Having already addressed in the preceding two articles three basic approaches to hiding along with target indictors to be eliminated or mitigated, we now look to some practical ways to develop one’s competency in stealth. But before delving into various games and exercises that one can engage in to develop one’s stealth skills, it is crucial to address the issue of safety. Here are some major considerations:
–First-aid kits should always be on-hand and the nearest medical facility for emergency treatment, along with the means to get there, should be identified ahead of time. There should also always be someone present who is trained and competent in administering basic first-aid care. Also, make sure that the contents of the first-aid kit have been inspected for completeness and serviceability as well as that any expired items have been replaced before beginning the exercise.
-When conducting activities outside of the “classroom,” it is advisable, especially for exercises in low-light conditions, to reconnoiter the training area ahead of time to identify any potentially harmful environmental factors, like barbed wire, broken glass and sudden depressions, cliffs or steep terrain, etc.
– Likewise, when engaged in any of the activities below that are conducted outside of the “classroom,” protective eyewear is highly recommended, especially at night. The current author can personally attest to the pain involved in waiting, first for a taxi and then in an emergency room, after having gotten a thorn in his eye during a night stealth training exercise without the appropriate protective eyewear or a proper evacuation plan. Please learn from this and wear eye protection along with having a medical evacuation plan, and don’t forget the first aid kit.
With such recommended safety precautions noted, we now proceed to the actual exercises themselves, which deal primarily with developing one’s ability to avoid visual and audial detection. As already alluded to, some are of a more “classroom” nature, but the more hands-on exercises should be practiced in varied settings; such as urban and rural, day and night; which is basically what the first exercise we present consists of.
Practice stealth and stealth movement techniques in different conditions and places, especially those you frequent often. Periodically think about how the clothing you happen to be wearing could facilitate blending in to your environment at a given place as well as what in the environment could allow you to do the same or provide opportunities for camouflage and concealment, especially shadows and dead space, as well as for deception. Understand the noises made when moving through different areas and across varied surfaces, as well as opening and closing different doors in one’s house. Know which floors and steps creak and where, but also how to move around these by stepping on areas less likely to creak or that make less noise. Also note what sounds in your environment, such as traffic patterns, could be used to mask the sounds of your own movements.
Fashion Magazine: In order to enhance one’s ability to quickly assess how whatever clothing one may be wearing could facilitate stealth, one approach is to look through a fashion magazine and assess how different models and the outfits they are wearing could help or hinder stealth in different settings, including urban as well as various types of rural settings. One might ask oneself, with regard to a given model and outfit placed in a particular environmental setting: What aspects could facilitate blending? What aspects must be subdued or concealed? What is particularly compromising about these? Color? Contrast? Texture? Shine? How could these indicators be subdued or concealed? Does their clothing and footwear allow for silent, free and rapid movement or encumber it?
Landscape Image: Likewise, one could look at images of landscapes and identify good opportunities for camouflage and concealment, for static locations as well as for while moving from point A to point B. One might also combine this exercise with the previous one by pairing a fashion magazine image with a landscape image and assess how the model in their given attire might avoid detection in a certain environment.
Stealth Map Recon: Plan a route or select a bivouac site on a map based on the degree of camouflage and concealment that it is expected to offer according to the information that the map provides. If possible, then go out onto the terrain itself to confirm or deny. This exercises one’s ability to asses the degree of camouflage and concealment that an area is expected to afford on the basis of a map reconnaissance.
Stealth Hike (Observational): Go on a hike and observe one’s surroundings while assessing the terrain, identifying opportunities for camouflage and concealment as well as the lack thereof. One could plan a hypothetical route from one location to another while designating where the observer is positioned and pointing out how it would be possible to use available camouflage and concealment to reach the destination.
Stealth Hike (Practical – Version 1): Go on a hike and, on the command of an appointed group member, periodically disperse into hiding positions. The command to do so might be a hand-and-arm signal, insect mimicry or a voice command, but once it is given, each member of the group, other than the one who gave the command, darts into the nearest positions of concealment, taking a maximum of 3-5 seconds to do so, and then freezes. The leader or senior group member who gave the command then inspects the hiding positions of the various other group members, noting particularly effective uses of camouflage and concealment or the lack thereof. After instructing those group members whose hiding positions offer the best teaching points (whether positive or negative) to remain still and in place, she/he then calls out to the remaining members of the group to observe and take note of any teaching points.
Stealth Hike (Practical – Version 2): While the first version of the practical stealth hike tests the patrol members, rather than the leader, and allows them to practice their ability to quickly find and make use of available camouflage and concealment, the second version tests the designated patrol leader’s skills in planning, map reconnaissance and leading a patrol. She/he is given a starting point and an ending point and must plan how to move between the two while avoiding detection. Such can be accomplished by, for instance, using a ridgeline as a handrail and concealing oneself on the reverse slope, the opposite side from where the observer is thought to be. One could also make use of the presence of significant vegetation to conceal their group’s movement. After planning such a movement, the patrol leader then actually leads their patrol in carrying out this plan.
Hide-and-Seek: With a minimum of two players, though preferably more, this classic children’s game is the most timeless as well as one of the most effective means of training in stealth. One person is designated as “it” while the other participants run into positions of camouflage and concealment. The person designated as “it” counts to a certain number, such as ten, and then declares something to the effect of, “Ready or not, here I come!” With two players, if she/he is able to find and tag the other participant, she/he then becomes “it,” restarting the entire process. Alternatively, with multiple players, the game may continue until “it” has located all participants, in which case, the last one to be found will become it.
This game can be made more complex by establishing a “base.” When the person designated as “it” leaves the “base,” if the other participants can reach the “base,” they are considered safe and cannot be tagged. In this case, the first person to be tagged becomes “it.” If all participants reach the base before being found by “it,” then the game is restarted with the same person playing the role of “it.”
Fox Hunt: This exercise combines elevated stress with a profound testing of one’s ability to hide. A selected individual is given a ten-, twenty-, or thirty-second head start, depending on terrain and weather conditions, to conceal him/herself, after which, the remaining members of the group begin their pursuit to locate him/her. If after one full minute, the fox remains undetected, they have won that particular round.
Capture the Flag: Divide a group of participants, ideally at least six people, into two teams, each team having its own territory, within which is a flag that they aim to defend, preventing the enemy from finding, acquiring and returning back to their own territory with it. At the same time, they are also trying to locate and capture the other team’s flag and bring it back to their own territory. Team members protecting their own flag are on defense, while those going into the other team’s territory to capture their flag are on offense. These roles can be changed at any time. Whichever team captures the opposing team’s flag and returns to their own territory with it wins the game. The flags must be placed at eye level and must be visible from at least one angle from a distance of 18 meters (60 feet) or more. Defense players can capture offense members of the opposing team that have infiltrated their territory by tagging them, after which they are placed in a designated “jail,” which should be out of sight of the flag so as not to reveal its location. For jailed players to be freed, offense players from their own team must find the jail and then bring their teammates back across the border into their own territory before they can return to play.
Stalking Animals: Wildlife can be the best and most challenging training partners for developing your stealth abilities. Cognizance of remaining downwind from your quarry (whatever it is that you are tracking) is substantially more important than when avoiding detection by humans.
Waiting in Place: Whether observing humans or wildlife, one of the best ways to do so is by allowing them to come to you. Thus, whether day or night, choose a hiding position near a human or animal trail, a source of water, open meadow or anywhere that is observable and is likely to be traversed by humans or wildlife and then wait. This is an excellent exercise in patience.
Wary Wolf: This game, especially intended for children, trains the ability to quickly freeze in place in response to a stimulus, a necessary skill to have for avoiding detection due to movement. One participant is appointed as the “wary wolf” and stands facing away from the other participants, who are all positioned in a line 200 meters away and stalk towards her/him until she/he turns around to face them, upon which they must all freeze. Anyone still moving after the wolf has turned around is “out” and must return to the start line and begin again from there. The first one to reach the wolf wins and becomes the next wolf.
Sleeping Pirate: An individual designated as the “sleeping pirate” remains blindfolded sitting somewhere, such as on a log, with a “treasure” (some object like a bandana) sitting at her/his feet while waiting and listening. As soon as she/he hears someone approaching, they clap their hands and point to the location of the sound. That person is then “out” and must remain in place until the end of the game. The one who reaches closest wins and then becomes the next pirate.
“Deer” Stalking: In contrast to the audial character of the “sleeping pirate” game, this game is oriented more toward visual stealth. It also resembles the kinds of tests that military snipers must go through in order to be certified. An individual designated as the “deer” stands in a field or forest observing for anyone approaching her/his position. When they see someone approaching, they point to/call out to them and that individual stands and waits in place until the end of the game. When all individuals have been detected and told to stand, the one who has gotten the closest to the “Deer” wins and becomes the next “Deer.”[1]
[1] The last several exercises and games are drawn from Robert C. Birkby, The Boy Scout Handbook, 10th Ed. (Irving, TX: Boy Scouts of America, 1990), 288-90.