Land nav cheating scandal

[PSM]

OK, I put it in The Comedy Zone for obvious reasons.

The Basic School for Marine Officers is reeling from a cheating scandal that involved six second lieutenants accused of wrongfully obtaining and sharing key grid points for the night land navigation course.
The officers were accused of sharing the grid points via text messages *before the test and later relying on them to find hidden boxes stashed across the wooded night land *navigation course in Quantico, Virginia, *according to interviews with Marine Corps officials and a copy of the command investigation obtained by Marine Corps Times.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/new...ltdown-at-tbs/

[Ret10Echo]

Now somebody has to do a Marine Corps cover or the song:

"Rangers in the night...exchanging azimuths...."

[CSB]

Having completed land navigation training and testing in:

- Basic
- AIT
- NCO School (the 15 week version, NCOCC)
- OCS (the 23 week version)
- Pathfinder (the five week version, 1972)
- Ranger (Class 8-74, the last hard course)
- Special Forces (when Chief of School was a guy named Col. Charlie Beckwith)
- EIB testing and qualification
- and more than a few ARTEPs, FTX's, etc. etc.
including ... believe it or not ...
actually navigating in unknown terrain with inadequate maps (Somalia, for example).

I would add the following remarks:

1 - Every navigator should use every source of data and means of georeference to determine his/her position.

2 - That information may include locally acquired information from counterparts and indigenous personnel.

3 - Anyone who relies solely on azimuth and direction will stray into error.

Back in 1974 we had land navigation testing with:

- map and no compass.*
- compass and no map.*
- map on display board, protractor in pocket, notepaper to write notes.

*and we were literally strip searched at the start point to insure there were no
maps on the "no map" test; and no compasses on the "no compass" test.

[You want to see an ugly sight? Think of 120 or so buck naked wanna-be Rangers standing around in the
grass while cadre rummage through clothing and belongings].

So I won't condemn these young Marines for seeking every available piece of information as to the georeference
of a designated point on the Earth's surface without more information than what was provided in that article.

I think of it with a "me against them" attitude, in which "they" want me to
blindly follow an azimuth through thorn bush hell and swamp hollow "just because",
and I want to find out where I am on planet earth, where I am to go on planet earth, and the best means to get there.

But that's me, and I'm a grumpy old man.

Add: A grumpy old man who didn't see any female candidates stripped naked and searched during Ranger Class 8-74.

[Basenshukai]

One of the female cheaters is apparently claiming she was sexually harrassed all over the place. Sounds like a lawyer adviced her that if she is a victim of sexual harrassment somewhere she can't possibly be a perpetrator of an act of indiscipline.

[RCummings]

CSB,

Outstanding!
After an event long ago I was asked if I cheated, my response was...I facilitated a win. I never broke a rule.

V/R

[PSM]

Originally Posted by CSB

Having completed land navigation training and testing in:

- Basic
- AIT

While I posted this for the humor aspect, I have to assume that you did not cheat in Basic or AIT, so you actually knew how to navigate.


When I was in AIT, in early 1968, there were no "boxes" on LAND NAV. There were surveyor stakes with numbers on them and they were never in the same place. We used map, compass, and pace count during the day. We could have cheated and just terrain associated but they warned us that, if we didn't learn how to use a compass and count pace, they'd have to come find us that night. This was Ft. Ord with many rolling hills and trees. I didn't ace day nav because the last point was about 50 yards past the check-in tent. We, well most, stopped counting when we saw the tent. I did perfect at night because of that.


I'd expect officers to do at least as good as a PVT E-1.

[CSB]

I'd expect officers to do at least as good as a PVT E-1.

Damn, high expectations.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by CSB

Damn, high expectations.

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by CSB

Damn, high expectations.

Semper find-my-grid-squares Fella's

[Flagg]

Originally Posted by Basenshukai

One of the female cheaters is apparently claiming she was sexually harrassed all over the place. Sounds like a lawyer adviced her that if she is a victim of sexual harrassment somewhere she can't possibly be a perpetrator of an act of indiscipline.

I just discussed this case with my wife in relation to our two boys entering high school shortly.

Our kids have a choice of single gender or mixed high schools.

I went to both and preferred single gender for the better learning environment due to fewer distractions.

These Marine officers are vetted, trained, and disciplined adults. But they’re also humans with human failings.

Our kids are going to a boy’s only high school. Period.

More data points.

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by PSM

This was Ft. Ord with many rolling hills and trees. I didn't ace day nav because the last point was about 50 yards past the check-in tent. We, well most, stopped counting when we saw the tent.

LOL, that same diabolical person must've still been there in '69. Grrr. Thanks Pat.

I will clear my conscience & say that I cheated once in Germany by not directly traversing a swampy thicket that a local told me contained a really cranky bunch of wild pigs.