 Checking In |
 Splitting Into Teams |
 Welcome to Night Nav! |
 Chief's Safety Briefing |
 Trainer's Brief |
 Strategizing |
 Command Post |
 Mapping Routes |
Pictures and training report by Tim Nutter
October's training, Night Navigation, kicked off at dusk near New Hightower Church west of Canton for the all-volunteer Cherokee County Search and Rescue (CCSAR) team. A lost group of runners earlier in the afternoon was lucky to bump into CCSAR trainers, setting up for the night’s training, who handed out maps and pointed the runners back to Boling Park. Crisscrossed by trails along the north bank of the winding Etowah River, this area is part of a larger network of Boy Scout maintained trails leading from Boling Park toward the Georgia National Cemetery. It consists of confusing clusters of low hills and dense forest; underbrush reduces visibility even under the best of conditions. CCSAR members would tackle a roughly 1500 square meter area after dark.
By 6:00 PM, with the Command Post (CP) set up, most members had arrived and began gearing up for the night's training. Eventually 13 checked in; this was the first training exercise for two new members. It was still light out as the safety briefing got underway. Then the CCSAR trainer broke everyone up into Strike Teams (two per team) and began the training brief.
Night Navigation began with two dead reckonings: a compass bearing for a specific distance (e.g. 123 degrees for 460 meters) to find a 4" X 6" orange metal plate secured to a tree on which a unique number was stamped. Then Strike Teams would navigate to three sets of map coordinates. Strike Teams plotted the coordinates on topographic maps, calculated the compass bearing and determined how far to walk. Then, they would count their paces following the compass bearing in the dark to find another orange plate on a tree up to 500 meters away. When completed, Strike Teams had to find their way back to the CP by midnight; this totaled six navigation points.
By 7:00 PM, each Strike Team had their instruction cards listing two compass bearings and distances and three sets of map coordinates. Maps were pulled out, oriented and bearings plotted amid last minute gear checks. After checking out at the CP and completing one last radio check, Strike Teams disappeared into the darkening forest in five different compass bearings. Every 30 minutes, the CP called each Strike Team for safety and status checks. Strike Teams called the CP with the numbers found on the orange plates when they reached their respective coordinate locations.
By 11:30 PM, the first teams filtered into the CP. Within an hour, the rest had made their way back. All had managed to navigate off trail in the dark for more than 5 hours to find 6 points on a map. Most had found all of their orange plates. With all Strike Teams accounted for and no one injured or lost, Night Navigation Training was successfully concluded!
See www.cherokeesar.org for more information on the Cherokee County Search and Rescue Team.