Snipers seem to get a lot of attention; be it the "lone gunman" fantasy, media concoctions capitalizing on this, or on a more professional level, the fear that the trained marksman can instil in an opponent. Frequently among "other" circles, it creates a highly Walter Mitty-ish atmosphere and chatter. Such talk is annoying and silly. …
An OSINT primer
Much of what will appear on the battlefield-to-be is currently on display for anyone paying attention. Are you? If not; you should be. We call this Open Source INTelligence. It used to be common occurrence that everyone watched the local news at 5 or 6, followed by the national news. You got a version of …
Planning your Footprint
Your "footprint" is simply your area of operations/influence/control/ability to react, etc. In short, an area where you can do something directly about things that are happening. There are many layers to this cake; it's three dimensional just like everything. H/T to JJS/AMRRON for posting this tool: http://obeattie.github.io/gmaps-radius/?radiusInput=125&unitSelector=mi I'll expound a bit to it's uses. Communications …
A primer on NVIS
H/T to KV5R... http://kv5r.com/ham-radio/nvis-antennas/ For beyond line of sight, 100% in your control communications, nothing beats NVIS. Read and take notes. More info on putting it all together coming later.
Signal Operating Instructions (SOI) For The Tactical Environment
A great example of writing the Signals Operating Index by an expert in the field. Read and Heed folks.
Building the Scout Team
No man is an Island. There's a popular meme that's repeated over and over- the Lone Cowboy, the Lone Mountain Man, the Lone Sniper, etc, etc. That's all hollywood fluff. If you want to survive in a non permissive(READ: very hostile) environment, it takes a team. Sure, Jack Hinson may have done some damage...but in …
CAMP COMMS
Short, sweet and to the point. Read and heed.
Communications realities for dummies
Not everyone is a Commo guy. I got it. Not everyone with a rifle is an effective bullet chucker either. Remember this. "You know what a Infantry Scout really is? A high speed radio dude with a rifle." - A LRS TL, somewhere, someplace. I'm not a commo guy. But I recognized it's importance long …
Communications Basics for Small Units
As you might've guessed we're going to start from the ground and work our way up discussing some reality based lessons along the way. As a Scout you're going to be working in a 360 deg hostile environment and usually outside of the overt support of adjacent units. Your communications will reflect this. All follow …
The Foundation
Shoot, Move, Communicate.... We're taught that these three elements make one combat effective. It's true, plain and simple. If you can't do one, you're ineffective. But like everything in life, it's never just this simple; this is what's required of every person in the combatant element, and it does not make you anything more than …