Spoor and Sign Visual Indicators

Tracking is not hard to do. Learning it can be difficult though. There is no Zen-like state to be achieved,

no plateau of consciousness to ascend, no becoming one with the Great Spirit and no tasting dirt to

become one with the earth. And no, you cannot conduct a crime scene interpretation and read ground

sign years after the crime. Save all that bullshit for someone else. It makes for good TV and

“infotainment” being presented as training. You can either see it or not. If I can see it, I can point it out

and explain it so that it can be seen by others. If I can smell it, taste it or feel it, chances are that

everyone else can too. The ability to interpret all of this sensory input and act on it is a different story

though.

One of the keys to being a good Combat or Tactical Tracker is the ability to look up the likely line and

make a multitude of observations in an instant and process them sequentially. It’s a lot like using a

photographic memory, but partially selective as well. As your eyes look at and into the environment,

they are focused in areas that support the passage of the quarry only; and not on areas that do not

support it. To do so would be illogical and just add clutter to the mental track picture.

A hasty desert shelter built by one of our SME’s acting as quarry. Would the position of the sun and subsequent shade give

you something to work with to assess the time-distance-gap when you come upon it? (the answer is yes) The photo was

taken from west to east at approximately 1300 hours.

You have to have the ability to take a snapshot, process it and move. Look up the likely line, burn your

eyes through the vegetation and look as far ahead as possible, work your focus back down the trackline

and connect the furthest sign away from you back to your position. Without going through all five of the

formal steps, this is essentially what you are to do when tracking, over and over again as you move

along on the trackline.

The reason you “burn your eyes through the vegetation and look as far ahead as possible” is threefold:

one, it relaxes your eyes. It’s like a focal stretch. Two, it forces you to macro track instead of micro

track. Micro tracking it is slow, time consuming, not tactical and tires your eyes. Lastly, in doing so your

likelihood of spotting the quarry before they spot you is dramatically increased. Spotting the quarry first

is clearly the preferred method of encounter. Second to that would be a simultaneous encounter; and

worst, they spot you first.

When tracking in the jungle, forest or brush, there is a multitude of signs to observe and interpret.

Using a reasonable approach to the tracking pursuit drill will enable you to observe sign, stay in contact

with the trackline and conduct your follow up at an acceptable speed. However, in early learning

accuracy must be emphasized first, just like with shooting. Once it is established that a person can track

and consistently remain in contact with the trackline, the pace can be picked up.

You’ll see us make reference to human behavior multiple times in this book. This is because, with some

exception, human behavior is a CONSTANT. The following TTOS truism sums up quarry behavior:

“Bad guys will use trails, roads and many other types of natural lines of drift as much as

they can, and only use the bush, forest and jungle as much as they have to or they’re

made to”.

That was a quote from one of our SME’s. It is a rule to live by, since it’s true and because it has been

validated on many occasions in real world applications. It would be great if a tracker always had a

pristine environment to track though. That would make things easy. This is NEVER the case though.

You’re always working through corruption. Some of our SME’s have previously worked as SERE

(Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) cadre too. Commonly and even after two weeks of training

students would be captured in groups walking down unimproved roads at zero dark thirty. People take

the easy way at the wrong times. It’s the difference between the hard right and the easy wrong.

So what did the quote regarding natural lines of drift have to do with this chapter? The answer is simple

and absolute. Everything you’re about to learn in this chapter will have to be accomplished within

sometimes massive amounts of corruption. You can complain early on in your training that there’s

person or animal corruption in the area that you’re working in and you’re having a hard time tracking

because of it. That’s life in the tracker’s world. Because of the previously stated rule, you will be

working through corruption, especially on natural lines of drift. As you gain experience, there should be

no more complaining about corruption. Deal with it and move forward. Tracking on a corrupted natural

line of drift is a skill that has to be a given, no questions about it.

Tracking is generally slow. NOBODY can track as fast as a quarry can flee (unless mounted). This is one

of the reasons why it is considered tactical tracking. It’s not tactical because you are moving and

behaving tactically. If you are in the field you’re already doing that. If that were the case everything you

do would be prefaced with the word tactical once you’ve stepped outside the wire (tactical walking,

tactical talking, tactical shooting, tactical shitting – loose Stripes reference). It’s tactical because there

are tactics involved. If there are tactics involved, then there is strategy involved too. Is that not logical?

It should be. It is the combination of tracking, tactics and strategy that lead to the successful conclusion

of a tracking operation, especially pursuit operations.

If you have been taught that during a pursuit operation it’s the tracking team’s job to get on the tracks,

go fast and catch the quarry, you’ve been taught wrong and the trainer is inexperienced in real world

operations and practical application. This will be a reoccurring theme that we hit on and one that needs

to be hammered home to overcome what we believe to be the fallacies that have been and are being

perpetuated.

Here is a quote from a friend in South Africa. He is one of the hardest working anti-poaching unit

instructors on the planet.

"Without considerable practical experience, no man can become an expert, but with a

little basic knowledge, well applied, most men can become "bush minded".

The role of tracking teams is to locate and follow spoor laid down by poachers with a

view to collecting information on poacher activity and ultimately providing the

apprehension/interdiction team with the location of the poachers.

The tracking team may continue to play a role within an apprehension/interdiction

operation, which will be covered within this section of the manual.”

-Rory Young, 2014 A Field Manual for Anti-Poaching Activities

Rory summed it up in his own words and those words come from experience. His sentiments also

resonate with ours (from a lot of experience), as we teach the same point of view. It is the tracking

team’s job to remain in contact with the trackline and communicate with the greater unit. This will

allow the predictive analysis to take place. The subsequent actions of the elements that will serve as the

interdiction force are guided by the tracking team. The preceding is how we explain it to students.

Not to get too far off track, for purposes of this chapter, but consider a few things. Desert tracking is

unique and different than tracking within other environments. The same can be said for the jungle.

Take for example a pursuit operation in the desert. If you’re not mounted you’re going to have a long,

long day. With nothing to stop the quarry, the follow up can go on and on. It will come down to who

can suffer the longest. The same can be said for jungles and forests too, except being mounted is largely

impractical because of the lack of road systems that would support vehicular movement.

Also, if you’re in an area in which water is critical and not readily available, profile the terrain and locate

the areas that are used as watering points. If those points are within the time distance gap, would it not

be prudent to send a team to that location to cut tracks? The answer is yes, it would be. Could you set

up on watering points far ahead on the presumed trackline ahead? Use air support to deny the quarry

access without the team being observed?

In long range reconnaissance (LRRP) mode or ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance), time is

often on your side, as long as you move with stealth and remain undetected. At this point, let’s

consolidate terms. LRRP, LRP, recon and ISR will be referred to as recce (pronounced reckie). Recce is

the term that we use frequently and everybody understands the connotation or context.

In recce mode, and given the time, you may have days if not weeks to shadow, follow and eventually fix

your quarry in a surreptitious manner. Surreptitious is a great word to use for the subject matter being

discussed in this book. Google it and read the definition. It’s possible because the team’s goal is

singular, hinging on two tasks - find and fix. If the enemy combatants are operating in a non-permissive

environment, they do not have the same freedom of movement that the tracking team does, and vice

versa. This can make the enemy’s movement slower. That’s just one of the factors. Take into account

the ability to rotate out tracking teams, always keeping a fresh team on the hunt, the enemy resting or

staging to make time-hacks (if that organized. Don’t underestimate. How many friendlies turned enemy

combatant have we trained over the last decade?), on and on. The slower the movement or periodic

lack thereof, makes closure with the enemy possible.

Conversely however, put the tracking team in a non-permissive environment. This changes the entire

dynamic. Think about it. They CANNOT be detected. They DO NOT have freedom of movement. They

HAVE to continually anti-track. They HAVE to adhere to time hacks or pull out for a comm shot. Our

Unconventional Warfare Combat Tracker Course entails all these things. For example: we have a sniper

exercise that doubles as a counter-sniper exercise to make this point. Our Ranger Combat Tracker

Course, designed for the Ranger Regiment (train in context, right?) has a similar component, but focuses

on “Expeditionary Targeting Operations”.

In this exercise, the snipers start in a non-permissive environment and stalk for four to five clicks to the

target. While they are stalking, the rest of the ODA is tracking them and trying to interdict, using any

means possible. If and when the shot is taken, the snipers slip over the border and into a permissive

environment (their country). The rest of the ODA transitions into a non-permissive environment. At

that point the instructors begin the hunt for the ODA. It’s a whole lot of fun and can go on for 36-48

hours. This is why access to the millions of acres of training area around Camp Jedburgh is critical.

For SOF (Special Operations Forces) the idea of permissiveness is important for a few reasons. A soldier

is either in a permissive environment or not. There is no semi-permissive environment, in our opinion.

You can either move freely, or you cannot. However, and hypothetically just to emphasize the point, a

unit can conduct a raid in one village that is permissive and then pursue the remaining combatants to a

village ten miles away where it becomes non-permissive.

A unit in this situation needs to be always cognizant of their environment and the signature that they

are creating and leaving behind. It was that way for the US Scouts back in 1877 and still that way now.

One Apache tribe could be, as they (Chief Pedro) would put it “good” and the others “bad” as they

would also say, in several other locations in the immediate region. They’re all still Apache, but the band

of Apache they were determined their level of penchant for killing, war against other bands, the

government or both. Learn from history, especially the history of military tracking.

Think about the Bush Wars. The tracks started in a permissive environment and it was a race to the

border to catch the enemy combatants after they struck. If the enemy made it to and over the border,

the track for the regular Army was done, later to be picked up by scouts and followed until contact was

made and the enemy destroyed. Take a look at Dennis Croukamp’s book, The Bush War in Rhodesia.

Dennis is a former scout. He’s got a great story of a recce mission in which they were compromised. He

had to flee for 120 kilometers, anti-tracking most of the way, to make it back to forward friendly lines.

Another book worth looking at is The Scatterlings of Africa.

Regarding our courses and scenarios, you have to admit we get creative for all the right and proper

reasons and that’s not the half of it either. There’s plenty more to come. We know the history of

tracking in combat settings and learn from them so you learn from them in practical exercises.

When in recce mode, you have time to find the tracks, gather info, slowly close with and fix the enemy

combatants and either take them on straight-up, or arrange for CAS (close air support), arty (artillery) or

another unit of greater numbers to finish them. Secondarily, you may not even be tasked with finishing

or arranging the finish at all. Your role may be strictly recce only, as in gathering intelligence on the

enemy, completely avoiding contact and reporting back.

Since this book is for a mixed audience, we’re not going to use terms without defining them and use

military style diagrams to graphically explain movements. This is the “every tracker” book and if it is not

clearly understandable by all, then we’ve failed in some way. We could dazzle with our grasp of military

terminology and symbology, but would rather make the book readable and understandable by all.

Let’s keep this on-point and move on to the next presentation of our plan and program of instruction

(PPOI).

TERMINAL LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Employ visual tracking techniques to identify and interpret spoor and enemy actions in a variety of

different terrains, environmental conditions, and operational situations.

ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will be able to:

1. Describe the seven changes to the natural state that enables a tracker to see spoor. 2. Demonstrate the different visual tracking methods. 3. Describe the desirable tactical/combat tracking method and the undesirable effects of micro

tracking. 4. Describe the principles of the time/shadow effect as it relates to ground spoor. 5. Describe how the use of light enables the tracker to identify and follow spoor. 6. Describe the principles of tracking.

INTRODUCTION

The key to visual tracking is to; use the correct tracking style for the environment, terrain and mission;

correctly identify and record the tracks you intend to follow; maximize the use of available light source

to detect, identify and follow spoor effectively and rapidly; and adhere to the principles of tracking.

WHY WE SEE SPOOR

Combat trackers use visual search techniques to detect changes to the natural state of the environment.

The reason the human eye can detect the tracks of an animal, human or vehicle over ground surfaces or

through vegetation is that the environment has been disturbed from its natural state. This disturbance

to the natural state of the ground or vegetation creates identifiable patterns, and or large surface area

that reflect light at a different angle than that in its natural state. This unnatural reflection of light off of

the ground and or vegetation caused by the passage of an animal, human, or vehicle enables the tracker

to identify and follow the spoor/sign/tracks. So the key for optimum performance is to manipulate

angles and maximize the available light source in such a manner as to enable the tracker to detect and

follow spoor.

If you hold your hand ten inches from the ground and can’t see a shadow, you have what is considered

“diffused lighting” (or hours of darkness). Diffused lighting is a result of the sun shining onto cloud cover

and then diffusing. You can sometimes generally assess the location of the sun above the clouds, but it

is not sufficient enough to cause shadows at any time during the day. It also means that your hours of

tracking will be reduced. In diffused lighting conditions, the jungle or forest can be much darker, once

you enter it.

We’ll cover the television show on the Discovery Channel entitled Lone Target and our role within, in a

separate chapter later in this book. However, we want to offer a couple things, one of which includes a

change we made in practice and instruction regarding lighting. The first time we formally taught it as

reasonably tactical, as far as I can remember, was in Korea to their preeminent counter-terrorism and

counter-assault team, KNP868. All of the operational members of KNP868 are hand-picked from their

military, mostly special operations forces.

Korea, much like a lot of coastal areas worldwide, have to deal with the marine layer, fog and heavy

water vapor in the air. All of these things can make the ability to see shadows problematic. Add to that

dense forest or jungle and you have a tracking problem.

This flies in the face or realm of reality for some, but yes you can use white light while tracking during

the day in diffused lighting conditions or heavy canopy. Is it optimal to do so in a tactical sense? Not

really. However, what is the mission? Is it to follow tracks or not? If you are tasked with following

tracks, you need to use whatever tool you have at your disposal to do so. If you’ve ever worked in the

jungle or dense forest you probably have an idea of what the visibility ahead is like. An SF (Special

Forces) tracker that we’ve had the pleasure of working with (as well as the entire ODA – one of many

throughout the command) partially validated our point of view in this regard.

This particular soldier, who we’ll refer to as BG, attended the Malaysian JWW (Jungle Warfare Wing)

Combat Tracker Course a couple months before he attended our Unconventional Warfare Combat

Tracker Course with us. I’ll get more into the differences between the Malaysian school and ours, and

our standard Combat Tracker contrasted to our UW course later in the book.

BG regularly used white light in the Malaysian jungle, like we have in the Philippines, Hawaii,

Washington State, Korea and Panama. His conclusion was the same. Unless you’re within ten meters of

the light source AND it is being pointed directly at you, you are probably not going to see it. However,

you will be able to see the tracks of your target, which is the whole point. We always validate internally

first and externally second.

That’s enough on that subject for now. Just know that you can use white light during the day in a

reasonably tactical fashion to achieve your chief objective – following spoor. Use it close-in (3-5 meters)

and at an angle, if possible.

“Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will

serve as a silent witness against him… Only human failure to find it, study and

understand it can diminish its value.”

-Edmond Locard

SPOOR AND SIGN INDICATORS

Spoor and Sign Indicators are broken down into two categories:

Observable Indicators: Observable indicators are those changes to the natural state of the

ground or environment, sought by the Tracker, indicating that the quarry passed that way.

Non-observable Indicators: Non-observable indicators are subtle and often no so subtle

changes to the environment made by the quarry that the Combat Tracker will not see his eyes,

but will detect using his other senses; scent, audio acuity, and sixth senses.

Ground Spoor – marks and impressions of footwear, other body parts or equipment carried, that remain on ground surfaces. Ground spoor consists of any combination of the following five characteristics:

Regularity – uniform tread patterns

Flattening – marks left by pressure on the ground from the foot

Transference – dirt or vegetation transferred by the foot from one medium to another

Color change – revealed by broken ground surfaces

Disturbance – marred or disturbed ground out of balance with the surrounding natural state.

The changes the tracker looks for are:

1. Outline – edges, outer limits, partials. 2. Shape – the form of a recognizable object such as heel, sole, tread patterns. 3. Color – shadow or color change. 4. Value – contrast, lighter or darker. 5. Texture – roughness or smoothness. 6. Shine – reflecting or absorbing light. 7. Rhythm – spacing and regular re-occurrence.

VISUAL TRACKING METHODS

There are several tracking methods or styles used throughout the world. Each has value and was

designed for a specific purpose. For the purpose of this training we will discuss three methods of

tracking; Informal or Indigenous Method, Step-by-Step Method and Macro Tracking Method.

Informal or Indigenous Method – This method of tracking is used throughout the world by hunters and

indigenous people to track game animals, and or tend to and recover livestock. These skills are usually

passed down from generation to generation, from father to son, hunter to hunter and tribesman to

tribesman.

For example, in Vietnam some of the Combat Trackers were trained by the Brits (secretly at the time)

and part of formalized CTT units. Interestingly though, we’ve found evidence that suggests team

formations were being taught by the Brits at that time; or at least they were when K9’s were part of the

tracking team. However, most of the trackers in Vietnam were indigenously trained. For example, all of

the Ranger Companies in Vietnam were assigned LRP missions and worked regularly with indigenous

friendly forces. The Jungle Operations FM lists tracking as a necessary skill. These Rangers were trained

to track by these same indigenous people. In the chapter in this book written by Kregg Jorgenson, he

will detail that process, as well as getting shot several times while tracking in the jungle.

The point is this: indigenous instruction involves following tracks in a step-by-step method, or by going

to locations known to be frequented by game animals. The same was applied to a combat setting, in

that the tracks were followed in a step-by-step fashion, and there were few procedures and tactics

beyond that. It was just a guy in the jungle with a rifle, hunting people. No formations used in the

instruction, no connection to established Army TTP’s.

Step-by-Step Method – This method is also known as “Micro Tracking or Stick Method". It was design to

ensure that the tracker never loses the track. The tracker will locate either a left or right footprint,

searches the area until he locates the next step, repeating the process until he locates his quarry. This

method is commonly used by search and rescue personnel and some U.S. Border Patrol and law

enforcement personnel. This method is useful to determine a direction of travel, recreate a crime scene

or incident site and locate spoor, but is ineffective to close the time distance gap.

The Malaysian school still teaches a step-by-step technique. For all intent and purposes (cliché, I know),

the Malaysian Combat Tracker Course is a jungle warfare course first and foremost. Tracking is taught

as a means to fight in the jungle, with jungle fighting the core. It teaches you how to track. We take

Malaysian grads and refine skill and teach them to track effectively, in all areas in which tracking can be

used. We make them track faster.

The Joel Hardin School trains tracking in the same way - step-by-step with a stick, no tactics, no

procedures, no bigger strategy beyond that. Hardin does teach a three man formation, but it is not for

tactics sake. Many schools of tracking use the step-by-step method, but we prefer to not crawl on our

hands and knees for hours. Have you ever seen the graphic of the evolution of man? It shows a monkey

and several humanoid predecessors, which eventually stand upright and walk. Tracking is the same.

Step-by-step is where it was, macro tracking is the evolution. Did the US Scouts mounted on horseback

dismount and crawl on the ground? From time to time, but for the most part they tracked while

mounted, profiled the terrain and juxtaposed that information against what they knew of the quarry in

order to take ground quickly and come into contact with the quarry. We’re not sure how we went from

mounted macro tracking to crawling on the ground. Everything goes in a circle, but I doubt we’ll be

crawling around anytime soon.

Macro Tracking Method – This method of tracking is a very aggressive style, used to close the time

distance gap as quickly as possible. The tracker identifies the furthest visible spoor, then quickly moves

up to that point, repeating the process until he locates or close with his quarry. It’s not just tracking for

tracking sake.

This is the process of straight-up (literally) manhunting. Have you ever watched the movie Last of the

Mohicans? At the beginning of the movie, you see Daniel and Nicholas chasing an elk. They are chasing

it and often running. They finally maneuver until they profile the elk’s movement and predict the

location to come after cutting its track in the creek bed. The elk comes into view and Daniel shoots and

kills it. They were tracking it the whole time, only they were using tracking as a means to hunt, but not

the only means. That’s how we want to see it done. I know the example was fictional, but it’s a common

picture that the reader can watch unfold in their mind as this was read. You will see a reoccurring

theme in this regard. Tracking is a means to hunt men, but not the only means. There are many other

techniques, when used in concert with tracking, will lead to a quick interdiction and a lot of success.

PREFERRED METHOD

In a tactical or combat tracking situation the trackers intent is to close the time distance gap in a speedy

and aggressive manner. Based on the associated dangers of pursuing an armed quarry, enemy

combative or suspect the tracker must also employ sound tactics. The tracker must constantly be

searching for the quarry, signs of enemy ambushes and/or other threats. The most effective method to

employ in a tactical or combat situation is the “Five Step Tracking Drill” (Based on the British Military

System). The original tracking pursuit drill employed seven steps. It was later whittled down to five

here in the US. These are the five that we’ve further refined and expounded on.

The Five Step Tracking Drill utilizes sound tactics and macro style of tracking to close the time distance

gap. It works in all environments, terrain and in any formation.

Five Step Tracking Drill

1. Assess general direction; look ahead along likely lines of travel, natural lines of drifts and natural gates. Burn your eyes through the vegetation. Try to see the quarry ahead. Look for the farthest sign.

2. Eliminate unlikely lines, old openings, and avenues and then finalize most likely direction of travel. The JWW school would hammer “likely, probable, suspected”.

3. Look for the furthest sign and connect the track back to last known spoor. 4. Check areas left & right for deception or ambush. This is not exactly what this step was

intended for though. If you’re looking to your flanks for an ambush, you’re already there and it’s too late. “Deception” is as a result of the tracker forcing the track after he’s missed a turn. More commonly the left and right look is used to detect a change of direction after the spoor was missed, OR after a false trail was laid.

5. Move forward as lead scout, searching vigilantly for threats. Plan your movement like a sniper stalks. See the farthest sign fifteen meters ahead, plan a movement that uses concealment as much as practical and move to the location observed to hold the spoor.

DESIRABLE TRACKING TECHNIQUE (Macro Tracking)

Optimizing the time shadow effect and using the 5 step tracker drill look ahead as far as you can see the

spoor and keep moving towards that point, continuing to scan ahead for further indicators and threats.

UNDESIRABLE EFFECTS OF LOOKING TOO CLOSE TO YOUR FEET (Micro Tracking)

Slow and time consuming.

Tracker loses the “feel” of the country and terrain (situational awareness).

Loss of visual contact with the rest of the team.

Prone to ambush and booby traps.

Results in headache and eye strain.

TIME SHADOW EFFECT

The time shadow effect is the relation of your position to the spoor and your light source. Changing

your position and placing the tracks between you and the available light source enables you to see the

reflection (or shadow) of disturbed areas and or ground spoor impressions. In optimal conditions this

will also enable the tracker to see the darker shadows and identify patterns associated with ground

spoor i.e. footwear and tire tread impressions.

This effect is more noticeable during the early morning and late afternoon hours when the shadow is

maximized by the low sun angles. As the sun rises in the sky, the shadows become more and more

difficult to see and as the sun reaches its zenith the light shines directly into the footprint washing out

the shadows. This constantly changing light/shadow pattern is known as the time shadow effect and the

tracker should maximize his use of this phenomenon.

The general rule of tracking is to always place the tracks between the tracker and the available light

source. Remember in order: eyes, spoor, and sun. Eyes on one side, sun on the other, spoor in

between.

On a side note: You’re going to the moon and then the sun. You can only take one thing to the moon

and one thing to the sun. What are you going to take with you? BG got me on that one. Months later,

and because it was bugging me, I had to send him an email for how it worked. Soldiers have all manner

of word games. That’s a good one and it has to do with both deductive and inductive logic, as well as

total nonsense, kind of like real life and sometimes tracking.

Also, google the “Five Hats and Three Geniuses” logic problem for another. That’s a REALLY good one.

It’s tough and purely deductive. Seriously, to make the deductive logic issue very clear, go and partake

in the Five Hats and Three Geniuses logic problem. It will test your reasoning capabilities.

Let’s get back to the point of this section. Daylight is the best time for tracking, however, moonlight,

ambient light or artificial light sources can be just as good as bright sunlight under certain conditions.

Regardless, most combat tracking will be conducted during the day. In regards to night tracking, we

have a specific point of view. Use visual trackers during the day and K9 at night. This will deny any rest

to the quarry and maximize the K9’s ability in cooler temperatures with more moisture on the ground

and in the air. It has to do with how scent works, how microbes grow and the way K9’s can be very

effective.

TRACKING TIMES

Most effective tracking times

Shortly after first light to around 1030 hours

1430 hours to sunset. Least effective tracking times

The hour approaching midday and the hour after midday when the sun is high in the sky.

Low light or no light tracking

Infrared

LEDs

Incandescent light

Effects of different light hues (Red, Green, Blue)

AERIAL SPOOR Aerial spoor is damage and disturbance to vegetation created by the passage of the quarry through it, from foot to head height. Aerial spoor consists of any or a combination of the following nine clues:

Crushed, broken or bent grass

Leaf creases

Crushed or bruised leaves, plants and twigs

Broken or stripped twigs or leaves

Skinned bark or knocks

Twisted or dragged vegetation or vines

Dew knocked off vegetation (early morning)

Turned over leaves showing lighter side

Vegetation “out of balance” with surrounding vegetation

Aerial spoor, for our purposes and the way we instruct it, is anything that is coming out of the ground and is growing or has grown and died. In other schools it may be referred to as “top” or “ground sign” and “bottom sign”. Bottom sign is any track in the ground and top sign is anything more than ankle high. Again though, and for simplicity sake, aerial spoor for purposes of this book and our instruction means what has been described in the first sentence of this paragraph. Beyond the Malaysian school, the only appropriate reference to be found in writing is by Bob Carss in the New and Revised SAS Guide to Tracking, where it is referred to as ground sign and top sign. Bob’s book is good and we encourage

anyone with an interest in tracking to take a look at it. If you contrast his points of view to ours, coupled with the way we teach tracking, you will see many similarities, to a point. Our current PPOI has gone beyond anything ever taught, written about or used by anyone else.

Aerial spoor is important to master. The only way to get a good start on its mastery is through the use of aging labs. A new tracker needs to be able to see, touch and smell aerial spoor as it ages in a controlled setting to get the best results and to create the most accurate mental database. However, and crucially, each potential area of operation will have different types of vegetation. Therefore it is important, as previously stated in this book, to conduct an aging lab as previously described in whatever new environment you find yourself working in. Anything less than that is considered OJT. That is a bad policy, although I learn something every time I’m out in the bush or tracking in general. Some plants are fragile, some quite resilient. Some will bruise easily, some will not. Some will break and wilt during the day and then rehydrate over night as a result of absorbing dew or very moist air. The only way to discern how a plant behaves when taken out of its natural state is through controlled observation, combined with a jungle lane and micro and macro tracking in the new environment prior to going out operationally. You can manipulate a plant while on track to index spoor. For example if you press your thumbnail into the plant, you’ll see bruising and what the color looks like when it’s fresh. Understand this, as it pertains to spoor and sign: A quarry moving through the bush at night will leave vastly more sign and spoor than he would during the day. The reason is obvious, they can’t see very well. The darker it is, the more sign and spoor left behind. However, with adequate illumination at night, quarry will often move to larger open areas, roads and trails, to continue their movement, using darkness for concealment, not the bush. In the event of a good moon, move the greater unit on to danger areas and roads ahead of the quarry. We’ve done this quite effectively in SERE schools, capturing up to five students at a time, walking on a road under a good moon. We’ve also done it in real world conditions with much success as well.

Here’s another quick real world story from SME GL that will hit all most points of this chapter in one track.

We hit the target residence at 0030 hours. On entry we could hear the sliding glass door open and hit the stops loudly and a person running on the deck. It was clear that a person had fled, but the priority was searching and securing the building. Once everything was secured, we rallied outside for a quick tactical team debrief. During the debrief, the issue of the subject that fled the residence came up.

K9 was called for, but not available. I looked at one of the new guys that I had not worked with before and told him we could do it the old fashioned way, just for fun. We went to the

deck at the back of the residence and looked at the yard beyond. At the edge of the yard we found a steep drop off that continued all the way down through the woods to a creek below. We used flashlights to cut the tracks of the subject. It was obvious where he went. After he tumbled down the soft embankment, he continued (probably like a bowling ball) through the vegetation. Rather than follow, we found a better way down and cut his tracks in perpendicular fashion, further down the embankment. The track began.

It was easy tracking because of the amount of sign left due to the darkness and the soft ground at the creek bottom. There was a slight trail following alongside the creek, but the brush was still thick on both sides and crossing on to the trail. After a few hundred meters I stopped and looked over at JH. I whispered to JH that we were really, really close to the subject and I could smell musty cigarettes and stale smelling malt liquor. We were traveling up the creek, meaning the natural flow of cool and heavy air was at our face going downhill. He was ahead of us and close. JH gave me a “whatever” look as if I was pulling it right out of my ass. I took approximately six more steps and came into direct contact with the quarry, who was hidden. He was taken into custody without further incident. The funny part was that when I looked over at JH during the contact with the quarry, he shook his head in disbelief, as if something magical had just happened. It was anything but that. The quarry later said, “Damn, you guys put a lot of work into catching people.” I told him no, not really, it’s just fun for us, not work. Within a few years I had earned a reputation as “that tracker guy” after I sacked-up many suspects in the bush. In time I had several walk out toward me with hands up, after a period of time on-track. They ruined the fun. Within time, the tracking capabilities were on display internationally and I was giving border integrity briefings to an international audience. Ovbiously, this came following many border interdictions and recce work on the border; as well as joint training and operations with the

Department of Homeland Security and our team (and training quite a few Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection members).

There’s plenty more time in the book for a lot of various stories, like cutting track for 40-60 miles every year, on foot, in the “jungle” of the PNW finding sign of incursion into the U.S. and encampments used as bases of operation for the receipt of thousands of pounds of materials moving through Vancouver Island, B.C. to the Peninsula. Those were good times. Aerial Spoor Cont’d: When plants are trodden, many things can come as a result, such as:

Bruising – bruising is a matter of pressure on plant leaves or blades. Generally it will darken in the area disturbed. The older the bruising the darker it will become. The bruise will cause the plant to die in those areas. When this occurs the bruise becomes either dark brown or black, becomes fragile and eventually a hole opens up in the shape consistent with the pressure applied. We’ve seen plants that have been trodden multiple times over a few week period of time. In that instance you have old bruising, recent bruising and fresh bruising. It is up to you to determine the age and state of the bruising.

Breakage – plants will sometimes bend and break. When they do, generally the break smells strong of the material and liquid within. It is often very bright green in color. Over time the break will darken, the plant will wilt and it will be obvious at that point that the sign is probably old, or recent at best. In a recent state one could expect very warm temperatures, which can speed the process of aging on plants.

Color in general – When grasses are walked upon and disturbed from their natural state, the appearance will vary based on the season or time of year. Grass generally will turn from green to tan or light brown within a day or so.

TREES AS AERIAL SPOOR Obviously trees would be considered growing from the ground. Therefore any sign left among the branches of a tree are considered aerial spoor. Tree limbs, like the plants described above, will bend and sometimes break. The ability to age tree limbs is quite consistent with the plants from the previous sections and the observations one can make. Sometimes branches are broken by animals and will lie on the forest floor for years without further disruption. Sometimes, however, there is further disruption and breakage may ensue. When this is the case, it can be quite easy to age the passage of the quarry and their influence on the branches on the forest floor. The pressure of a person walking on the branch will often cause it to be compressed into the ground, leaving a depression. Animals generally do not cause such an affect. Sometimes when a person steps on a branch on the ground, provided it is not large, it will break, often in two places. When the ground is soft and the branch long enough, a person’s boot may break the branch at each side of the foot, while at the same time pushing the broken piece into the ground leaving a depression. The only thing that can cause this in the forest or jungle is a person, nothing else. Now comes the factor of aging. Branches that have been previously broken will soften at the ends, as well as darken. An easy way to relatively age, or index the branch is to pick it up and break it again. Once it is broken again, compare it to the break in question. Is it dry and solid (unless the whole branch is softening)? Is it lighter or darker? These are the observations to make. Here is another near absolute: Whenever a person comes upon a linear obstacle (large branch, log, fence) the best and easiest spoor to be found is immediately before and after the obstacle. This is where the tracks will be located. The person stepping over the obstacle, or climbing through it, will cause pressure and dwell time, and often a pivot, wherein the disturbance is ground into the substrate.

With tree branches as aerial spoor remember “from the ground to head high”. Sign – Any indicator other than ground or aerial spoor. Sign consists of any of, the following:

Broken (or unbroken) cobwebs

Displaced leaves or stones

Disturbed insects nests

Animal or bird alarms or disturbances

Water splashes and deposits

Blood Spoor – Blood dropped or splashed onto the ground as a result a wound. The level of blood smears and the amount of blood will indicate the position and severity of the wound. Blood spoor consists of any combination of the following four types:

Venous bleeding; drips, drops and smears

Arterial bleeding; spurts and splashes

Lung shot; pink and frothy blood

Head wound; grey matter and blood mi

Gut shot – dark colored blood mixed with bile, very strong smell

For a graphic example of mistakes that can be made regarding blood spoor, read the training bulleting below, which was written by one of our SME’s.

BLOOD SPOOR AND LESSONS LEARNED – TTOS Training Bulletin, July 30, 2013

There’s something that I have been routinely sharing with students in both the Combat Tracking courses and Tactical Tracking Courses. This point of view is based my own experience in regards to blood spoor and how to track on it. This article will be a bit shorter than the last few since these are simple lessons learned and can be shared easily. I have said in previous articles how I am an expert at making mistakes, but also very good at learning from them and developing my personal expertise. As a trainer and professional tracker, I should also be very good at sharing those tough lessons learned toward the benefit of anyone needing such information. To illustrate, or give the back-story, I will share with you one of my blood spoor tracks that generated the most lessons learned and made others easy. On this particular track, I arrived at the ICP (initial commencement point) and noted blood on the ground from the central most scene. This blood moved in a southwesterly direction from the incident location. We got onto the spoor and started moving, quickly. About an hour into the track the blood was harder to find and the lost spoor

procedures took us from one set of blood droplets to the next. The distance between the drops was increasing as the time and length of the track increased.

Within an hour and a half of tracking, there was no more blood to follow. I had committed a cardinal sin that went against the basic rules of tracking. I did not correctly identify the tracks I intended to follow. I identified the quarry’s blood and followed it, but I had not looked at or for a single impression on the ground until there was no more blood to find. Luckily, we had pushed the quarry hard enough and quickly enough that he found himself in a predicament close to a roadway ahead and a pursuing force behind. Long story short, he rolled the dice and entered the danger area (roadway) and was interdicted by a blocking/containment force. Briefly, this is what went right: we had pursuit based on spoor left by the suspect, pressure applied by the trackers as a result and interdiction by the larger force. We did not have PID (positive ID) though. TTOS doctrine mandates that you have Pursuit, Pressure, PID and Interdiction. That was the basis of our old P3I, which is a legacy model. Now we teach our APEX model which is even more effective. We got things right enough to effect the capture, partly because we followed our own doctrine of not starting a follow-up that we could not control or stop via blocking forces or containment. But, I was wrong for starting the track without the ability to PID the quarry. Had I correctly identified the tracks at the ICP, quickly recorded them and then started the follow-up, we could have had PID when he was interdicted and detained. In this case, we had injuries consistent with the mechanism causing them, so PID was obtained, after the fact. What are the biggest lessons learned here? To me they are simple.

When tracking blood spoor from the ICP, trigger site, building, hide site, crime scene, etc., you still have to look for those key prints and correctly identify the tracks you wish to follow and record them quickly. If you do not do this and start on blood alone, there are only a few things that can and will happen. You will either find a dead or incapacitated quarry on the trackline, run head-on into a close ambush by the quarry that is now immobile and cornered, or the bleeding will stop. Once the blood has sufficiently clotted after a dressing and/or tourniquet is applied, there will be no more blood to follow, or not enough bleeding volume to effectively track. There is another variable though, you may find that the quarry that was once mobile enough to flee, is now being carried by other fighters/suspects. If this occurs you just go right back to the spoor pit of your mind, just like in day one of training; and use a deductive and inductive process to assess the actions based on the action indicators on the ground. If the latter scenario has taken place, you have the upper hand as the time distance gap can easily be closed due to the slower speed traveled by the quarries as a result of carrying a wounded comrade. One more thing happens too: the quarries are now leaving an incredible amount of spoor to observe and follow-up on. You have a spoor rich trackline, slow moving quarries and high risk. You will close with and contact these quarries and there are any number of things that can occur.

Lastly, without a clearly known mechanism of injury, treat blood spoor as deliberate sign. Deliberate sign ALWAYS means one thing primarily – Danger.

Every chance we have to share real-world information, we will, provided it is on-point and something we can talk about openly. Body Waste – Any naturally occurring matter which is produced by the human body or any substance which is placed into the mouth and then ejected or vomited out. Body waste consists of any of the following three types:

Urine – male? Female?

Feces – Old, recent or fresh?

Oral ejecta – anything spat from the mouth. i.e.., spit, phlegm, blood, sunflower seeds, dip spit, chew, tobacco products. How old though?

Let’s talk about feces for a moment. Part of the equation for a successful pursuit operation is pressure (pressure, pursuit, PID and interdiction = P3I). SME GL, for example, has been on a number of pursuit operations in which the quarry had either defecated in his pants, defecated in his pants and then took off underwear and continued, or have had to stop and defecate. Defecation is common on pursuit operations IF you’re doing them right. In one example GL was on a pursuit operation lasting more than 13 hours. At first light the air unit was up and assisting. Shortly thereafter, the subject’s tracks were cut on the far bank of a river that had recently been crossed. Once the subject crossed the river he went into the bushes and took off his underwear that were filled with fecal matter. When the feces were located it was fresh and likely a result of the pressure of the team in pursuit and the sight and noise of the air unit on the trackline ahead. The timing was appropriate for that conclusion. As the trackers pushed the quarry, he was eventually fixed by the air unit and interdicted by assisting personnel vectored on to his position. In our point of view, when a person has this happen to them they are beyond just having the fear of apprehension or interdiction in their head. They’ve realized that they are going to be caught, and soon. They feel the pressure of being hunted. For some reason the combination of the pursuit force and air support makes people shit themselves. If you are a trained tracker and have NEVER heard of these things before, your instructors were not experienced enough in real-world operations. If you’ve never seen it in the wild before, track-on and refine your pursuit operations skills. It will happen, and more than often than you think. In another instance GL saw a subject run from a parking lot and into the woods adjacent to it. While attempting to cut the subjects tracks, the subject was watching. The sight of the hunter and feeling hunted caused the subject to defecate in his pants. After the subject was contacted (he was a bad, bad actor) a short chase ensued deeper into the woods. First of all, NEVER track by yourself unless it is a passive track or a track of no threat. Secondly, the call was correct on abandoning the track and waiting for more personnel before continuing. At the location in which the subject was hiding, he had a clear field of view and eyes on the tracker for approximately five minutes at 10 meters. That is bad policy and risky. We say “don’t track by yourself” to students all the time, but for some reason they continue to do it. The subject in this story was interdicted. A photo was taken of the end result of the “pressure” he felt.

See, “it” happens (something from the archives) - 2007

IED or Booby Trap Indicators – Openly visible or disguised clues indicating that a booby trap or anti-personnel mine has been placed to injure or kill anybody who may pass by. IED indicators consist of any combination of the following nine clues:

Trip wires – shine, color, profiled location due to choke point

Disturbed ground – Holes dug, plants pulled up for camouflage

Attractive, inviting objects begging to be picked up

Protruding branches across trails – Concealing trip wires

Protruding prongs and metal spikes in the ground

Unnatural hollows or depression

Brushed out ground – Using an article of clothing to “pat out” the sign

Channeling into choke points

Unnaturally placed objects

An assortment of well-used training aids for conducting visual IED detection and interrogation at stand-off distances – MCAGCC 29 Palms, 2012

Non-Observable Indicators - The following are the types of non-observable indicators or clues sought by the Combat Tracker. The three non-observable indicators are:

1. Sent – Smells and odors 2. Audible – Unnatural noises, animal and bird alarms, insects ceasing to buzz or chirp. 3. Sixth Sense – Gut Feelings

ANIMAL AND INSECT INDICATORS

Animals and insects can sometimes give an indication of the passage of the quarry and the amount of time from the quarries passage to the trackers contact with the sign. For example, if the quarry comes into direct contact with a hornets nest, either in the ground or a low lying paper nest, they will come out aggressively; stinging anything moving in site (this means you too. Bee sting allergies should be taken seriously and part of the safety briefing for everything. If someone is allergic they HAVE TO HAVE an “epipen” with them at all times).

Hornets/bees will remain stirred-up and aggressive, sometimes up to thirty minutes after contact, depending on the damage done to their facilities. Count on anywhere from 10-45 minutes as a solid bracket. This means that the hornets will be contacting you well away from the nest during that period of time. However, some hornets are aggressive during certain times of the year. But, they generally will not contact you unless you are just about right on top of the nest, feet away.

Birds are another indicator. In an area that is frequented by humans, birds will sometimes follow them. The reason for this is lunch time. During mid-day, birds will follow or flock around people in the bush or scrub-desert (desert that is vegetated). This observation was made when training Marines on Camp Pendleton. It was a secret we kept to ourselves until week two of the training. The quarry could be detected at a distance by their “entourage” of crows that circled them until they moved on. Once the quarry moved on, the crows would land where they were and find any food left behind. Even if it was just a package, they would come down and thoroughly investigate.

Blue Jays are another “bird alarm” source of information. Generally, when Blue Jays see an approaching person(s) they start to cry out. When this happens, the Jays in the immediate area will congregate and all sound the alarm. There are many birds that will do this, but it is up to you to learn this through becoming attuned to your environment that you will be tracking in. That environment or AO can be in the U.S. or any country you may find yourself in.

Trackers should learn the activity of small and large game held within their environment. Are they nocturnal, or diurnal (day active)? Or, does it vary depending on season and the weather? Some big game animals, such as deer, are generally nocturnal, to a degree. They will lay-up during the day, in cover, and come out in the evening to feed. In inclement weather they will change their routine, and become more active during the day. The answers are that it depends on the weather and what continent you’re on.

Rather than go into exhaustive detail regarding animals, their location on the planet and the effects of weather on their movement, we leave it to a class by class basis. For example, we have a course coming up for several SOF units that will be relieving counterparts in Africa. We will go into detail about the animals and time of movement, such as Impalas, painted dogs and so forth. The reason for this is bracketing the TDG (time distance gap) on animal corruption. If the track of a nocturnal animal is on top

of your quarry’s track, then it was made after their movement from either feeding or sleeping areas. Depending on the time in which your observations are made, the tracks could be mere hours old or up to 12-24 hours old.

THE PRINCIPALS OF TRACKING

1. Correctly identify (conclusively is ideal) the target tracks for pursuit or follow operations.

2. Correctly identify and record your position and spoor at the start point (ICP)

3. Never contaminate Last Known Spoor.

4. Never overshoot the Last Known Spoor (LKS).

5. When following spoor, always seek evidence to confirm you are on the correct tracks.

6. Always know exactly where you are.

7. Always keep in visual contact with team members.

8. Always anticipate what your quarry will do.

9. The Tracker sets the pace of the follow-up.

10. Never “Force” a track to conform to your own preconception.

SUMMARY

Tracking is a system, utilizing the correct method, working with the time shadow effect and the

principals of tracking will enable the Combat Tracker to Identify, Interpret and Follow the quarry

regardless of topography or environmental conditions.