Fresh off of our first GORUCK capstone event, Navigator 003, in the New Hampshire White Mountains, I'm excited to post up this After Action Review of the events and trip that Aubrianne and I were so lucky to participated in. I'll tell you how it all went down and what we did, but I won't tell you all the specifics, as I don't want to ruin the event for you. I will also be posting my review of the gear packing list, vs what I think should have/haven't been on the list. There are lots of pics on here, but for the videos to view, you'll have to go view this blog on an actual computer. Sorry smartphones. Here's the rundown...
Navigator started for us at about 5am the morning of Thursday the 29th of August scrambling to grab our gear out of a Bed & Breakfast in North Conway NH. Our car-mate Eric wasted no time prepping his gear and getting packed up, and we weren't far behind. Goruck had been silent on the meetup point for the event, until late the night before. We got the GPS coordinates, (44.0019913,71.277674) and headed out of the very awesome beds we had there in the little town of North Conway.
A short drive got us to our meeting point, and that drive was amazing. As a North Louisiana boy, I am always in awe of a beautiful landscape that isn't Pine Trees and flat hills native to my area. And I was a little tired from the incredibly fun time we had in Boston awaiting the event. By the way, hats off to Durty Nellys and the many, many, many other pubs we frequented while 'trapped' in Boston.
Once at the site, other Navigator participants slowly trickled in. It wasn't until 8am that our Cadre, "Paul", "Chase", Goldenbear "Chris", "Michael", and "Chris don't call him Donnie he hates that" showed up. I use parenthesis because, I have no clue if these guys are telling me the truth when it comes to their names. And I think I kind of like that. Chris said that they were told to be there at 8, and that made him "Not Late" and that we were just early. No sweat, the extra time gave us a chance to get our final packing adjustments done. Once attendance was called, we were on our way to the actual camp site, about another 15 minutes away. We were parked in a campsite that was well put together, and had some residents already. The site had setup a massive tent classroom for us, which is where we parked our cars for the weekend and started our Navigator Capstone Course.
Day 1, morning: Up first was our navigation crash course on the maps. We were provided with poster sized topography maps of the area of operations we would be working in. Also, a map protractor. After learning about the differences of grid north vs magnetic north, and setting our compasses accordingly, we had several opportunities to learn how to use the skills in some mock navigation planning.
We covered a ton of information on the map, and I won't write a how to book here, but I will say, its good stuff. We spent pretty much the whole morning working on this part. We also took a few minutes and got our personal average pacecount, the number we would use during navigation to keep track of distance traveled approximation.
So there was a participant who mentioned to the Cadre that he was an EMT, and brought IV supplies should it be needed on the trip. There was enough time in the event, that they asked him to fill in one of those time gaps with a little IV therapy short course. Aubrianne and I were outted at that time as healthcare professionals, and after he showed how to start an IV on one of the cadre, we split up into groups for whoever wanted to start IV's. Fun stuff.
Day 2, midday: We skipped lunch and went straight into classes, and first up was our personal survival kit and firemaking class, taught by Chris.
It was a great class, and truly changed the way I feel about what I carry on me on a daily basis. Not to mention firemaking. Some huge myths were busted here, and common sense ruled the day. Paul coached us on some great methods of fire building as well, and ways to mitigate the light and smoke created by using fire.
We also had a little friendly competition as well, and a race to see who could get water boiling the fastest from wet wood and flint.
My group didn't win but didn't loose either. Three minutes and thirty seconds is pretty amazing, and the winning group even surprised the Cadre. We hit about ten minutes on our rig. A class on shotgunning a PBR was given to the loosing group, and there's video to collaborate that story.
Day 1, Afternoon: Up next, Cadre Michael and Cadre Chase gave a sheltering demonstration and lecture, and we covered the points of selection of site even down to full shelter building with different purposes in mind, ie Survival vs Evasion. In between sessions, we also mapped out additional coordinates on the map, so as to keep that skill fresh. As the afternoon rolled into evening, up next was water procurement with Cadre Goldenbear Chris and Cadre Chase. We hit the lake there in our AO, and talked through the various methods of water purification.
And there are plenty. Aubrianne and I brought three, and got to test them at this point. I'll say, iodine tabs aren't for everyone, but I was very impressed with the steri-pen UV system we brought. Along with the prefilter, it was the simplest and fastest way to get water that wouldn't blow up your gut. The lakewater was surprisingly sweet, and just thinking about it makes me wish I had a sip right now.
As the day slipped into evening, it was time to move to the campsite. We had a huge area setup for us, and we began prepping our sites and pitching tents. Two fires hit the ground, one for our food and one for our morale, and a virtually unlimited supply of PBR.
I won't go too far into the evening happening, but I'm sure you can use your imagination.
Day 2, Morning: The sound of zippers on tents was the wakeup alarm for the whole weekend, and after some unfolding ourselves from our 20% too small tent we brought, we found our way over to the fire pit for morning warmth.
There was no early morning direction, but that didn't last long, before Cadre Chris came out and told us to pack up and head to the Classroom tent. We completely swept the campsite, no trace was left, and we moved back to the main site for our next part of Navigator, a Ruck Packing class.
We spent about an hour or so here, and had a great deal of realism and knowledge placed on us in regards to how we were packing. We even packed our gear for waterproofing, and was told it would be a major part of the rest of our weekend. Once we de-bullshitted our setups, we were a sleek looking outfit, and many people even said it was a wakeup call of sorts for their packing mindset.
Day 2, noonish: We started to break off into little groups for navigation and route planning, still at the classroom tent. One by one, a group was called over to the lake area where we did our water procurement. As the rest of us stayed back, we plotted no less than a half dozen routes for various movements, based on land features and backstops for any potential route failures during a land nav. We were really solidifying our knowledge base here. The first group came back from the lake, completely soaked. We all knew what was coming. More groups left, and more came back soaking. Many of the participants unzipped their rucks to soaking wet gear. A few were bone dry. I reevaluated our setups at this point, and they looked solid. Our group headed over to the lake. There were 6 or 7 of us I believe, and once there, we were shown just how useful a tarp can be for waterproofing a half dozen rucksacks when moving a group of people across a body of water. We were told about the importance of dry clothing during water crossing, and that for this exercise we could either go into the water with our clothes on, or waterproof them with our gear. We chose to practice this exercise, as we would have in an actual survival setting, and our entire group got down to our bare-essentials. Hey, we're all adults here. We grabbed our ruck-pack and through it out into the lake, and it floated incredibly. Our ruck-float-monster was actually so buoyant, that once we were 30 or so feet out into the lake, one of our group members climbed up on top of the 6-ruck float and stood on it. We swam our bulk setup back into the lake bank, and unpacked it. Now, it was proving ground time. We were instructed to throw our individual rucks into the lake. Everyone heaved their 30-40lb packs as far as they could into the cold lake water, and every single one popped back up to the surface. I actually really wanted to test mine, so I shoved it down into the water until it hit the floor of the lake, and once back up, we grabbed our stuff and headed back to the campsite. Aubrianne and I unzipped our rucks, and were so pleased that our packs contents stayed dry the entire time. Attention to detail really paid off here.
Day 2, late afternoon: Pack up, its time to Navigate. We split up into groups, and were given grid coordinates to map out. We were given the task of planning a land route out, and a different route back. This was our first chance to get out and use the skills we'd been practicing. Our team headed out with Cadre Paul for this event, and we expected to cover about 6-8 kilometers.
We didn't hit our planned stopping point on this movement, for various reasons, but putting into use the information we'd been working on so much was great. I'd done this type of movement before in ROTC, but most of our group hadn't. We also got in some really good exercise moving up the mountainous terrain of the area we were in. It was truly beautiful out there. Once back to the campsite, we unpacked and reset our tents and "hammock city".
Fires were again started, grilling commenced, and the PBR started flowing. The last group to come in was Cadre Michael's, and they came in bare skinned, in their boots, socks, rucksacks, underwear, and ball caps only. Well, except Cadre Michael, he had a 9mm Glock strapped to his chest on a tactical rig. #winning
And Cadre Chris had plans for his own entrance.
Day 3, morning: We woke up and got our gear together again, and swept the campsite as best as we could. The PBR cans were really piling up at this point. Its hard to believe nobody made a beer can wall. We at this point had taken in as a group no less than 35 cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon at this point. Yeah, like 700 beers. No joke. And it only got worse the night of Day 3, but that's skipping ahead. Once packed, we headed to the classroom tent, and were given our Cadre and coordinates. Today was going to be an all day Nav, and we were to be going no less than 14 Kilometers. Cadre Chase was assigned to us, and after planning our out and back routes, we were allowed to pack up and head out.
Day 3, Land Nav proving ground: Our route took us into a draw between a campsite and a 2100ft mountain top, and we had initially planned to avoid the ledge. After rechecking the route, a decent trail was found that would keep us off of the ledge and away from the growth of the draw, but at some point we would have to leave the trail or we would be climbing the mountain.
The goal of Navigator wasn't to climb mountains, it was strictly navigation. However, after we got to a point of the trail where we realized the effort was getting very difficult, we reshot our azimuth. Turns out, we had climbed to about the 1500 ft point. The group decided to have a little "Mini-Ascent" and go ahead and hit the top of this mountain. After a little hike, some bear crawling, and a lot of grunting, we hit the top. It was amazing.
We shot some pictures, and then quickly got back to work. We started down the path a little bit, then bailed off into a true "as the crow flys" situation, as we should. I remember at one point we passed over an area where something very large was dead. We didn't see what it was, but our Nose knew what was up. Eyes forward. Now we were truly in the draw of the two mountain sides, and navigating down was tricky. We worked the ledge in our favor, and realized how nice going downhill for a while was.
We finally made it to our destination, which was a beautiful river with huge boulders in it. I immediately asked if we had time for me to go out into it, and was told yes. Amazing view out there.
I got back to the river bank and started working on water purification to refill our bladders and bottles. Three liters of freshly UV'd water later, we started our movement back. We covered the required distance in what seemed to be a really short period of time, and crossed up with another group that was led by Cadre Goldenbear Chris. They had met up with a snake, and the snake lost. Appetizer anyone?
Day 3, Nightfall: We hit the camp site around 1800, and groups slowly started trickling in. I knew this was our last movement of Navigator, and I was really hungry for more. Bittersweet. I was also really hungry. Cadre Chris had been cooking all day, and had two huge pots of soup boiling for us over a campfire. I thought to myself, The smell of steak seasoning in the air was amazing...This whole experience had been amazing...Goruck is amazing. About that time I look to my left and see a group huddled around the snake. I shot over, and got a short course on snake cleaning and cooking. There is going to be a Navigator Snake Eaters Patch coming soon I hear. After everyone had eaten the majority of the soup there, and the PBR was rapidly flowing, Cadre Chris gave his closing speech.
He was truly first class on everything he said, and over the course of the weekend his work ethic was unmatched. We made our way around and grabbed our patches and tshirts.
Navigator was a huge undertaking, and I can't say enough good things about the learning experience we had, and the Cadre who ran the event. And for my fellow Navigator-mates, I hope to see you all again at another Capstone Course or event. To anyone else, these patches are just a 2x3 piece of nylon with hook and loop backing. But to those who earn them, they are an entire story of completion, self discipline and satisfaction, and memories that will not be soon forgotten.
Any damage to the rucksacks? Only a little:
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As promised, here is the Goruck packing list and (my thoughts), as well as a list of my 'should have' items.
Goruck Required List
-Rucksack GR2 sized (could have gotten away with a GR1 here after the ruck packing class)
-Cold weather waterproof jacket (It wasn't cold at all)
-Cold weather Mid layer (It wasn't cold at all.)
-Cold weather base layer (it wasn't cold at all
-Dry fit shirt (became my go to item during all navigation, and it rained all weekend so it was a nice item to have)
-Hiking boots (used Rocky S2V's, but could have gotten away with lightweight hiking boot. Some people brought two pair, so they had a dry pair the next day. Water obstacles a plenty here guys.)
-Wool/blend socks, 3 pair (Yes. Absolutely. Basspro stocks some great wool socks by the way)
-Hiking Pants ( I used 5.11 tactical pants and REALLY liked them. But once wet, they stayed wet. A couple of crazy folks wore shorts, and took only minimal skin damage.)
-Shorts (Ranger panties for hanging out by the fire would have been great if I'd brought them)
-Wool Hat (not used)
-Ball Cap (Heavily used my TAC hat for this event. Heavily.)
-Mechanix Gloves (Not used, but I would still bring them just in case.)
-Headlamp (Used this mostly at night for bladder relief and tent setup. WISH we would have done a night nav.)
-Hydration Bladder (cant go wrong w 3L)
-32oz Nalgene (Yes 100%. I could have almost skipped my 3L bladder and just brought three of these. I love a Nalgene. Get one of those slip in silicone spouts from basspro or Dicks. Really helps alot while drinking on the move.)
-Water Purification System (I really liked our SteriPen, though cadre warned against battery operated devices. We had cheap iodine tabs as a backup)
-Compass (I bought basic compasses, then we were told we needed Adjustable declination compasses. We ended up with the Suunto line of compasses, and ours worked flawlessly. I think the model was MC2 or MC3)
-Knife/Multi Tool (Absolutely)
-Sunglasses ( We used these on and off, and unfortunately, I lost my $200 Oakley's the last day on the Nav back. Very handy. If you have clear lens glasses I strongly suggest bringing them, to keep from a scratched cornea while following in the woods. )
-Sunblock ( get a combo product with insect repellent)
-Insect Repellent (get a combo sunblock product)
-Small field notebook ( get a waterproof/rainproof version)
-Pens (we were told last minute to get map markers. Not really needed. a pack of those short sharpies would have worked fine)
-Personal Hygiene Items (wet wipes anyone?)
-Sleeping bag for 20 degrees or below (not needed at our temps. A thin cotton sheet would have been fine.)
-Fire Makers, matches, etc (if flying to the event, just pick up a Bic lighter once you get to the airport. Otherwise matches are fine, striking flint, etc. Cadre Chris will show you something super easy to make for firestarting)
-Snacks for 4 days (We didn't get fed every meal, and went a little hungry due to bad planning on our part.. But it wasn't that bad. We brought several bars and such. Plan to bring a few substantial meal-type bars though, in case you don't get a full meal at some point.)
-2 4' long bungee cords (bring, part of waterproofing class)
-50ft 550 cord (bring, you'll use it for lots)
-10 Team Hatches (coordinate)
-Watertight case (This will be your survival kit house. Pelican 1040 is perfect)
-Contractor Bags x2 (Bring 4. Stuff happens.)
-Small Waterproof Bags x2 (this is for the maps. I got 8"x5" bags, but a little bit larger would have been nice. Don't get a giant map bag, That's dumb, and looks dumb.)
Goruck Recommended Items
-Shared Sleeping arrangements (tent, get enough space here guys. Our 6x5 was terrible. Any bigger though and it becomes a packing issue)-Sleeping pad ( we should have saved the $45 x2 and just made a bed of leaves)
-Cold weather pants Oct-Apr (Not needed, though RAIN pants would have been huge. Frog-Toggs is cheap and works very well. Should have brought rain pants. )
-Flip Flops (Firepit hangout time wear)
-GPS (not needed)
-Camera (phone in survival kit? Big cameras were a pain for people to carry it looked like)
-Emergecy Blanket (was already in my survival kit. Bring in case of shelter building needs)
-Carabiners ( I love a carabiner.)
-Antichafe Powder ( Gold Bond all the way)
-Duct Tape (In my survival kit already. Not used)
-Survival kit ( You will go over survival kit building. I will make a separate blog about my survival kit in my GR1 at all times)
-Reflective Belt/Patch (Not used...really wish we'd done a night nav)
-Crampons Oct-Apr (Not needed)
MY GLAD I BROUGHT/DID LIST:
-Koozie
-Water shedding boots, Rocky S2V's
-small hat clip on lamps instead of nicer headlamps
-Quickly car ditched unneeded items after ruck packing class
-Steripen for water, it was crazy fast purification (this was all Aubrianne's reseach, good call)
MY WISH I'd BROUGHT/DONE LIST:
-FrogTogg Rain Pants/Jacket
-Quality LONG Tent, like MSR Hubba-Hubba
-GR1 for flight home. My wet stinky GR2 was really turning heads lol.
-Better labeling of my gear. Lost my mappack and Nalgene several times lol. Everyone has the same gear.
-Better quality dryfit tee, though mine was pretty good.
-Stainless steel canteen cup, for AM Coffee
-Taken Better/More Pictures
-Sucked in my belly in more of the existing pictures
-Scheduled my flight home for two days later than event end, so I could hike more. Pissed I missed Mt Washington.
-Scheduled my flight home even more days later, so I could get more of Boston.
-Firearms Day
-Hung out with Cadre Chris and Michael more.
Thanks for the AAR. I'm planning on taking in Navigator next year
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