In this three day course, students will learn guiding principles and best practices for modern reconnaissance operations. Reconnaissance assets are the eyes and ears of any organization, and well trained teams that understand the seven principles of reconnaissance, the PPPPRRESSS model, the seven reconnaissance mission sets, and the six reconnaissance strategies are crucial to getting the information needed for sound decisions.
This course was designed to be the logical follow up to Strategic Community Defense, a problem solving tactical scenario where students have to make decisions with limited information and real world consequences. Just as every military commander in history has found, the students in that course continually suffer from a lack of real information needed to make sound decisions.
This course will teach you how to get that information.
Trained recon teams can provide a community with advanced warning of threats, set up repeaters, conduct raids, assess vulnerabilities, evaluate defensive positions, and give accurate reports of ongoing developments. Without recon, you are blind.
Students will get a thorough refresher in land navigation, as well as proper hide and surveillance site construction, approach techniques, tracking, individual camouflage, range estimation, range cards, objective assessments, reconnaissance theories and strategies, and overland evasion techniques. You'll be required to navigate from point to point in the mountains under ruck, surveil an objective, and slip away back to friendly lines unobserved.
This course is open to all civilians, military, and law enforcement. Appropriate OPSEC measures are taken with civilian and law enforcement classes, but apart from some reporting procedures we do not gate guard information here. For the currently serving reconnaissance teams in the DoD, this course is designed to take you from good to great. Unfortunately, no foreign military units will be permitted to enroll.
Meet up instructions and further details will be emailed to you a week before class starts.
Course registration will also CLOSE one week before class starts to avoid the logistical problems that come with last minute enrollments. Refunds are offered prior to that one week deadline, but not after.
MREs are provided in bulk to students on the first day, and it is their responsibility to ration their food throughout. We supply all blank ammunition. There is no live firing during this course.
Mandatory packing list:
Rucksack capable of carrying all gear
Sleeping bag rated down to at least 40 degrees
Ground pad, foam or inflatable
Some method of carrying (Camelback, Nalgene, etc.) at least 2 liters of water over terrain
Single walled (NON INSULATED) metal water bottle
Thick leather gloves
Headlamp with batteries in it
Personal and prescribed medications, if applicable
Light jacket for down time in spring/summer/fall, and for movements in winter
Heavy coat, hat, and gloves for classes in winter
Waterproof, insulated winter boots for winter classes; hiking, running, or tactical shoes/boots for classes in all other seasons
Full length hiking pants, military surplus pants, or jeans; NO SWEAT PANTS, NO SHORTS
Rain jacket, and rain pants as well if you wish
Wool hiking socks x2
T shirt x 2
Sunglasses
Notepad, pen, and pencil in water proof bag
Camp chair to sit in for classes, and around the fire
Military style or surplus chest rig, web gear, or plate carrier (NO PLATES)
Fully serviceable Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)
M4/AR15 30 round magazines x 5
Rifle or carbine chambered in 5.56 ONLY - as we will be only issuing blank rounds in that caliber
White light attached to weapon system for night operations
Minimum 5x power binoculars; maximum 15x power
Civilian and law enforcement customers please sign up through this website. Military units please email us at contact@futureconflicts.com to set up a course for your personnel.
If you'd like to bring NODs, thermals, drones, or any other technological device feel free, but if all you have is an AR15 with iron sights and a surplus chest rig that's fine too. A good mix of gear in the group adds to the reality of the scenarios.
We'll be issuing blank firing adapters (BFAs) for our force on force missions. These are designed to work with the A2 flash hider. Please ensure your weapon is compatible, or feel free to bring your own BFA like the SureFire one. We have extra A2 flash hiders if you need them.
For families that would like to enroll, your children must be at least 14 years old to take this course.
Course held in Western Maryland.
