Military Tracking

Tracking a human being by the sign he leaves of his passing is a difficult skill, and some of the best training in this arena takes place in the ongoing programs run by innovative military units around the world.

This Paladin reprint gives you two military tracking/countertracking field manuals in one, from the U.S. Army Special Forces and the Australian Air Training Corps. The American manual details how Special Forces troops track anyone over any terrain, avoid being tracked themselves, and use canines in both rural and urban tracking operations. It is abundantly illustrated with photos and drawings so you can see precisely what tracks, sticks, plants, and other signs look like. Basic Visual Tracking contains the official cadet and instructor notes for the Australian Air Training Corps, organized in an easy-to-follow format. Taken together, these manuals provide an expert crash course in locating, interpreting, and following sign on the ground.

This is essential material not only for combat trackers but hunters, law-enforcement personnel, wilderness search and rescue teams, wildlife scientists and photographers, or anyone who would like to know how leading-edge military units carry out this ancient skill.

Updated September 2009 edition.