When pursuing the real life outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the late 1890s, Pinkerton National Detective Agency employees Charlie Siringo and Joe Lefors contracted the advanced tracking skills of native American experts to hunt down the infamous "Hole in the Wall" gang. Lefor’s trackers could follow man or horse over slick rock and through water, both day and night. Tracking was a way of life, a deep seated skill set honed from childhood that enabled indigenous tribes to not only feed their families by tracking game in harsh environments, but also wage extended guerilla operations against opposition by reading and following enemy movements over any terrain and in any condition. onPoint Tactical’s Tracker curriculum is unique in that it guides students into four sub-specialties: Search and Rescue (SAR) Tracking – tracking and locating lost targets Combat Tracking – tracking in a combat zone, including "fast pursuit tracking" Tactical Tracking for Law Enforcement – pursuit and tracking of domestic fugitives Animal Tracking – identifying and tracking animals for scientific study or food acquisition onPoint Tactical’s Tracker curriculum consists of both core and elective courses designed to prepare students for the first Tracker certification exam. All Tracker core courses, as well as one elective Tracker course, are required to schedule a Tracker certification test. Courses can be taken at any time in any order. Tracker Core Courses (all required): Track Awareness Workshop Land Navigation

Note: onPoint Tactical students who have taken other introductory tracker courses, such as those at Tracker School or the Kamana/Shikari program, can test out of OnPoint Tactical’s "Track Awareness Workshop". Simply sign up for OnPoint Tactical’s "Land Navigation" course and OnPoint Tactical’s instructors will review Track Awareness Workshop skills.

Tracker Elective Courses (one required):

• SAR Tracking 1
• Combat Tracking 1
• Tactical Tracking 1
• Animal Tracking 1

Upon completion of the required coursework, students may schedule a certification test with onPoint Tactical’s training staff. The Tracker certification test will measure Tracker skill sets in practical real-world settings. The Tracker certification test is pass/fail, and retesting is allowed within one month. Successful completion of the basic Tracker certification test qualifies students to sign up for OnPoint Tactical’s advanced level Tracker courses.

Tracker Advanced Course (two required):

• Counter and Anti-Tracking
• SAR Tracking 2
• Combat Tracking 2
• Tactical Tracking 2
• Animal Tracking 2

Upon completion of all advanced Tracker coursework, students may schedule an advanced certification exam. The advanced certification test is pass/fail, and retesting is allowed within one month. Future onPoint Tactical instructors will be drawn from those extremely dedicated students who successfully complete advanced OnPoint Tactical certification exams.

Tracker Courses in Detail:

Track Awareness Workshop This basic tracking course is designed to introduce students to the art of tracking –both human and animal tracking. Students will learn about the various types of trackers and the varying skills required for different types of tracking. This is an introductory course that will provide a strong foundation for each of the subsequent course pathways in the Tracker curriculum (animal, law enforcement, SAR, and combat tracking).	(no classes scheduled)
Land Navigation Students will learn how to navigate using a map and compass. This decidedly low-tech approach will teach the skills necessary to survive as a Scout without the latest technology. Students will learn how to follow an azimuth, locate their position, and plan a route. In addition, students will learn survival navigation that will allow them to follow an azimuth without a compass. It is surprising how few people actually know these basic yet invaluable outdoor skills	1/24/2009-1/24/2009, Tabernacle, NJ 08088
SAR Tracking 1 Students will learn how to recognize, identify, and follow tracks. They will learn how to create a profile of a lost person. Students will learn how to participate as a tracker in a larger SAR team effort, and how to participate in a hasty search. They will learn how to equip themselves, and how to use their equipment to ensure their own safety. They will learn communications tactics that will allow them to communicate findings to the incident commander. Students will learn how to search the point last seen, and establish a search vector. They will learn how to trail as a tracking team. They will learn how to integrate multiple tracking teams into a search. They will learn land navigation, and how to record their movements and relay that information to the incident commander. They will learn awareness skills that will enable them to read the environment, to read concentric rings of nature, to know what is going on beyond the range of their senses. They will learn how to read the landscape and predict likely routes of travel. Students will participate in realistic lost person simulations that will challenge all aspects of their tracking and SAR ability. Finally, students will learn how to train themselves for future SAR deployments.	(no classes scheduled)
Combat Tracking 1 Students will learn how to see, identify, interpret, and follow tracks. They will learn how to move as a tactical team, providing team security as they track. They will learn how to reduce the distance between themselves and their quarry. They will learn how to communicate as a team, and how to control the team. Students will learn combat awareness skills that will give them a strong tactical advantage. They will learn how to read and understand the language of concentric rings, how to utilize that language to predict the movement of their quarry. Students will learn how to make an assault on their quarry once they have closed the distance. They will learn movement and camouflage techniques that will allow them to approach their quarry in silent invisibility. They will learn anti tracking techniques likely to be employed by their quarry and learn how to overcome those tactics. They will learn how to detect anti-tracking devices such as booby traps and ambushes using the awareness skills. They will learn how to do combat tracking by participating in realistic simulations that will include pursuing an armed force that may utilize ambushes and booby traps against them, ending with the trackers assaulting their target.	3/5/2009-3/7/2009, Tabernacle, NJ 08088  11/5/2009-11/7/2009, Tabernacle, New Jersey
Law Enforcement Tracking 1 This course is designed to teach students how to track people in tactical law enforcement situations. When pursuing criminals, students must always assume that the quarry is armed and dangerous. Tracking an armed suspect requires an entirely different set of skills than tracking a lost person. Students will learn how to see, identify, interpret, and follow tracks. They will learn how to move as a tactical team, providing security as they track. They will learn how to reduce the distance between themselves and their quarry. They will learn how to communicate as a team, and how to control the team. Students will learn awareness skills that will give them a strong tactical advantage. They will learn how to read and understand the language of concentric rings, how to utilize that language to predict the movement of their quarry. Students will learn how to make an assault on their quarry once they have closed the distance. They will learn movement and camouflage techniques that will allow them to approach their quarry silently and undetected. They will learn anti-tracking techniques likely to be employed by their quarry and learn how to overcome those tactics. They will learn how to detect anti-tracking devices such as booby traps and ambushes using their awareness skills. They will learn how to do a pursuit and recovery by participating in realistic simulations that will include pursuing an armed person that may utilize ambushes and booby traps against them.	(no classes scheduled)
Animal Tracking 1 This course focuses on animal family and species track identification, animal trailing, animal habitat and routines, animal sign and scat, and animal dens. Students will spend time tracking animals across various terrain, and in the process identify what the animals are eating, their natural predators, and begin to develop an understanding of the animals in relationship to one another and their environment.	(no classes scheduled)
Counter and Anti-Tracking (full description needed)	(no classes scheduled)
SAR Tracking 2 This course adds additional team movement and communication skills to the mix, as well as enhances students’ abilities with extended practice time moving and working as a team. The final simulation includes a 36 hour trackdown, including tracking at night.	(no classes scheduled)
Combat Tracking 2 This course adds additional team movement and communication skills to the mix, as well as enhances students’ abilities with extended practice time moving and working as a team. Additional time is spent working on immediate action drills. The final simulation includes a 36-hour trackdown, including a night assault.	(no classes scheduled)
Law Enforcement Tracking 2 This course adds additional team movement and communication skills and enhances students’ abilities with extended practice time moving and working as a team. Additional time is spent working on immediate action drills. The final simulation includes a 36 hour trackdown, including tracking at night.	(no classes scheduled)
Animal Tracking 2 This course will push students to fine tune identification skills to the point of identifying individual species based on tracks, sign, dens, scat and any other indicators. Students will develop a much deeper understanding of habitat and animal relationships based on basic track interpretation.	(no classes scheduled)