For the benefit of some of the aspiring members of the Special Operations community, we’ve been going back to the basics of passing Land Navigation. This was after a recent article that stated the Army has noticed a lack of expertise at junior NCOs with a map and compass.
Waiting until one gets to Selection isn’t the time to learn that your Land Navigation skills are not up to snuff and will result in a very long face especially in SFAS once you experience the loveliness of Hoffman. As we mentioned in our piece last week three of the biggest issues that stop candidates from being selected are Physical Fitness Preparation, Rucking, and Land Navigation.
SFAS will combine all three of those issues in the very early days of the course, as candidates will be running for time, rucking and then join the three into the Land Navigation course, known as the Star Course in Hoffman.
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For the benefit of some of the aspiring members of the Special Operations community, we’ve been going back to the basics of passing Land Navigation. This was after a recent article that stated the Army has noticed a lack of expertise at junior NCOs with a map and compass.
Waiting until one gets to Selection isn’t the time to learn that your Land Navigation skills are not up to snuff and will result in a very long face especially in SFAS once you experience the loveliness of Hoffman. As we mentioned in our piece last week three of the biggest issues that stop candidates from being selected are Physical Fitness Preparation, Rucking, and Land Navigation.
SFAS will combine all three of those issues in the very early days of the course, as candidates will be running for time, rucking and then join the three into the Land Navigation course, known as the Star Course in Hoffman.
Today, we are going to look at the way to find your location if you are unsure of your exact map placement. And before you say “I’ll never get lost that way!” I’ll say this, ‘wait until you get there first.’ There is going to be times in the course that you won’t be certain of your exact location. If you are unsure of your exact location, you can find your location easily if you can pick out some distant landmarks. It is called Resection.
Resection is defined as the method for finding your exact location on a map by determining the grid azimuth to two or more well-defined locations that can be pinpointed on the map. For greater accuracy, the desired method of resection would be to use three or more well-defined locations.
For the purposes of our practical application, we used only two however, obviously, three or more is ideal. There are three methods of using resection, using the map and compass method, the straightedge method and the modified method. In this exercise, we used the map and compass method, but we’ll go over the other methods as well.
Map and Compass Method
The intersection of the lines is your location. Determine the grid coordinates to the desired accuracy, an eight-digit grid being the preferred accuracy for our purposes.
Straightedge Method:
To accurately find your position, the successful navigator must:
Where the intersection of the lines meets on the map is your location. Determine the grid coordinates to the desired accuracy. You then should be able to get an eight-digit grid coordinate and find your way to your point.
Modified Method:
The modified method is the least preferred method but is useful in certain situations. If you’re not certain of your exact location but are located on a linear terrain feature such as a road, creek or similar body of water, this can pinpoint your position.
Your location is where the line on the map crosses the linear feature. Determine the grid coordinates to the desired accuracy, for our purposes an eight-digit grid coordinate.
For our video demonstration, practical exercise, we were moving along our azimuth and came across a railroad track. Just barely visible in the far distance is a wind turbine that sits high upon a hilltop. Once we are able to locate the wind turbine on the map, we take an azimuth, using our compass, and determine the grid azimuth.
Then we draw a back azimuth using the “more than 180 degrees subtract 180 or less than 180 degrees add 180” rule and draw a line on our map. Where the line intersects the railroad line is our exact location.
If this were close to our point during a Land Navigation course, this would be a prime attack point as you’d have a very good place to search for the point. However, if you’re still far from your point, it is a great place to check your exact location and ensure that you’re heading on the correct azimuth.
Check out the short video from two years ago and see how it works out. If anyone has any questions, feel free to email me steve@hurricane.media or at my Twitter account @SteveB7SFG
Photos courtesy of DOD, Video: Author
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