POUNDING PAVEMENT
“There is nothing that sharpens a man’s senses so acutely as to know that bitter and determined enemies are in pursuit of him night and day.”
— Frederick Russell Burnham, Scouting on Two Continents
Tracking is more than an outdated science seen in movies or documentaries about Native Americans. Its applications span centuries; tracking was employed in the tactical arena from the American Indian Wars to Vietnam, Rhodesia, and Afghanistan, to name a few. It continues to prove its value on the battlefield and in search-and-rescue (SAR) operations, even compared to more sophisticated methods involving high-cost assets, such as helicopters, drones, and working dogs.
Man-tracking can be used to great effect in preventing criminal and terrorist actions in an urban environment. We tend to think of tracking in the context of spotting broken twigs and muddy footprints in the woods, but tracking isn’t only useful in rural areas or off-grid scenarios. Taking advantage of in-depth observation and collection of clues, a tracker will prevail in the most difficult terrain: the concrete jungle.
My personal “dirt time,” for example, requires nothing more than a handful of minutes spent in the city where I currently live, constantly looking for tracks and focusing myself on their interpretation. With a population of more than 2 million, I get plenty of practice daily.
The essential starting point for both rural and urban tracking is
