Real-World Navigation: Part Three

In the third and final part of this series we’ll take a look at how the Special Forces view the topics covered in parts one and two for comparison; they are somewhat different, but perhaps not for the reasons you may think.

Overview

Obviously, a direct comparison cannot be drawn because the objectives are not the same. For the adventurer, safety and enjoyment are paramount. For the Special Forces soldier the objective is paramount, everything in between is an obstacle! Although many of the considerations are the same, some of the restrictions have been removed. Fitness considerations for example don't exist because the four man team will all be on top of their game, both physically and mentally. Their biggest advantage is that they will have trained in all weathers and on all types of terrain. Mentally, this is an enormous advantage because nothing comes as a surprise; they'll not only spot a bad day coming, but they'll know how how it will affect them and how much it will hurt. There's nothing like not knowing what to expect for fueling the imagination, and it's never in a good way! The other big bonus is that everyone is as capable as each other and are 100% dependable, as such another big concern disappears. Let's look a little deeper into the individual topics.

Contouring

The route to the objective may be over hilly terrain and the reason to contour is useful for all the same reasons, but there is also an additional reason, this is to prevent 'skylining'. The term skylining refers to your outline or silhouette against the sky, either by day or by night, and the lower the person is that is looking up, the lower down from the summit or ridge you'll need to be in order to prevent yourself from being skylined.

Time & Distance

This is a much simpler affair! The fact that you are a member of the Special Forces means that fitness is not a problem and that everyone is roughly comparable. Weight is another thing that, unless extreme, is not allowed for; 30 kg plus rifle is commonplace. The calculations are based on a speed of 4 km per hour; nothing allowed for stops, ascent or descent, or moving by day or night; however, operational restrictions will be allowed for in the route planning.

This makes things quite easy as the maps will have 1000m grids making it 15 minutes across a grid and 20 minutes diagonally from corner to corner as the diagonal distance across the corners of a square is 1.414 x the length of the side making it 15minutes and 21.21 minutes respectively, but 15 & 20 are easy numbers to work with mentally. This seems excessively simple after what we've looked at previously, but I can tell you from personal experience that it's right on the money!

Group Considerations

Group considerations disappear altogether as all patrol members are of roughly equal fitness and trained to the same level, but each having one or more specialist subjects such as navigation, demolitions, weapons, sniping, mountaineering, first-aid, mobility etc.

Staying Fueled-up!

Food is normally in the form of 24 hour ration packs and water; generally 2 litres (2 x 1 litre containers) will be replenished and treated en route. Everything you need while moving is kept in your pockets and you'll 'graze' on the stuff as you move. Your main meal is reserved for the end of the day when you've reached your planned position. This works extremely well and if done properly 50km can be covered without struggling for energy.

When to Move

When to move is generally dictated by operational criteria.

Weather

The weather has no bearing on what has to be achieved. The fact that all members are extremely fit and experienced means that they will still be able to maintain the 4km per hour in really poor weather conditions. Excellent navigational skills will keep you on track in even whiteout conditions; this is where other things become so useful, such as handrailing and aiming off.

Terrain

Terrain comes in all shapes and sizes and they will have trained on virtually all types at some point, as such, everything will be taken in their stride.

Staying Out of Harm's Way

Staying out of harm’s way takes on another dimension, this time danger is from the enemy! The training, fitness levels and equipment mean that all other problems should be, and generally are, easily manageable.

Global Positioning System

It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t mention the Global Positioning System and although it has many advantages, especially for aviation and marine travel, we’re not quite there yet on land. You can find your way with it, but you can’t navigate with it! Even the ones with full mapping systems are of limited use as the screen size limits the overall picture; quite often, something that may be many kilometers away dictates changes now. They have many excellent features, but navigating is an extremely fluid business and often requires 'tweaking' constantly for a myriad of reasons. That doesn’t mean that it's of no use at all, it just means that it's best used like any other tool, and that’s when it's the best tool for the job!

Are the Special Forces Better Than the Rest of Us?

The short answer to that is no! The only reason that this has been included in the series is to demonstrate how the removal of certain considerations affect the overall position. Fitness is, without doubt your biggest asset, if you add exceptional outdoor and navigational skills to that, virtually nothing will stop you. We often hear on the news that people have died in the mountains due to severe weather. In actual fact, what's killed them is either the inability to navigate accurately, the wrong choice of equipment or a poor logistical decision. It's all about being able to assess risk to a high standard, and that skill generally only comes with experience.

The Last Word

As usual, there isn’t one. Good navigation will extend your adventures, increase your safety, reduce your fatigue and minimise your problems. I hope that this series has given a few of our younger adventurers a basic insight into the world of the navigator, along with some of the considerations. I’m sure that the older navigators that read this have picked most of it up the hard way, as I have done. The young are always reluctant to learn from the older; I grin to myself as I type, and remember being exactly the same!

The only thing that remains now is for me to practice everything that I’ve preached and navigate my way unseen, and without problems, to the tin where the chocolate biscuits are kept; quite a feat, but not beyond me!