Agree on bringing multiple protractors. Recommend prepping them before hand by stringing a piece of 550 gut through the center to easily plot azimuths.
I remember 55 gallon drums at each point. When someone made it to the point they would lightly bang on the drum to help others that may have drifted a few hundred meters off their azimuth. There was a 15 foot Gator in one of those ponds out there. Go in the winter time, less vegetation. I have to admit the SF selection Landnav trek was harder(this took the place of team week) My first point was 25 klicks, 2nd was 21 klicks, 3rd was 18 klicks… and so on. The total movement was a little under 90 klicks. And they were kind enough to give each soldier a sincgars radio and 4 batteries. Fun Times!
"Working towards your goals" I sure am! This channel really inspired me. I found the biggest set of stairs in Seattle and put on a timer and just put in the work for two hours. Small potatoes for what the Soldiers have to do, but I ended up with 17 sets, 34 trips up and down. Next time I'm hoping for 20. Thank you for the inspiration!
Graduate of Class 01-21: Lost my protractor on LandNav Day 1 while moving to my furthest point 1st trying to terrain associate. Found 0 points!! Have a way of securing your items and double check before you step out!2nd Day results; shortest point 1st, dead reckoning = 4 out of 5 points GO. Then had the luxury of attaching a red chemlight to my ruck sack for the 12-miler. Wish I had your advice before I went. 100% and Then Some!! RLTW!!
The absolute best piece of advice you gave there, though there were many, was NEVER QUIT! That is the number one thing that any instructor will look for. The fact that the student/soldier or oppo will never quit. Knowing that the person beside you will never give up will give everyone around them absolute confidence.
the Night Portion of LAND NAV is always more fun and also Easier because your trusting the compass and the Pace count and if you did your compass Declination properly you will be GOOOD TOOO GOOOO!!! it' not difficult {Unless your a second Liutenant then it's the hardest thing you've ever attempted in your life}
1-90, we lost Ranger Preyor on the night land nav course. Entire Ft Benning searching the land nav course and the woods around it for that Muldoon for 3 days. They found him 50 miles away walking along rail road tracks. His name became a meme for anyone who couldn't navigate at Ranger School...."Dude your pulling a Ranger Preyor". At least he got us out of 2 nights of Hand to Hand combat, that shit was vicious.
Rangers are the best Soldiers in the Army in My opinion. I served 21 years in the Marines I was a SSgt. In the Field Artillery community but did many many other things to include M.C.M.A.P. I.T. / P.M.I. / and Infantry Mortars with a grunt company at Fort polk for 30 days. for J.R.T.C. {fun training experience}. LAND NAV IS AN ESSENTIAL SKILL THAT ALL INFANTRY/ ARTILLERY type Soldiers and Marines MUST LEARN AND try hard to Master. Land Nav courses are really well done in most cases.
About 2 weeks ago I was approached by my new CO and asked if I wanted to go to ranger school in January... like 2 weeks from now. I of course said yes and have been scrounging to get everything off my packing list together. I was just about to get a rangerpack and I saw that you had uploaded this video, I watched it when it was newly posted "1 hour ago" and thought to myself. Nah I shouldn't comment, probably won't win. But my wife is pushing me to, thankfully I have her. Hoping to knock out ranger school then middle of next year go to SFRE then on to SFAS. Best wishes, thanks for all the tips.
Put this on your packing list: Make sure your family is self sustainable. Make sure all bills, are auto pay if possible. Is Family close by or visit often. Unit family readiness group help? All contact numbers. Leave your family a continuity book and Explain in detail, everything you’ve been doing to maintain your house and family. Is your car/transportation reliable? Scrounge and train….train hard!
Great video Ranger. Although I'm just a 11 bang bang by nature, I will say this to the army's credit lol. No matter what your MOS is the real land nav test begins when you get deployed to theater and have to set up a LP/ OP in the middle of nowhere in a hot zone/ combat zone. Anyways Charlie Mike great Land NAV advice lol even though I'm not the best at it lol hooah Rangers lead the way ...✌🏿
Loved the Land Nav at RGR School (1985). Did more at BN, helped set it up at FT Lewis. Then at SF Phase 1, loved the Land Nav. Then,... um,... land nav at MSC officer basic course... um... they paired people up... and... um... I thought, "whaaat?!" Luckily, the NCOIC of the course let me go alone. AMEDD officer advanced course, paired up again and the NCOIC wouldn't let me go alone because the other officer (CPT) was "very unsure" how to do Land Nav. Great video, brother. Thank you! RLTW!
I don't know about the jogging thing. If you are good at land nav, walking (fast) should be fine. I walked mine and passed first time go. That being said, I trained in Hawaii, where the land nave course was split by 2 sizeable valleys. Points were hidden deep in the woods. Lots of "jungle." This made Ranger School land nav relatively simple for me. I wanna say I had 4 of 5 points before sunrise, or right at sunrise. The last point was an issue, but I don't remember why. I just remember going back to point four, replotting, and trekking it out again. But I just don't remember ever jogging. It was not a tactic I ever liked using during land nav anywhere. It is much less complicated for me to stride it out and go with less complications while I count. Terrain association is also something I was really good at though. (TO BE FAIR AND HONEST: I did NOT pass Ranger School. I went in the Winter. Cold Weather injury in Darby. That, and my 150lb self was overwhelmed. Haha! Finished the phase, sent home, with much protest from me. But, I dominated RAP week, the ruck to Darby, and Darby Queen was pretty fun for me. The lack of food and sleep, not so much.) Moral of the story, get GREAT at land nav and you can treat the morning like a stroll in the woods. Also, if you are a twig, just keep pushing and be smart. You won't be the best pack mule, so try to find other ways to assist. And try to avoid the winter if possible. You will freeze to death. Ha!
Learn to plot points on and read a map. Learn to use a compass and shoot an azimuth. And know your pace count and how to walk a straight line. No rocket science involved here, or there would be a lot less rangers. Class 06-06. RLTW!!
extra compass, extra headlamp and if possible extra map, I have a decent knowledge of land nav and I grew up near arctic circle where we have months when everything is covered in snow (having 1.5m in a weekendisnotunknownso covered is accurate), believe me, navigation in that at night (we get two hours of twilight around noon mid winter or if cloudy slightly less then pitch black). that certainly hammer home the pacing and compass work. have had to dig to find the roof of a cabin, so what path? stream? at best a large hill if drifting snow doesn't obscure it.
FYI, you CAN use interior roads and firebreaks and the course IS self-correcting. Grids are on the back of the clipboard tied to each point. I personally recommend using roads and jogging to an attack point (intersection, creek crossing, sharp bend, etc.). From there, you should only have to dead reckon a couple hundred meters at most to find your point. Cheers
Appreciate the response Dan. When he said you couldn't use interior roads my stress level went up a little. I love Land Nav, but I'm all about using the roads lol.
Where were you 30yrs ago? I had just gone through PNOC and gotten my CIB when I went to RIP and Ranger School so my mind was used to the pressure of wanting to be the best in my class, but land nav was my biggest challenge! #RLTW 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
Damn. Im in OSUT rn. I did red diamond land nav course already. But we used the roads. The drill sgts told us to and encouraged it. With you saying that isnt allowed definitely changes things. I do pre ranger and then ranger school after OSUT.
@@alfiel.1213 so you can still use the roads in ranger school. But only the ones inside the course. Cant use the boundary roads. Also, i got dropped from the course a month and a half into pre ranger during RTAC. I loved it tho imma go back.
Cool video. I think would have helped to include the ranger pace counter. I didn't use it for my EIB but I know it comes in handy. Looks like Ranger LandNav is a bit harder than the EIB one. I got my EIB and thank goodness both day and night I pass although the night one was really difficult, got 2 out of 3 which was passing.
Could you please make a video or provide some directive on making a low-profile and quick-to-set up hooch to sleep under when it's raining and you're in your sleep system?
Obviously not a video but easiest method we used for when you are on 33% security (typical once patrol base activities are complete and you’re “done” for the night): you and two Ranger buddies take one poncho with 550 cord tied through the gromets on each of the four corners. Find four trees near your security position close enough together to stretch it between. Tie the corners to the trees, prusik knots work best/are prettiest but are slow. If it’s starting to rain just tie whatever you can fast, securely, and effectively. Bottom line you want the poncho stretched tight as possible with one side/2 corners a little higher than the others so water can run off it. High side should maybe be 20-24 inches off the ground, low side 16-18. Much higher than that RIs might make you take it down for being non-tactical. Take a second poncho and put it underneath so you aren’t lying directly on the wet ground in your sleep system. Take the third buddy’s poncho and put it over your ruck sacks to help keep them from getting totally soaked. If you can fit them under the hooch, great, but there probably won’t be room. Recommend the two not on security climb into the sleep system together for shared body warmth.
If you haven’t lost your map and compass you’re still good. The side of the compass has a ruler. Blank paper, and your map data at the bottom make shift protractor.
Hey Sir, Just wanted to let you know your videos helped make my decision on going to ranger school. Just started the program to get an edge on everything. I’ll have to wait around a year due to my next assignment being over seas. Do you have any advice on being an MP going to ranger school? Heard they hate the MPs and get peered out a lot. No matter what I’m gonna put in the work and get my tab.
You won’t get peered out just for being an MP, So don’t worry about that dot just make sure you are physically ready to take on rap week, brush up and get decent at land nav, And definitely practice the RTTs. Don’t worry about tactics or anything like that will teach you everything you Need to know as far as that goes while you’re there so just make sure you pay attention and keep an open mind. Be a good battle buddy and a good team player throughout your entire time there and you’ll be good to go!
When I went for my EIB, i passed night land nav, cuz they gave us are starting point, but the day, I messed up on my starting point,and only got 2 /5, so I failed day,but passed night.
do you have a actual list of all your recommended items from all your videos? maybe like a break down for which phase you'll need said items for? IE clipboard under land nav section
also Gritty, can we have a video on caffeine consumption for people who are training? or do you have any videos about it already? should we be using it or no? just in general nothing specific?
@@HeyMikeyLikesIt2 for sure boss! need a secondary waiver approved due to my background i graduated in juvinile hall my recruiter said no where in the books can i not join, just will take one to six months to approve plenty of time!
Hey Gritty, are you in the Ranger Regiment as well? I was considering option 40 and I would love to hear you talk about passing RASP and everything I should prepare for. RLTW!
Ranger Regiment has the best graduation rates of of all the units that send troops to Ranger School. Some 75th guys think RASP is harder than Ranger School because RASP is more of a selection. Other Army Rangers thought Ranger School sucked more. All agreed if you get through RASP, you have better odds of passing Ranger School compared to other soldiers.
Ho there gritty😅, I'm from a country consisting of whimps, softies, couch potatoes and weak people😂 (a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean) So real outdoor stuff is hard to find here. I've been looking for a real good military protractor like you showed but they are nowhere to be found. Could you please send me a link to where I can find one on internet? I bought the one you showed (the wrong one) but like you said (in my own words) it's a piece of 💩. I hope you can help me out man .... All the best to you.....
Center hold, then pick a spot well ahead of you…..and run. keep it away from your weapon and any other metal on your body. Listen for others out there…I’m sure there are 500 students doing landnav….and you better pass the first time, because if you do it over. They’ll be less students out there. Then you’re by yourself, and that’s when Bigfoot is on your azimuth.
@@HeyMikeyLikesIt2 oh lord. I don’t like doing night land Nav all alone any how 😰 I do remember some poor dude got a stick through the eye. Apparently he was calling for help for some time.
When I did the testing course in RTAC I didn’t do good and got the boot but I realized my mistakes . I tried going for my closest points first while it was dark and it didn’t work for me twice, only one time cause there was a red lense nearby. But I start RAP this Sunday so would it be best to try going for my closest ones again ??
Would you happen to be a Rappel Master sir? I am RM certified and my unit wants to go to the tower but I haven't done any RM tasks since the course awhile ago. I have looked at the TMs and everything but for some reason they aren't helping me remember exactly how to set up the tower and stuff. If you or someone in the comments could help it would be greatly appreciated.
How do you manage land navigation when it starts raining really hard? I've never done land nav in the rain so I can envision myself with rotten luck it pouring during RAP week and all my points vanish on the map and my paper crumbles up when I'm in the middle of the course and then I panic because I no longer know where I'm at.
@@GrittySoldierArea J and Area K on Bragg are extremely easy Land Nav courses considering the Fire breaks..you’re saying those are good train ups? I want to go to RC after I graduate BOLC
If I remember right, you have to stay 100m off the roads… I could be wrong about that but I’m pretty sure. You can’t just skirt the roads if that is what you’re asking.
