Course AARs

Recently, I held a Fieldcraft class at the Brushbeater Training Center in North Carolina, followed immediately by NC Scout’s Scout & Recce Courses. We planned it this way, because NC Scout and I felt that the skills learned in my Fieldcraft class would directly benefit people taking the Scout course, which then builds into the Recce course. We were right, according dozens of folks who have now taken both. In this article, we’re going to give an after action review of what worked, what didn’t, and what changes have been made to the curriculum in response to world events.

First, if you thought that me holding the class in NC meant no snow, boy were you wrong. It snowed for the whole Fieldcraft class, pretty hard at times. This added realism to the course and enabled guys to learn some different skills that only apply when there is snow on the ground. Also, we only had one guy drop due to the weather (not his fault – he had to re-assure his wife). You have to train even when the weather is bad for a few reasons. One, you won’t get to put off local community security operations or a resistance campaign because the weather isn’t perfect. Two, bad weather means reduced visibility, both to the human eye and to thermal/IR imaging. Learn to love bad weather.

Let me address an issue I hear ALL THE TIME. People talk about how “it’s not fighting season”. This is a dumb idea people got from the GWOT. Sure, in AFGHANISTAN there is a fighting season because fighters couldn’t get through the mountain passes in winter. The Taliban and other groups were largely FOOT MOBILE or traveled in older, beat-up vehicles. That is NOT the case for the vast majority of the western world. There is no fighting season. Fighting season is every day, especially if we are the “resistance”. We want to take advantage of those invading Chinese troops being distracted by the crappy weather as we infiltrate their bases. Also, Sun Tzu taught that we should attack when it appears that we are unable to.

Back to the AAR, the students did a great job in Fieldcraft. They didn’t complain about the afternoon spent crawling on their stomachs and backs. They even enjoyed stalking each other in the woods and camouflaging their equipment. On the second day, I loved seeing guys “get it” when I taught them resection, or finding yourself on a map by shooting an azimuth to terrain features you can see. Once someone learns that with a good map and good compass, they can find themselves within 10 meters anywhere in the world, it’s empowering.

On the day land nav course, there were a couple of folks who learned the hard way that you can’t have any metal near your compass. Being off by a couple of degrees, even with only 200 meters traveled can mean that you don’t find the point you are looking for. No one got lost though and everyone had a great time walking NC Scout’s ridiculously hilly terrain, in an absolute blizzard. That was another good point to the weather – these guys had to pick out landmarks that were in and out of view based on the amount of snow coming down. If you can do it in a blizzard, you can do it on a sunny day.

Night land nav was a little more challenging and at least one team learned that even if your thermals have an electronic compass in them, verify the reading with a magnetic compass. They found a variance that got larger as the batteries drained. Again, over-reliance on tech is a bad thing. Sure, use enablers, but also learn to do it without them. Enablers are a SUPPLEMENT, not a replacement. Despite me forcing them to cross a stream twice in the dark, no one got wet.

On the final day we practiced linear danger area crossings and built tarp shelters. Everyone really enjoyed these skills and picked them up quite quickly. As usual, the tarp shelter exercise teaches people the difference between genuine military gear and “military-style” gear. It’s worth the extra money to get actual military gear, because those “military-style” ponchos are significantly smaller, thinner, and don’t have reinforced grommets (or as many grommets). The tarp exercise also teaches how easy it is to defeat thermals, as we always bring thermals along on that exercise.

The Fieldcraft course is not just for folks without military experience. I teach techniques that I’ve picked up from our British, Canadian, and Norwegian partners that I learned on exercises with them and things I picked up after my service time through the executive protection/private military contractor world. I also teach skills from other services around the world that aren’t taught to US troops.

We rolled right into the Scout course the next day, where NC Scout went even more in-depth on camouflage and concealment. During his camouflage period of instruction, he breaks out thermals and shows that with good light infantry skill, you can defeat thermals or at least significantly reduce your signature to that of the natural background.

One of the biggest and most current-world relevant changes NC Scout has made to the Scout Course is the incorporation of drone detectors into the course. He requires each squad to appoint one person as the air guard and issues them one of his fantastic drone detectors. Throughout the course, someone had to constantly be alert for drones. The battlespace is evolving, and we need to as well. Having a drone detector or spectrum analyzer up and running is a new fact of life on the modern battlefield.

Handheld Drone Detection System

The students learned to set ambushes and learned how to react to an ambush. The biggest learning here is that reacting to an ambush is a losing proposition. It is far better to do onto others than to be done onto. Sure, learn how to react, but it is FAR better to detect the enemy first and avoid contact. As NC Scout teaches, as partisans or guerrilla fighters, our job is to choose where and when the fight happens, not let our enemy dictate that to us.

Night operations were covered, and everyone learned the value of night observation devices and/or thermals. I personally carry both in my kit. I use the NODs for movement and pull out the thermal when I take a knee to scan. My brain doesn’t work well enough to use a bridge mount and both.

The Scout course culminated with the students scouting out and advancing on two objectives at the same time and an epic battle ensued. While I got the first rounds in on our part of the epic final battle, I did end up dead halfway down a ravine, holding off the students so that my OPFOR teammates could get away to reinforce our other position.

The courses are a great way to learn. Fieldcraft will teach you individual and team movement while the Scout Course covers basic small unit tactics. Recce goes into some more advanced applications of small unit tactics. The trio of courses will get you well on the path of becoming a skilled light fighter. But, you can’t just take the courses and be done. You have to get reps in. Keep training and practicing the skills learned.

You can find my training schedule right on this site under “Training Courses”. NC Scout’s can be found at the Brushbeater store (just click the underlined part).

We look forward to seeing you in class. FYI, NC Scout will be in Montana May 16-26 doing his RTO, SIGINT, and Night Fighting Courses and I will be doing Community Security Operations. There is a rumor that K from Combat Studies Group may make an appearance and toss in a class as well.

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