SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 46
Download to read offline
COMBAT TRACKING
   OVERVIEW
        as instructed by

   Centurion Training Group
             SPQR
What good is visual track
   interpretation to
    a Cav Trooper?
“A set of tracks tells a story. It has a
 beginning, a middle and an end – a
     bulletin board in the dirt.”
LOCARD’S PRINCIPLE OF TRANSFERENCE
• “Where ever you go, what ever you do, you take
  something with you and you leave something
  behind.”
Most people could follow this trail…
…but would you notice these?
Tracking Defined:
Tracking is the process of recognizing and interpreting changes in
the natural state of the environment to determine where someone
or something has traveled.

It does not have to be in the woods, it does not even have to be
outdoors (document cache, Fallujah, 3RD Recon BN, Col. George
Bristol).

“…Tracking, simply put, is a reactive effort to close with and apprehend or
destroy a fleeing quarry, whether terrorist, escaped criminal, or illegal
border crosser who attempts to outrun and/or outwit friendly forces or the
instruments of law and order….”         David Scott-Donelan
“Tracks are clues, the most clues a
perpetrator (insurgent) will leave behind
 – one every thirty inches or so and as
      conclusive as fingerprints.”

              Sherlock Holmes
Tracking Misunderstood


       Two Kinds:
     Visual Tracking
Olfactory (scent) Tracking
What good is it to the Cav?
 More to the point – why should you train under CTG?
THE AIMS OF COMBAT TRACKING

1.   By the use of individual and team skills, techniques and tactics, conduct a
     follow-up and annihilate:

        Armed Aggressors
        Insurgents, Infiltrators or Terrorists
        Enemy patrols, Recon teams, and Snipers… in a speedy and aggressive
         manner.


2.   By the use of patrolling and reconnaissance techniques, locate and follow
     tracks of insurgents or aggressors and destroy them.

3.   During follow-up activities place such pressure upon aggressors so as to
     drive them into own forces ambushes or prepared positions.
THE AIMS OF COMBAT TRACKING


4.   Locate, identify and interpret tracks left by aggressor
     activities.

5.   To ascertain the direction of flight of insurgents so as
     to better concentrate blocking forces more effectively.

6.   To recognize and calculate strengths of aggressor
     patrols and formations.
THE AIMS OF COMBAT TRACKING


7.   Use anti-tracking skills and techniques enabling
     recon teams and snipers to move in and out of
     denied or hostile territory without leaving footprint
     evidence which may alert the enemy to our own
     forces presence or intentions. (*It was this
     particular use that seemed most applicable to the
     past Cavalry students CTG taught.)
8.   To maintain contact with a fleeing or retreating
     enemy.
SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT
                  TRACKERS


1.   Pursuit to Contact.
2.   IED Detection at Range.

3.   Locate arms caches.

4.   Recovery of wounded personnel.

5.   Counter surveillance.
SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT
                    TRACKERS


6.   Information/Intelligence collection.

7.   Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR)

8.   Maintain contact with a fleeing enemy.

9.   Back-tracking to source.
SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT
               TRACKERS



9.   Routes: infiltration and investigation.

10. Counter drug operations.

11. Sensor placement/site selection.

12. Area interpretation and analysis
SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT
                     TRACKERS

13.     Forensic analysis. (MP/CID)

14.     Border patrol: corridors and routes.

15.     Clandestine ops - movement to recon, sniping
       or hide position.

16.   Location of mortar/rocket firing sites.




                                                       Would a tracker have found this sooner…
                                                       or been able to clear it of IEDs before they
                                                                        moved in?
Selous Scouts (Rhodesia)
        Koevoet (Southwest Africa)
During their 7 years of existence, the combat trackers of the Selous Scouts, Army of Rhodesia (1973 – 1980)
accounted for 67% of operational kills of terrorists for the entire Rhodesian military. They varied in strength from a
                                                                              military.
company sized to short battalion sized element. The had no organic AFVs, no artillery, and no aircraft (though they
could call for support). The vast majority of kills were made by boots on the ground the old fashioned way, almost
always in squad sized elements—with rifles and grenades, typically against 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3 odds. This is typically
attributed to: strong NCO corps (1/4 ‘stick’), innovative techniques and self-initiative (Drake shoot, pursuit over borders)
and the ability to follow their enemy wherever they went and kill them.

During their existence, Koevoet (a specialized unit within a civilian police agency) consistently had kill and capture
rates far exceeding their military counterparts, including SOF units; primarily this is due to the incorporation of trained
visual trackers in every element. If you couldn’t track and couldn’t shoot, you couldn’t go. After the murder of a family
in 1979, 30 Koevoet trackers followed a band of PLAN rebels 200+ km over 5 days, stretching 2 days of food and
water, fearing resupply would spook the terrs or the rotor wash would ruin the spoor (very light spoor). At the end of
                                                                                         (very
the 5TH day they killed 8, captured the rest and recovered intel that led to subsequent successful operations. This was
not a fluke or a particularly exceptional operation, it was typical for over a decade. (Note: read Koevoet! by Jim
Hooper)
The uses of Combat Tracking within the US
                   Military today.


    “Tracking is one of the best sources of
     ‘immediate use intelligence,’ information
    about the enemy that can be put to use
    immediately.”
                  US Army Manual – FM 17 - 98. The Scout Platoon
…and yet it is NOT taught with frequency (if at all), or with any accuracy, and the tracking style that is taught
   now is predicated on the 7-step jungle tracking originally taught by the Brits for service in Malaysia (and
   fhe U.S. in Vietnam), rather than the team track method taught by CTG—methods currently being used
   and proven in Iraq and Afghanistan, and based upon proven Rhodesian techniques…
GLOSSARY OF
TRACKING TERMS
SPOOR – For example, ‘following
the spoor.’ Spoor means a set of
tracks laid upon the ground and
visible to a tracker. Spoor is
totally interchangeable with the
words ‘tracks, set of prints, or sign.’
FOLLOW-UP – For example, “The
follow-up commenced at first light.” A
follow-up is the physical act of a
tactically trained tracking team,
following a set of tracks on the ground
made by insurgents or the enemy.
TRACKING-TEAM – When tracking or
conducting a follow-up of armed and
dangerous insurgents, a five-man team is
employed. A Tracking Team consists of a
Tracker, two Flank Trackers, a Controller
and a Rear Security Tracker.
Quarry – Used as an alternative to
‘insurgent,’ ‘target,’ ‘suspect,’ or the
‘pursued.’
Time and Distance Gap – The theoretical
distance which insurgents could move over
the ground between the time of the incident
and the time which the Combat Trackers
arrive to commence the Follow-up.
Conclusive Evidence – Tracks or other
evidence, left on the ground, that are
indisputably left by the quarry.
Substantiating Evidence – Evidence left on
the ground which is inconclusive in itself, but
taken into account with other evidence is
considered as likely to have been left by the
quarry.
Active Track – Follow-up conducted while
the quarry is still on the move ahead of the
tracking team.
Passive Track – Follow-up conducted when
the tracks are ‘cold.’ Normally used for
intelligence gathering purposes or to look for
base-camp sites and other evidence of insurgent
activities.
Action Indicators – Foot, body, equipment or
weapon marks left upon the ground indicating
that a certain identifiable action has taken place.
A skilled visual tracker can look at action
indicators to determine everything from the
number of insurgents being followed to whether
they’re armed with rifles or PKMs or RPGs.
•   If he knows what he’s looking for, the imprint of these weapons at rest (or if deployed
    by a prone shooter), can tell a visual tracker what kind of armament he may be facing.
    RPG-7s, for instance, have a very unique and easily read signature on each end of
    the weapon—which a tracker will see if the insurgent either rests for a moment and
    sets it butt-down in the sand, or gets sloppy and allows the point to drag. A shooter
    than goes prone will leave specific rubs and compression from the pressure of the
    knees, elbow and ultimately the bipod or the magazine of the weapon, etc.
Track Line – The continuous line of observable
clues visible to the tracker indicating the path of
the insurgents being followed.
Lost Spoor Procedures – A systematic and
sequential set of procedures designed to relocate
the spoor when it is lost. Commencing with initial
procedures conducted by the Tracker, lost spoor
procedures escalate into ever increasing search
patterns using the entire team, but, with the
proviso, – only if the Controller considers it safe
to do so.
The last Cav students taught by CSC utilized lost spoor procedures so effectively that
they conducted a follow-up in the fastest time we’d had to date, tracking two subjects
with a 40-minute head start over extremely difficult and rocky terrain (first having to
locate their quarry’s starting point). It had been over a month since the last previously
recorded precipitation. They ultimately caught up to and engaged the two subjects
after a five-klick track with numerous direction changes and several attempts to
counter-track and erase signs of passage.
Contamination – tracks and disturbances
made from anyone or anything, other than the
quarry, that obscures or completely obliterates
the quarry’s spoor. Examples: other peoples
tracks, animal sign, vehicle tire tracks, etc.
To be successful in their mission Trackers
must do their best to ensure that contamination
is kept to an absolute minimum.
Natural State. – the established, natural state
of the ground unaffected by any tracks or sign.
The tracker seeks any changes or disturbance to
the ‘natural state’ which may indicate that the
quarry passed that way.
Combat Tracking Overview
Combat Tracking Overview
Combat Tracking Overview
Combat Tracking Overview
Combat Tracking Overview
These boot prints are several days old; they were placed
          when the stream was still flowing.
Snuff (Skoal, Copenhagen), Chewing Tobacco (Red Man, Levi Garrett)
and other oral eject (chewed gum, sunflower seeds) are often the easiest
    examples of sign by which to track or follow American troops.
Combat Tracking Overview
Combat Tracking Overview
(FAUO) Taliban incident, Afghanistan late ’05
 (FAUO) Al Qaeda incident, Pakistani border, Feb. ’06
      (FAUO) RPG Attack, FOB in Afghanistan
                Joie Armstrong Murder
                   Koldodski Murder
    Counter-ambush in Al Anbar province May ‘06
 IED detection at range, backtrack to counter-ambush
Ultimately, it’s not voodoo, it’s not even all that
difficult, but it does require training and it does
  require practice—and it can kill “them what
   need killing” as easily as it can help keep
     soldiers alive (the most important one).
Questions?
Acknowledgments
•   Centurion Training Group would like to extend our deepest thanks and
    appreciation to our mentor, David Scott-Donelan of the Tactical Tracking
    Operations School, who has taken the Rhodesian tactics he learned in 30
    years of counter-insurgency warfare in Africa, and melded it with modern
    technology and lessons learned. CTG teaches a basic Visual Track
    Interpretation class with Mr. Donelan’s blessing; TTOS does instruct a 100-
    hour, two-week Combat Tracking course for those who are interested.
    TTOS is on the web at www.combattracking.com.

More Related Content

What's hot

Ships Husbandry Mission Brief CONOP
Ships Husbandry Mission Brief CONOPShips Husbandry Mission Brief CONOP
Ships Husbandry Mission Brief CONOPAnthony Garcia
 
2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)
2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)
2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)A.J. Stone
 
Operation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updated
Operation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updatedOperation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updated
Operation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updatedChristopher Farnsworth
 
Military courtesy-and-discipline
Military courtesy-and-disciplineMilitary courtesy-and-discipline
Military courtesy-and-disciplineRex Agnes
 
Tactical Convoy Operations
Tactical Convoy OperationsTactical Convoy Operations
Tactical Convoy OperationsWilliam Perkins
 
POLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptx
POLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptxPOLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptx
POLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptxRoland994165
 
MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...
MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...
MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...MITRE - ATT&CKcon
 
Cybersecurity.pptx
Cybersecurity.pptxCybersecurity.pptx
Cybersecurity.pptxFwem
 
Operational Terms
Operational TermsOperational Terms
Operational TermsEddie Black
 
Range Safety Procedure
Range Safety ProcedureRange Safety Procedure
Range Safety Procedurebubut97
 

What's hot (20)

Convoy safety
Convoy safetyConvoy safety
Convoy safety
 
Ships Husbandry Mission Brief CONOP
Ships Husbandry Mission Brief CONOPShips Husbandry Mission Brief CONOP
Ships Husbandry Mission Brief CONOP
 
2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)
2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)
2012 Navy Region NW FCPO Symposium (HERITAGE)
 
Operation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updated
Operation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updatedOperation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updated
Operation Keep Up The Fire - M9 Range CONOP-updated
 
Pqd manual
Pqd manualPqd manual
Pqd manual
 
IPSSC Sample Pistol Safety and Familiarization Course
IPSSC Sample Pistol Safety and Familiarization CourseIPSSC Sample Pistol Safety and Familiarization Course
IPSSC Sample Pistol Safety and Familiarization Course
 
Military courtesy-and-discipline
Military courtesy-and-disciplineMilitary courtesy-and-discipline
Military courtesy-and-discipline
 
Tactical Convoy Operations
Tactical Convoy OperationsTactical Convoy Operations
Tactical Convoy Operations
 
AQUATICS
AQUATICSAQUATICS
AQUATICS
 
POLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptx
POLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptxPOLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptx
POLICE INTELLIGENCE ppt.pptx
 
ARMY PT CONOP
ARMY PT CONOPARMY PT CONOP
ARMY PT CONOP
 
Basic intelligence
Basic intelligenceBasic intelligence
Basic intelligence
 
MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...
MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...
MITRE ATT&CKcon 2.0: Lessons in Purple Team Testing with MITRE ATT&CK; Daniel...
 
Bambi Bucket CONOP
Bambi Bucket CONOPBambi Bucket CONOP
Bambi Bucket CONOP
 
Cybersecurity.pptx
Cybersecurity.pptxCybersecurity.pptx
Cybersecurity.pptx
 
10th Mtn Div TO (2015) (Widescreen)
10th Mtn Div TO (2015) (Widescreen)10th Mtn Div TO (2015) (Widescreen)
10th Mtn Div TO (2015) (Widescreen)
 
Sailor's creed
Sailor's creedSailor's creed
Sailor's creed
 
Operational Terms
Operational TermsOperational Terms
Operational Terms
 
Range Safety Procedure
Range Safety ProcedureRange Safety Procedure
Range Safety Procedure
 
Goal Setting
Goal SettingGoal Setting
Goal Setting
 

Similar to Combat Tracking Overview

Similar to Combat Tracking Overview (7)

Alexander F Szinnyey
Alexander F SzinnyeyAlexander F Szinnyey
Alexander F Szinnyey
 
General police operations
General police operationsGeneral police operations
General police operations
 
Advanced Fieldcraft
Advanced FieldcraftAdvanced Fieldcraft
Advanced Fieldcraft
 
Weihertexwstudyguide
WeihertexwstudyguideWeihertexwstudyguide
Weihertexwstudyguide
 
Evaluating a Game Simulation Kit in Second Life
Evaluating a Game Simulation Kit in Second LifeEvaluating a Game Simulation Kit in Second Life
Evaluating a Game Simulation Kit in Second Life
 
The Edge Shooting Institute Courses A2
The Edge Shooting Institute Courses A2The Edge Shooting Institute Courses A2
The Edge Shooting Institute Courses A2
 
upload by adding details 1404052292
upload by adding details 1404052292upload by adding details 1404052292
upload by adding details 1404052292
 

More from 1st_TSG_Airborne

AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft
AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft
AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft 1st_TSG_Airborne
 
21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE
21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE
21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE1st_TSG_Airborne
 
Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.0
Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.0Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.0
Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.01st_TSG_Airborne
 
Sheeple-Minded Strykerites
Sheeple-Minded StrykeritesSheeple-Minded Strykerites
Sheeple-Minded Strykerites1st_TSG_Airborne
 
Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians
Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians
Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians 1st_TSG_Airborne
 
Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.0
Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.0Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.0
Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.01st_TSG_Airborne
 
Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)
Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)
Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)1st_TSG_Airborne
 
Uninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC Sealift
Uninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC SealiftUninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC Sealift
Uninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC Sealift1st_TSG_Airborne
 
Tsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super Gavins
Tsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super GavinsTsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super Gavins
Tsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super Gavins1st_TSG_Airborne
 
T72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack Missile
T72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack MissileT72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack Missile
T72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack Missile1st_TSG_Airborne
 
SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.0
SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.0SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.0
SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.01st_TSG_Airborne
 
Sealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747s
Sealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747sSealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747s
Sealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747s1st_TSG_Airborne
 
Sealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSS
Sealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSSSealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSS
Sealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSS1st_TSG_Airborne
 

More from 1st_TSG_Airborne (20)

AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft
AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft
AT-6C Texan II Observation/Attack Aircraft
 
21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE
21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE
21st Century Battleships: THE FUTURE
 
New SKEDCO Products
New SKEDCO ProductsNew SKEDCO Products
New SKEDCO Products
 
Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.0
Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.0Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.0
Light Infantry Resupply Transformation v3.0
 
Sheeple-Minded Strykerites
Sheeple-Minded StrykeritesSheeple-Minded Strykerites
Sheeple-Minded Strykerites
 
Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians
Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians
Zhukovsky Air Show: Smart Russians
 
Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.0
Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.0Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.0
Why U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq v1.0
 
Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)
Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)
Wheeled Mine Strike: Afghanistan (U.S. Copied This)
 
USAF DragonEye 1
USAF DragonEye 1USAF DragonEye 1
USAF DragonEye 1
 
Uninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC Sealift
Uninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC SealiftUninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC Sealift
Uninspired Sealift vs Cargo 747s vs LCAC Sealift
 
Tsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super Gavins
Tsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super GavinsTsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super Gavins
Tsvposter with M113A4 AmphiGavins or Super Gavins
 
Tank-Box-Plane v2.0
Tank-Box-Plane v2.0Tank-Box-Plane v2.0
Tank-Box-Plane v2.0
 
T72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack Missile
T72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack MissileT72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack Missile
T72 Medium Tank Destroyed by Top-Attack Missile
 
SpeedHawk v3.0
SpeedHawk v3.0SpeedHawk v3.0
SpeedHawk v3.0
 
SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.0
SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.0SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.0
SpeedHawk 1-Page Hand-Out Slide v2.0
 
SpeedHook v1.0
SpeedHook v1.0SpeedHook v1.0
SpeedHook v1.0
 
S.O.B. Defined
S.O.B. DefinedS.O.B. Defined
S.O.B. Defined
 
Sealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747s
Sealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747sSealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747s
Sealift 05: Comparison to Cargo 747s
 
Sealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSS
Sealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSSSealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSS
Sealift 04: Cargo 747s Better than BS HSS
 
SeaBasing 21 v3.0
SeaBasing 21 v3.0SeaBasing 21 v3.0
SeaBasing 21 v3.0
 

Combat Tracking Overview

  • 1. COMBAT TRACKING OVERVIEW as instructed by Centurion Training Group SPQR
  • 2. What good is visual track interpretation to a Cav Trooper?
  • 3. “A set of tracks tells a story. It has a beginning, a middle and an end – a bulletin board in the dirt.”
  • 4. LOCARD’S PRINCIPLE OF TRANSFERENCE • “Where ever you go, what ever you do, you take something with you and you leave something behind.”
  • 5. Most people could follow this trail…
  • 6. …but would you notice these?
  • 7. Tracking Defined: Tracking is the process of recognizing and interpreting changes in the natural state of the environment to determine where someone or something has traveled. It does not have to be in the woods, it does not even have to be outdoors (document cache, Fallujah, 3RD Recon BN, Col. George Bristol). “…Tracking, simply put, is a reactive effort to close with and apprehend or destroy a fleeing quarry, whether terrorist, escaped criminal, or illegal border crosser who attempts to outrun and/or outwit friendly forces or the instruments of law and order….” David Scott-Donelan
  • 8. “Tracks are clues, the most clues a perpetrator (insurgent) will leave behind – one every thirty inches or so and as conclusive as fingerprints.” Sherlock Holmes
  • 9. Tracking Misunderstood Two Kinds: Visual Tracking Olfactory (scent) Tracking What good is it to the Cav? More to the point – why should you train under CTG?
  • 10. THE AIMS OF COMBAT TRACKING 1. By the use of individual and team skills, techniques and tactics, conduct a follow-up and annihilate:  Armed Aggressors  Insurgents, Infiltrators or Terrorists  Enemy patrols, Recon teams, and Snipers… in a speedy and aggressive manner. 2. By the use of patrolling and reconnaissance techniques, locate and follow tracks of insurgents or aggressors and destroy them. 3. During follow-up activities place such pressure upon aggressors so as to drive them into own forces ambushes or prepared positions.
  • 11. THE AIMS OF COMBAT TRACKING 4. Locate, identify and interpret tracks left by aggressor activities. 5. To ascertain the direction of flight of insurgents so as to better concentrate blocking forces more effectively. 6. To recognize and calculate strengths of aggressor patrols and formations.
  • 12. THE AIMS OF COMBAT TRACKING 7. Use anti-tracking skills and techniques enabling recon teams and snipers to move in and out of denied or hostile territory without leaving footprint evidence which may alert the enemy to our own forces presence or intentions. (*It was this particular use that seemed most applicable to the past Cavalry students CTG taught.) 8. To maintain contact with a fleeing or retreating enemy.
  • 13. SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT TRACKERS 1. Pursuit to Contact. 2. IED Detection at Range. 3. Locate arms caches. 4. Recovery of wounded personnel. 5. Counter surveillance.
  • 14. SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT TRACKERS 6. Information/Intelligence collection. 7. Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) 8. Maintain contact with a fleeing enemy. 9. Back-tracking to source.
  • 15. SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT TRACKERS 9. Routes: infiltration and investigation. 10. Counter drug operations. 11. Sensor placement/site selection. 12. Area interpretation and analysis
  • 16. SITUATIONS TO EMPLOY COMBAT TRACKERS 13. Forensic analysis. (MP/CID) 14. Border patrol: corridors and routes. 15. Clandestine ops - movement to recon, sniping or hide position. 16. Location of mortar/rocket firing sites. Would a tracker have found this sooner… or been able to clear it of IEDs before they moved in?
  • 17. Selous Scouts (Rhodesia) Koevoet (Southwest Africa) During their 7 years of existence, the combat trackers of the Selous Scouts, Army of Rhodesia (1973 – 1980) accounted for 67% of operational kills of terrorists for the entire Rhodesian military. They varied in strength from a military. company sized to short battalion sized element. The had no organic AFVs, no artillery, and no aircraft (though they could call for support). The vast majority of kills were made by boots on the ground the old fashioned way, almost always in squad sized elements—with rifles and grenades, typically against 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3 odds. This is typically attributed to: strong NCO corps (1/4 ‘stick’), innovative techniques and self-initiative (Drake shoot, pursuit over borders) and the ability to follow their enemy wherever they went and kill them. During their existence, Koevoet (a specialized unit within a civilian police agency) consistently had kill and capture rates far exceeding their military counterparts, including SOF units; primarily this is due to the incorporation of trained visual trackers in every element. If you couldn’t track and couldn’t shoot, you couldn’t go. After the murder of a family in 1979, 30 Koevoet trackers followed a band of PLAN rebels 200+ km over 5 days, stretching 2 days of food and water, fearing resupply would spook the terrs or the rotor wash would ruin the spoor (very light spoor). At the end of (very the 5TH day they killed 8, captured the rest and recovered intel that led to subsequent successful operations. This was not a fluke or a particularly exceptional operation, it was typical for over a decade. (Note: read Koevoet! by Jim Hooper)
  • 18. The uses of Combat Tracking within the US Military today. “Tracking is one of the best sources of ‘immediate use intelligence,’ information about the enemy that can be put to use immediately.” US Army Manual – FM 17 - 98. The Scout Platoon …and yet it is NOT taught with frequency (if at all), or with any accuracy, and the tracking style that is taught now is predicated on the 7-step jungle tracking originally taught by the Brits for service in Malaysia (and fhe U.S. in Vietnam), rather than the team track method taught by CTG—methods currently being used and proven in Iraq and Afghanistan, and based upon proven Rhodesian techniques…
  • 20. SPOOR – For example, ‘following the spoor.’ Spoor means a set of tracks laid upon the ground and visible to a tracker. Spoor is totally interchangeable with the words ‘tracks, set of prints, or sign.’
  • 21. FOLLOW-UP – For example, “The follow-up commenced at first light.” A follow-up is the physical act of a tactically trained tracking team, following a set of tracks on the ground made by insurgents or the enemy.
  • 22. TRACKING-TEAM – When tracking or conducting a follow-up of armed and dangerous insurgents, a five-man team is employed. A Tracking Team consists of a Tracker, two Flank Trackers, a Controller and a Rear Security Tracker.
  • 23. Quarry – Used as an alternative to ‘insurgent,’ ‘target,’ ‘suspect,’ or the ‘pursued.’
  • 24. Time and Distance Gap – The theoretical distance which insurgents could move over the ground between the time of the incident and the time which the Combat Trackers arrive to commence the Follow-up.
  • 25. Conclusive Evidence – Tracks or other evidence, left on the ground, that are indisputably left by the quarry.
  • 26. Substantiating Evidence – Evidence left on the ground which is inconclusive in itself, but taken into account with other evidence is considered as likely to have been left by the quarry.
  • 27. Active Track – Follow-up conducted while the quarry is still on the move ahead of the tracking team.
  • 28. Passive Track – Follow-up conducted when the tracks are ‘cold.’ Normally used for intelligence gathering purposes or to look for base-camp sites and other evidence of insurgent activities.
  • 29. Action Indicators – Foot, body, equipment or weapon marks left upon the ground indicating that a certain identifiable action has taken place. A skilled visual tracker can look at action indicators to determine everything from the number of insurgents being followed to whether they’re armed with rifles or PKMs or RPGs.
  • 30. If he knows what he’s looking for, the imprint of these weapons at rest (or if deployed by a prone shooter), can tell a visual tracker what kind of armament he may be facing. RPG-7s, for instance, have a very unique and easily read signature on each end of the weapon—which a tracker will see if the insurgent either rests for a moment and sets it butt-down in the sand, or gets sloppy and allows the point to drag. A shooter than goes prone will leave specific rubs and compression from the pressure of the knees, elbow and ultimately the bipod or the magazine of the weapon, etc.
  • 31. Track Line – The continuous line of observable clues visible to the tracker indicating the path of the insurgents being followed.
  • 32. Lost Spoor Procedures – A systematic and sequential set of procedures designed to relocate the spoor when it is lost. Commencing with initial procedures conducted by the Tracker, lost spoor procedures escalate into ever increasing search patterns using the entire team, but, with the proviso, – only if the Controller considers it safe to do so. The last Cav students taught by CSC utilized lost spoor procedures so effectively that they conducted a follow-up in the fastest time we’d had to date, tracking two subjects with a 40-minute head start over extremely difficult and rocky terrain (first having to locate their quarry’s starting point). It had been over a month since the last previously recorded precipitation. They ultimately caught up to and engaged the two subjects after a five-klick track with numerous direction changes and several attempts to counter-track and erase signs of passage.
  • 33. Contamination – tracks and disturbances made from anyone or anything, other than the quarry, that obscures or completely obliterates the quarry’s spoor. Examples: other peoples tracks, animal sign, vehicle tire tracks, etc. To be successful in their mission Trackers must do their best to ensure that contamination is kept to an absolute minimum.
  • 34. Natural State. – the established, natural state of the ground unaffected by any tracks or sign. The tracker seeks any changes or disturbance to the ‘natural state’ which may indicate that the quarry passed that way.
  • 40. These boot prints are several days old; they were placed when the stream was still flowing.
  • 41. Snuff (Skoal, Copenhagen), Chewing Tobacco (Red Man, Levi Garrett) and other oral eject (chewed gum, sunflower seeds) are often the easiest examples of sign by which to track or follow American troops.
  • 44. (FAUO) Taliban incident, Afghanistan late ’05 (FAUO) Al Qaeda incident, Pakistani border, Feb. ’06 (FAUO) RPG Attack, FOB in Afghanistan Joie Armstrong Murder Koldodski Murder Counter-ambush in Al Anbar province May ‘06 IED detection at range, backtrack to counter-ambush Ultimately, it’s not voodoo, it’s not even all that difficult, but it does require training and it does require practice—and it can kill “them what need killing” as easily as it can help keep soldiers alive (the most important one).
  • 46. Acknowledgments • Centurion Training Group would like to extend our deepest thanks and appreciation to our mentor, David Scott-Donelan of the Tactical Tracking Operations School, who has taken the Rhodesian tactics he learned in 30 years of counter-insurgency warfare in Africa, and melded it with modern technology and lessons learned. CTG teaches a basic Visual Track Interpretation class with Mr. Donelan’s blessing; TTOS does instruct a 100- hour, two-week Combat Tracking course for those who are interested. TTOS is on the web at www.combattracking.com.