Scout learning STRUCTURE
The craft and skill of a scout are assimilated where an Scout lives and works. Therefore, they are always in the field. In other words, learn while adjudicating trail of a quarry.
I follow the Socratic method of learning. Scouts learn on own and Chief of Scouts is a guide. Or, mutual exchange. The Japanese call this Garyujutsu-self-taught method.
It does you no good to just take “another’ course in this modern world. In native warrior culture of upbringing and studies, we judge each other by feats of bravery and daring. It is called “counting coup.” Have you ever heard the motto “Who Dares Wins.” Or, “The only easy day was yesterday.”
The skills of the scout in development must target an end state. Without that you won’t be able to count the ultimate “coup.” So, every scout must test their skills in nature.
Let me tell you why? I have been on the trails of thousands of animals and humans, “alone.” My team was never there in full. Everything depended on me, my eyes, and my mind, and my judgement, my own survival & defense. When I testified, my team was not there, it was only me. I could not rely on anyone most of my career as a US Marshal Mountain Hawk Scout. The scout, and thus tracker, is always "alone" on-trail and always in their mind.
Therefore, you must have supreme confidence in your skill, what it can do, what it cannot do. The trail is the teacher and nature never lies. That trail will look you in the eyes and defeat you unless you can master yourself, your skill, and live WITH nature and NOT against Her.
Now, this did not mean that I was “alone” in the mission. Just the trail!!!! Thus, thousands of distractions. The way of the scout must be learned thoroughly. You will be introduced in a training course @ my SCOUT TRACKING OPERATIONS SCHOOL, or by reading my SCOUT-TRACKER GUIDE to just one tier of the Government Scout and within this one tier—the NATIONAL STANDARD for a Scout Tracker competency.
VISUAL TRACKING MODALITIES – SCOUT METHOD:
o Search - Micro Analysis
o Pursuit - Macro Analysis
The scout sees, reads, interprets, and acts. All other elements in contact must then react.
LEARNING TO TRACK
Learning vs. Practice vs. Training
• What can be learned through direct instruction (Formal)?
o Knowledge of quarry behavior, environment, and track and stalk.
• What cannot be learned through direct instruction (Formal)?
o Ability to use it.
Only through long hours of personal practice and experience will you be able to have the instinctive ability to use it.
• Indirect Instruction (Informal)
o Knowledge gained informally is personally assimilated more easily.
This really means that you have to teach yourself. The Japanese call this Garyujutsu-The self-taught method as I mentioned above. Primitive cultures naturally learn through mentoring.
Old Expert Scout Patch
The ST is a master of the environment. The ST observes the terrain and puts eyes on the enemy. The ST must be able to report exactly what they observe. Scouting also requires expertise in the use of weapons (firearms, knives, and improvised), unarmed-close combat, survival in hostile environments, use of map and compass, cover and concealment, the selection of routes, stealthy movement both day and night and use of communication equipment.
The ST must work alone and as part of a bigger element. If the enemy cannot be found, the commander cannot engage the enemy in combat or direct an apprehension in law enforcement. The job of the ST is to find the enemy or criminal element. The use of modern technology (night vision, infrared equipment, etc.) must be employed. However, the ST never compromises the old ways to the expense of the mission. The ST must rely on age-old techniques of reading the ground, following spoor, and hiding in any environment to gather the information necessary to accomplish the mission of the commander.
ST’s are the ghosts of the modern battlefield in all its varieties and must be able to work with the nature available to blend in and disappear from the sight of anyone friend or foe. If the ST is seen the mission is compromised and oft times the ST and STT will die. It is critical for the ST to be the environment that must be worked. Detailed studies by topographic maps, aerial surveillance photos, and eyes-on human intelligence must be a part of all the ST does. The ST is often required to work in an environment that they have never been in. This requires the ST to spend as much time in the terrain in question in order to blend or fit in with all of nature.
My early life was such an education. I lived the life of a scout. I was a scout. I am now, and always will be a scout. My whole life has been about acquiring the skills necessary for scouting and living with nature to understand the nuances of all wild places. I have throughout my life never failed my trust in the units or agencies of the U.S. government that I have worked as well as the tribal, municipal, county, and state governments that have needed my scout skills. The ST skills must be utilized. I have developed and/or used my natural and acquired skills for the past fifty years. I will always use my skills for the betterment of this world in which we all live.
I must draw particular attention to my father who inspired and counseled me in the arts of the soldier. SFC Dennis R. Cunningham, a former infantry non-commissioned officer taught me the lessons of life necessary for me to excel at the game of soldiery and the ways of the scout. It is to him that I give credit for who I have become. Also, to my mother, Ruth Inger Johanna (Noreen) Cunningham, who gave me the Swedish/Norwegian/Saami ancestors from our homeland in the northcentral mountains of Sweden, to which my innate understanding of nature has stemmed, thus stirring and motivating my development.
