowd, you may learn some slightly wrong techniques, as they have a different goal to mil. I could be wrong.


EXPERIENCE
Next, the advice I was given by a BTDT, was get out on courses and get experience. "The more you get 'lost' now, the less you get 'lost' later." Execute an AAR after each session, and figure out what you learned, write it down.

I achieved this by finding the closest Orienteering Federation group (for you it's either Raleigh, or Charlotte) and called them, these people love Land Nav, and where very helpful. They provided me with grid refs on courses in my area. It seems to me courses are set-up all over the place, so there should be half a dozen near you.

I went out with my wife and just started Land Nav'ing. Got the feel for when to bust a draw, and when not to. When to hit a hill and when to go around it, etc, etc. Combined this with the Ruck part of my PT. After maybe 8 full day sessions out, some at night, I really started feeling comfortable with a map and compass.

So basically, I didn't feel like I needed to train with a group so much, just made sure I had the 'tools' down correctly first and then always made sure I was using the tools right, and not developing any poor habits. Perfect practice makes perfect.

2 x local groups POC follow.

Backwoods Orienteering Klub
RALEIGH
http://backwoodsok.org/
919-828-6068

or...

Carolina Orienteering Klub
CHARLOTTE
http://www.carolina-ok.org/
There's a number of POC on the website.


HTH some.

S

[dollarbill]

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-skills/how-to-use-a-watch-as-a-compass/

Land navigation to me has always been one of those things that if not constantly practiced, it doesn't that long to get real rusty at. One of tricks I like to practice is using my watch as a compass. Once you get which angle to split, its pretty accurate. I have found that direction, map orientation and cutting the trek/hike down to smaller sections on the map is a big help. That and when in doubt, shoot an azimuth.

[Lighthouse]

Thanks for pointing out the ROTC. I didn't even consider that as an option. I used to be alright at land nav when I was in. I seeing the recurring theme is just become exceptionally good at the basics. What do recommend for getting the pace count down?

[The Reaper]

Thanks for pointing out the ROTC. I didn't even consider that as an option. I used to be alright at land nav when I was in. I seeing the recurring theme is just become exceptionally good at the basics. What do recommend for getting the pace count down?

Walking measured distances over varied terrain.

TR

[WarriorDiplomat]

I told my wife that SF guys never get lost. When she thinks I am lost, I tell her I am taking a side trip.


LOL my wife has a uncanny sense of direction when I am home in the U.S. mine seems to shut off I usually tell her I am taking a more interesting route.