Index Tracking, Essential Guide to Trailing Man and Beast
Our discussions turned to the philosophy of the track, rather than just physical signs; the full sensory awareness, rather than just visual cues, and the importance of every role within the team to support the Tracker. I carefully watched Osuna when I knew he was within earshot and I could trace a barely perceptible smile across his face. We must be doing something right to elicit this from his normally stoic behavior. Each night during October, Old Tucson hosts Nightfall where the town turns into a Halloween theme park.
But they serve adult beverages, so a few of us stuck around to people watch. Shenanigans may or may not have happened after several boots of beer.
But that voice in my head just kept telling me to calm down, process everything around me, shut out extraneous thoughts and just give myself over to the track. We were taken through the drills one by one and again scored by Osuna. We put that out of our minds and concentrated on the task at hand. Rallying us up, Osuna briefed us on the mission: Now go do it for real. Arriving downtown, we were told that there would be more people than usual in the area due to an outside festival in our AO. The degree of difficulty for this track just went up.
We found our initial track at the last known location a parking lot , determined our direction of travel and split into tracking teams of two while Osuna, Reeder, and Hondo were in a mobile command car monitoring our progress and acting as an intelligence hub as we captured information. After about 90 minutes we found our quarry, but there were some significant lessons to be learned.
Our communication as a team broke down almost immediately as the group splintered off with no real TL calling the shots. We all wanted to be the lead Tracker and in a situation like this, that needs to be governed by the TL which we had failed to clearly designate. Cell phone service was difficult and I got separated from the team, so several times I would hold the last known location while the team searched for the next track. Adrenaline was high, communication and coordination was poor even with the Instructors guiding us with new intel occasionally , but somehow we managed to finish the task by locating our quarry, master tracker Jim Grasky, just outside of a restaurant that was set up to be our lunch spot.
Osuna said on more than one occasion that Jim Grasky is his mentor and a legend in the tracking community. That is scratching the surface.
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At 80 years old, Grasky moves with the speed and grace of a man half his age, but with the wisdom and quiet humility of a man that was born to track. At this point I was unsurprised at the fact that it came down to being in tune to your surroundings and not taking anything at face value. In the prior days, Osuna had instilled in us a better appreciation for quieting our minds, staying relentlessly curious, and having the patience to see what is not obvious. First, I was caught completely off guard by this as I felt like I had been an average performer at best during the week.
But for me, the experience was not about scores, it was about strengthening a skill set. I was incredibly humbled to be given the shirt by Osuna, who once again shook my hand and looked me directly in the eye. Three days earlier, I was an unknown, a variable, and Osuna needed time to validate and judge my worthiness to be a Greenside Tracker. Photo courtesy of David Reeder. He gave us an incredible amount of information in the 25 minute return trip to our vehicles and I consider that an invaluable part of the exercise. Jim Grasky working with the team during a backtrack of his route through Tucson.
The last demonstration that Osuna gave us was at the end of TD3 in another location on the opposite side of Tucson. He discussed wavelengths and frequencies of different colored lights, and why some were more effective than others. He used a multicolored flashlight at the end of a trekking pole to show us red, green, blue, and white light and their effects on seeing a track.
Index Tracking: Essential Guide To Trailing Man And Beast: By Freddy Osuna | eBay
He showed us how tracks on some surfaces could be brought out clearly with UV light, but we all wanted to know when we could see the lasers. Freddy Osuna demonstrating the use of a green laser to determine track locations at night. By oscillating the laser back and forth rapidly in a 30 degree arc, the tracks become immediately apparent even in complete darkness. We were nothing short of stunned when we saw the footprints come alive in the desert. For someone from the fluctuating and humid climate of the western mountains of Maine, the Arizona desert was like sitting in a kiln for 3 days.
I am a big proponent of functional performance clothing and have noticed that a lot of my everyday wardrobe is made up of pieces by Vertx.
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I purchased some Phantom Ops with Airflow pants prior to the trip and wore them all three days. But my favorite piece by far was my Vertx Gamut Plus pack. Most of the guys were running smaller assault style packs, and the bag-whore in me really wants to learn more about the US Palm Gryphon and Draco packs, but the GP is my go-to for my photo gear.
Osuna is a predator. He is not a magician, a wizard, a Jedi, or any level of mystic. He focuses on what most of us today tend to push out of our lives: Balance with nature, his surroundings, his relationships. His humility and sense that he is just a very small piece of an incomprehensibly large puzzle makes him standout in a world where most of us are struggling daily to gain attention. Trackers find harmony around them so that the world can speak to them and whisper secrets about their quarry that the regular din of everyday life normally drowns out.
They seek to blend, to walk softly, to stay in the shadows.
Many instructors or teachers that have been elevated to the top tiers in this industry demonstrate similar qualities — vast experience, the ability to learn from countless mistakes and convey those learnings to others, but most of all humility. Osuna stressed over and over the need for humility in a tracker, and this was not lip-service.
There is a connection that Osuna has with his art of tracking that can only be described as spiritual.
Index Tracking: Essential Guide to Trailing Man and Beast
Osuna wants you to envelop the art of the track, drawing intelligence from all of your senses. Hearing insects go silent as you approach an area, looking for birds of prey circling potential quarry, feeling the ground beneath your feet indicate subconsciously the best direction of travel while you confirm with the track.
Smelling the earth, the vegetation, the unnatural elements. These are all indicators to someone in tune with their environment. A wolf…He is not a magician, a wizard, a Jedi, or any level of mystic. I have actually replaced Situational Awareness with Sensory Awareness because it better encompasses the true nature of what is needed for tracking. It is a spirit, an art, a science, and a way of looking at the world around you.
It is a connection to yourself and your teammates, supported by a desire to see what others cannot, and the humility to pass along that information. Tracking the Human Spirit by Matt. Index Tracking by Freddy Osuna. Joe Camarillo of Old Tucson, an amazing man and historian. Part of expansive set of Old Tucson, our training ground. Functional steam engine train at Old Tucson. Freddy Osuna walks through Old Tucson to meet the class. One of the many trip wires used in the Sensory Alley Drill. Freddy Osuna explains the anatomy of the eye and how we see.
Yancey and Brandon following track indicators. David Reeder and Freddy Osuna watch the tracking teams from a distance. A boot full of beer. Freddy Osuna and Jim Grasky. Both must be earned. Red light on a footprint during night tracking. Ultraviolet light highlighting a track in white chalk. His visual acuity and off-hand ability to locate and interpret action indicators puts my best efforts to shame. He's one of those guys who is genuinely passionate about teaching he was awarded a Gold Star for his Marine Corps Achievement Medal in lieu of second award for excellence in innovative training techniques.
If he is as good at communicating tracking techniques in book form as he is instructing it on the ground, it's going to worth reading. I haven't read the book yet, it's on the way. If you're interested in tracking though, whether combat tracking or visual sign interpretation from basic infantry operations to Combat Hunter to law enforcement work, it's a pretty safe bet this will be a good addition to your library. In the meantime here is a review from Amazon by Troy Lettieri, whose opinion on the matter can be trusted: With this varied background and heritage Osuna brings an enlightening perspective on this art and science.
With this book he provides a very good introduction to the fundamentals of visual tracking culminating into the last section of the book that covers Osuna's Index Tracking method which is essentially singleton based tactics and techniques for visual tracking. Additionally for a compact book at almost pages it is densely packed with a lot of information. As well this book is profusely illustrated with color diagrams and photography that provided added depth to the book.
Greenside Training: Tracking the Human Spirit
Overall this is a respectable title to add to your professional tracking library, whether you track animals or humans or track for recreation or combat. You can learn more at Greenside Training or on Amazon.
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