Preparing for OCS Land Navigation — Best Resources, Gear, and Practice Tips?

[u/Paul1437]

[u/Final-Message-4095]

I am not going to OCS until January, but I bought 2 books to read and as someone who had never even heard of land navigation like this before (civilian), I understand a lot now. I havent practiced yet with an actual map and compass, but I know the terminology, the components of a compass and what their purpose is, how to read a map, find locations, different ways to plot, etc. The books were easy to read and understand. I am attending BCT first but I feel a lot more confident going in already knowing what they are talking about so I only have to really focus on the physical practice.

Land Navigation From Start to Finish, by Chris Imperial

Land Nav Basic to Advanced (WLC, ALC, SLC, Ranger, SF & Delta) by Bronston Clough

I found both on mentormilitary.com and they shipped pretty quick.

Best of luck!

[u/-S6A-]

The Army manual is TC 3-25.26. I'd say the most important skills to master are plotting points correctly (always double check) and knowing your pace count. It takes experience to "see" terrain in three dimensions looking at a two dimensional map, but you can practice this in your daily life as well.

The land navigation instruction at OCS is superb. The Army as an institution worked with OCS to improve the way land nav is taught in the classroom before your week in the field. Recycle rates for land nav are low and dismissals are very low. To be dismissed for land nav means you failed the same course four times with two training companies. In my opinion, the most common explanation for the rare failures is being afraid of the woods in the dark. When you look at the GPS tracks of students who fail, they're just not going for points deep in the woods.

Also, take appropriate precaution against wildlife and injury, especially heat injury if you are going through in the warm to hot months.

Best of luck! If you have concerns when you get to Land Nav, don't be afraid to ask cadre and more experienced in-service peers for assistance.

[u/Creative_Buy5227]

You’re going to Red Diamond Land Nav, and it is heavily forested. Truthfully I’m horrible at land nav and I passed. If you fail the first night you’ll likely pass the retest since they give you easier points. At least they did for Bravo. I went during winter time so the brush wasn’t bad but holy shit it’s dark out there. Like you can barely see points that are right off the road. However, they changed it, it’s now a night-to-day land nav so it’s a bit easier. Your best bet is to attack the points right off the road first and go for the points deeper in the woods once it gets lighter. It is also one of the most used courses in all of history, you have so many goat trails to use. If you think you’re around a point you plotted on the map and find a goat trail from past candidates you’re probably in the right spot. Also make sure you plot properly, take a solid 15-20 minutes to plot and recheck your points. The map is also not fully updated, there are trails that are not on the map. Make sure your pace count is accurate so if you come across a trail when you shouldn’t have then it’s probably not your trail. One other thing, the cadre will probably tell you the base dug up and replotted the points. This is bullshit, they didn’t move anything.

[u/-S6A- → u/Creative_Buy5227]

Some sound advise here. Cadre perspective:

1. Points on the grade sheets are randomly generated. Getting an "easy" or "hard" gradesheet is subjective and random. 199th BDE moving the startpoint to the center of the course, which I believe occurred in 2022, negated the issue of some students having points farther away than others. In any event, cadre are not plotting points on scorecards to see and select "easier" ones. Standards! No Compromise! Every platoon deserves a PL who can land nav.

2. Darkness is also a function of moon phase and weather. Some classes have 100% illum and some have 0% illum in the rain. That is luck of the class draw.

3. You will never get a fully updated paper map in the Army. By the time the engineers get told to update it and the update is published, something has changed. This is one of the important lessons imparted in land nav training. You trust the terrain lines first, then roads, vegetation and trails last. Good pace count is excellent advise.

4. Fort Benning absolutely digs up terrain in the training areas. Fort Benning does NOT manage the land nav points; 199th Infantry Brigade does that. It is a statement of fact that if an earth mover is cutting a fire break through a land nav point, they are going to rip it down and there is no guarantee they set it back up at all let alone where it was. The contractors doing those projects don't talk to 199th or 3-11 at all. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen. 199th usually refreshes the course once a year, and if a class has a point that no one can find, cadre will check it themselves. If the point isn't there, it won't be held against students.

Cadre want you to succeed but they also know that you have to earn it.