Author Dan Johanknecht has written a book titled ‘Channelized Terrain Tactics: Basic Navigation Training’. The first book in the CTT series, Basic Navigation Training serves as a navigation primer written to assist the user to learn and refresh the skills needed for land navigation with map and compass. The author has provided an excerpt from the book, which can be read below:
Fix your position
I traveled to foreign countries or into international waters for years for various contracts, and every trip reinforced the fact that my job (and maybe my life) depended on keeping track of my position as accurately as possible. Each contract required situational awareness using some sort of navigation process. Whether I was on a ship or in a crowded van, I used both technical and “old school” methods from stars to local cell phones to pinpoint my location. Once back home, I trained in search and rescue in a region that has GPS blind spots due to extremely dense terrain and deep slot canyons.
My notes led to this short book on navigation in channelized terrain – using basic methods. Channelized terrain is found worldwide, formed by plate action and erosion. It steers you–channels you–through its own route whether you are walking on a ridge top, river valley, or along the irregular ground in between.
Most Americans have a smart phone, and most smart phones have a GPS feature, but we all know batteries drain. There are even some foreign customs checkpoints that disallow individual GPS units on entry. Many well-traveled and highly trained people will tell you to bring a map and compass on your foray, but first you must know how to use them. This book will walk you through a few processes, using a Case Study method, to fix your position and prep before deploying. It’s been my experience that if I don’t practice this skill, I could forget or confuse some steps in the process of fixing my position – especially since land navigation is one of those sciences that a number of methods and tools can be used to arrive at the same answer. Land navigation is the epitome of a perishable skill – this book is my study guide on a topic, that despite all my years of intense training, I still need to study.
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