Tracking

[EJR914]

    Old School Scout Trackers on Today's Battlefield by Sergeant First Class Brian Lackey.

    (Originally published in Armor Magazine)

    When we hear the term "tracker," most of us think back to the days of John Wayne and the 7th Cavalry, conjuring up images of the tracker dismounting his horse, observing the ground, and quickly relaying fascinating information from a single traqck. What most would consider "only in the movies" is very close to reality and is currently employed as a viable skill set in numerous low-intensity conflicts in more relevant and modern times. These skills have been used in Borneo, Malaya, Kenya, Rhodesia, Vietnam, South-West Africa, and currently on a limited scale in Afghanistan and Iraq. Countless reports of successful operations in these areas have been associated or accredited, either directly or indirectly, to intelligence gathered by trackers due to their enhanced observation and awareness skills.

    Throughout history, commanders have taken advantage of these skills by gathering vital intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) to better understand the battlefield. Whether on an active track or simple patrol, tracker-trained soldiers possess a keen sense of detail and quickly recognize what is out of place or missing from the surrounding environment. Early tracking was primarily based on micro-tracking (tracking from print to print), but quickly took on a different role when implemented into the small team concept of combat tracker teams.

    With the need for teams to provide their own security, and rapidly track or develop a situation, they moved toward a very aggressive method called "macro-tracking," which, when done correctly, can incorporate the entire team and quickly cover ground, decreasing the time and distance interval of their quarry. This aggressive style of tracking was revolutionized by David Scott-Donelane, formerly of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts, which are considered the most effective unit ever to fight an insurgency. (MBV Note: Also see this link.)

    Primitive tracking skills can be employed throughout the operational continuum, but are ideal for counterinsurgency operations. One of the major problems facing U.S. forces during counterinsurgency operations is tracking insurgents after contact is made and they disperse among the population. Only by vigorously pursuing the insurgent, wherever he is located, will it be possible for the military to dominate an area and reduce insurgent activities. To accomplish this effort, soldiers trained in tracking skills must learn to watch for clues or signs of passage inconsistent with normal patterns or an environmental baseline. Forced as they are to move on foot, it impossible for insurgents to avoid leaving traces of passage through an area. It is these traces that the tracker uses to reveal valuable information, such as number of insurgents in a group; direction of travel; time and distance gap between tracker and insurgent; and through deductive reasoning develop, determine, or confirm tactical intelligence.

    Trackers are capable of quickly multiplying squadron or battalion capabilities. Battalion scouts often assume the quick reaction force (QRF)/explosive ordnance detachment (EOD) role for their organizations; versatile and flexible units of this nature greatly benefit from this skill set. We have all experienced the frustration felt following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack and more times than not, we end the day reading a storyboard compiled by law enforcement personnel (LEP), EOD, or weapons intelligence team (WIT), outlining the basic information of type and employment method. Integrating trackers with these contracted agencies could deliver intelligence from blast radios to the the insurgent's door step. Effective tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) would place LEP/EOD/WIT 100 meters in to investigate the blast radius.

    Scout trackers, while providing 300-meter cordon, would complete 360-degree command post operations, identifying all incoming and outgoing traffic, as well as movement direction. The combat tracker team could easily move into an active-track mode, leading to vehicles, villages, houses, caches, and initiating points, virtually doubling its chances of apprehending the enemy. Today's trackers have battlefield enablers, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), rotary wing, camera towers, and blimps, which can quickly aid apprehension. During our last deployment, our squadron immediately opened a target information center (TIC) following an IED strike, and we had rotary wing and UAV on site. However, due to a lack of ground information, the rotary wing spent much of its time providing security rather than hunting down the enemy. With a tracker, we could quickly relay vital information, which helped direct air assets to the correct area. We also established a time distance interval, reducing a 360-degree 3-km area to a 30-degree cone, which greatly increased additional blocking or cordon possibilities.

    The Tactical Tracking Operations School (TTOS) currently offers a 100-hour mobile training team (MTT) combat tracker course, which is designed to complement any unit's operating procedures. TTOS guides scouts through a well-designed program, moving soldiers from basic to advanced tracking skills, and incorporates training into daily excursions. When I attended the course, we executed nearly 6 hours of field time, putting to use skills we had just learned, to every 2 hours of class time. My team, on several occasions, tracked individuals up to 6kms over the diverse terrain of Fort Irwin, California, maintaining both security and forward movement, which are two key ingredients to apprehension of the quarry/enemy. General operations provide an overwhelming amount of intelligence to today's commanders in every environment. Simplistic in theory and in action, scout trackers belong in our units . . . without question.

http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2012/06/praxis-tracking-on-battlefield.html

[mountainredneck2051]

they got to be crazy to think a 100 hour course is gonna teach people to track

[JohnyMac]

You are right Mtn however it is a start.

The best trackers I have come across are my age and older. Experience is the key here but you need a foundation to build on.

As a side not my tracking abilities are average or maybe a scootch above average - I learned from my Uncle Pat. Now that guy could track and compared to him I was a slacker.

[mountainredneck2051]

You are right Mtn however it is a start.

The best trackers I have come across are my age and older. Experience is the key here but you need a foundation to build on.

As a side not my tracking abilities are average or maybe a scootch above average - I learned from my Uncle Pat. Now that guy could track and compared to him I was a slacker.

i was taught by my grandpa who was taught by his grandpa who was taught by his father who was one of the original mountain men in the state of colorado

i aint worth a damn compared to my grandaddy but maybe by the time i'm his age i'll match him

[EJR914]

I agree, tracking is a lifetime skill, something that you have to do from a very young age, for your entire life, before you get reasonably good at it.

[Treaded]

100 hours of trianing from having no skills?  Just enough to get you killed by walking into an ambush or an APM. 

[mountainredneck2051]

100 hours of trianing from having no skills?  Just enough to get you killed by walking into an ambush or an APM.

the most important part of tracking is figuring out what the fuck its thinking while your tracking it
indians used tracking with great success get some noob to track you right into a choke point, game over

[Treaded]

Every modern army has a device that acts as an Anti Pursuit Munition (APM) - which is like an anti-pursuit claymore.  I've trained with the US one and have seen the Russian and Chinese ones.  Basically pull the pin, toss, and haul ass.  good for between 4 and 24 hours.  The Russians have one that is seismic and can be activated by a footstep within 10 meters and is lethal to about 25 meters.  Think about that - you're tracking someone and they've tossed one off trail a couple of meters.  One tracker (and probably his trail security) gone. 

It's also fairly easy to get a tracker to walk right into your ambush. Pick out your ambush site and continue down the trail a bit making sure you leave some trail then hook off of your trail doubling back to the ambush site you selected and setup and wait.  That tracker will eventually come on down the trail you've left.  Unless the ambush element gets sloppy the tracker never picks it up as they didn't double back on the trail the tracker was following. 

[EJR914]

100 hours of trianing from having no skills?  Just enough to get you killed by walking into an ambush or an APM.

Seriously.  It would be way too easy to use footprints or another tell that people had been through, just to draw a team into an ambush.

[EJR914]

Every modern army has a device that acts as an Anti Pursuit Munition (APM) - which is like an anti-pursuit claymore.  I've trained with the US one and have seen the Russian and Chinese ones.  Basically pull the pin, toss, and haul ass.  good for between 4 and 24 hours.  The Russians have one that is seismic and can be activated by a footstep within 10 meters and is lethal to about 25 meters.  Think about that - you're tracking someone and they've tossed one off trail a couple of meters.  One tracker (and probably his trail security) gone. 

It's also fairly easy to get a tracker to walk right into your ambush. Pick out your ambush site and continue down the trail a bit making sure you leave some trail then hook off of your trail doubling back to the ambush site you selected and setup and wait.  That tracker will eventually come on down the trail you've left.  Unless the ambush element gets sloppy the tracker never picks it up as they didn't double back on the trail the tracker was following.

Word brother.  That would be a really shitty way to go, IMHO.  If it doesn't kill you outright, you get to sit there and realized you just got yourself killed and it was completely your fault.  That would suck.

[NOLA556]

no offense to anyone but I don't think I'll be doing any tracking. didn't grow up that way, and my luck, I'll probably end up the way mtn and treaded predict. I'd rather rely on discrete recon, LP/OP style, sniper style, and wait for them to fall into MY trap. maybe if I was an expert tracker, or at LEAST grew up learning the skill, but I'm nowhere near that so I'd rather just hang back and let the fucker come to me. (not to mention the fact that operating on your own turf that you know like the back of your hand is always better than following some goon for miles into a [possibly] unfamiliar territory)