wanted ex or active Force Recon or Ranger, SF military

[Richie Caketown]

If someone like this does get together count me in , i would be very interested

[Group B]

The subjects you'd want to learn:

- Reading/Orienting the map
- Terrain Features
- Scale
- Measuring Distance with a Protractor
- Shooting an Azimuth
- Grid/Magnetic Conversion
- Declination Diagram
- Terrain Association
- Dead Reckoning
- Pace Count
- Back Azimuth
- Triangulation
- Resection

I'm in the area and would be interested in this type of thing, but would prefer a focus toward animal tracking/man tracking, situation awareness in wilderness environments, general survival (with minimum gear) and evasion techniques.

im thinkin a USAF or Army SERE instructior would have alot of skills to share SERE = Survival Evasion Resistance Escape... they deal with training pilots how to survive and escape behind enemy lines....

just a thought...

really want to focus on how to adapt military skillset (what they teach in recon schools) adapted to enhance hunter safety
while in remote areas that have a possibility of criminal activity. The main thing I am interested in is how to scout an area undetected by pot farmers if they are in the area. How to detect pot farmer booby traps, night mobility. How to assess terrain maps for probable locations of pot farms, a history and analysis of pot farm locations. Do we have any analysis of these locations? Are there trends emerging? All this info will help keep hunters safe in the back country. I guess this thread could be moved to? I posted it here because of the shared interest of rifles.

I'm in the NorCal East Bay Area, and I'm down to learn all of the above.

And I'm also willing to barter/trade services to learn this, if possible.

[ReconDoc242]

I'd like to interject my opinion after reading the whole post. You do not need a former recon, ranger, or SF bubba. Any competent marine/army grunt can teach land nav. As a former recon, I can tell you that good land nav skills are not a special skill set that is limited to us "special ops" types.
If you really want to improve your land nav do this:
-Read a land nav fm online:http://www.armystudyguide.com/conten...ng/index.shtml
-Buy a map, protractor, and compass.....and a gps.
-Head out to the "not so remote" woods a practice navigating with the compass. Once you think you found a point, check it against your gps.
-Then repeat.
Do this enough, and your confidence level will go up. You really dont need a guy like me to teach you, what you guys need is to get away from your computers, and spend some time in the field...
just my .02 cent....but hell, what do I know...I only graduated from BRC(marine recon school) and SERE and did it for a living for a few years.

[brando]

That's the point I've been trying to make

[sreiter]

just to throw my .02 in - scout snipers from a sta unit would be your best bet IMO. land nav is 90% of sniper training, and were most of the would be snipers fail

[brando]

Seriously? The goal here is to train up civilians on basic land navigation and wilderness survival/security. Sigh...

[ReconDoc242]

just to throw my .02 in - scout snipers from a sta unit would be your best bet IMO. land nav is 90% of sniper training, and were most of the would be snipers fail

Dont kid yourself brother...they arent taught any secret land nav skills at sniper school and most have the same land nav standards(with the exception of guys that attend pathfinder school or "tigres" course in Ecuador) that all the other schools have (including grunt schools).
The only difference is that when you show up to an advaced school you are expected to be proficient in it, because the course load does not lend itself to teaching a basic skill.
Simply put, land nav is a skill that is reviewed at almost all military schools.
Land Nav is a perishable skill, it needs to be constantly reviewed or you will suck at it regardless of the tabs on your shoulder or warfare pins on you chest.

[nick]

<---Sapper Instructor

I was thinking the same thing.

You want to learn how to disarm EDs?

[brando]

Simply put, land nav is a skill that is reviewed at almost all military schools.
Land Nav is a perishable skill, it needs to be constantly reviewed or you will suck at it regardless of the tabs on your shoulder or warfare pins on you chest.

+1

In other words, it's a basic soldier skill and to show up to an advanced level course not being proficient in Land Nav is a big NoGo. But to the point, even a basic training drill sergeant could teach basic land nav fine - it doesn't require someone with a SOF background.

[Hunt]

Seriously? The goal here is to train up civilians on basic land navigation and wilderness survival/security. Sigh...

land navigation isn't the big issue, most hunters have their own system, finding someone to teach the other stuff, night mobility, how to survey areas you are interested in hunting from a distance, use of cameras (where to find the good cameras) at access points, longer range optics. How to really blend into the environment, using the terrain to travel undetected, booby trap detection, using scanners to detect nearby radio transmits, traits and trends in grow operations, how to identify likely unsafe areas, emergency escape and evasion, close quarters defensive shooting, close quarters knife, theory of locating an observation post, what kind of booby traps are likely to be encountered, basically anything taught by the military that could be adapted to enhance hunter safety in unsafe areas.-- land nav can be learned at REI.

[Hunt]

You want to learn how to disarm EDs?

Nope,
learn how to identify booby traps used by pot growers and their likely locations some of the areas I want to hunt may have dangerous criminal activity and it may not. I would like to be prepared in case it is dangerous in those areas. Much to be said for Preperation.

[GrizzlyGuy]

really want to focus on how to adapt military skillset (what they teach in recon schools) adapted to enhance hunter safety
while in remote areas that have a possibility of criminal activity. The main thing I am interested in is how to scout an area undetected by pot farmers if they are in the area. How to detect pot farmer booby traps, night mobility. How to assess terrain maps for probable locations of pot farms, a history and analysis of pot farm locations. Do we have any analysis of these locations? Are there trends emerging? All this info will help keep hunters safe in the back country. I guess this thread could be moved to? I posted it here because of the shared interest of rifles.

I could help you with some of that as the pot growers invade my family's land in Mendocino county each year. My cousins have been finding the gardens early in the season, then they report the locations to the sheriff's office. Later in the season, the deputies come in by helicopter and rip up the gardens. Last season they got 8,000+ plants in two gardens and confiscated an old revolver that the growers had left behind when they heard the chopper and ran. No booby traps, but since a lot of these guys are armed and illegal aliens (vs. unarmed locals in the old days), the scouting is getting more risky. The sheriff's office has also said that they are short on resources, and with so many gardens in the area, they may not be able to continue their annual raids for us.

Knowing where to look for gardens is pretty easy. The growers need a source of water nearby, cover and (ideally) a south-facing slope. Topo maps and aerial photos can be used to identify the likely locations. The ExpertGPS software is handy because it lets you download an unlimited amount of topos and aerial photos for free, then mark waypoints and print or download to GPS.

The gardens tend to be well hidden by brush or trees so the easiest way to find them on foot is to look for their trails leading to the gardens (the guys in our area haul in their supplies on foot). Later in the season you can actually smell the gardens if you are downwind and know the smell. Or in the evenings you can smell their cooking odors.

[Hunt]

I could help you with some of that as the pot growers invade my family's land in Mendocino county each year. My cousins have been finding the gardens early in the season, then they report the locations to the sheriff's office. Later in the season, the deputies come in by helicopter and rip up the gardens. Last season they got 8,000+ plants in two gardens and confiscated an old revolver that the growers had left behind when they heard the chopper and ran. No booby traps, but since a lot of these guys are armed and illegal aliens (vs. unarmed locals in the old days), the scouting is getting more risky. The sheriff's office has also said that they are short on resources, and with so many gardens in the area, they may not be able to continue their annual raids for us.

Knowing where to look for gardens is pretty easy. The growers need a source of water nearby, cover and (ideally) a south-facing slope. Topo maps and aerial photos can be used to identify the likely locations. The ExpertGPS software is handy because it lets you download an unlimited amount of topos and aerial photos for free, then mark waypoints and print or download to GPS.

The gardens tend to be well hidden by brush or trees so the easiest way to find them on foot is to look for their trails leading to the gardens (the guys in our area haul in their supplies on foot). Later in the season you can actually smell the gardens if you are downwind and know the smell. Or in the evenings you can smell their cooking odors.

thanks very useful info. It really pisses me off that foriegn farmers have usurped American soil for their personal profit really stinks doesn't it.
It could be said "Armed Foriegn Troops capture and command soveriegn U.S. soil, gov't and military do nothing in response" Imagine that on the headlines of LA Times.

[ReconDoc242]

After looking at your requirements, I can tell you that my company can do a course like this utilizing former and current special operations operators, but it wont be cheap due to the logistical requirements an operation like this requires.

[Alan Halcon]

Well, another answer might be to go hunting in the pot growers off season.

... just a thought

Alan