Activity #13: Priory Navigation 2 + Paintball Guns

Introduction

This week, we were back at The Priory for a navigation exercise, but with a twist. All of the course markers from the last navigation exercise were in the same locations, and this time we had to navigate to all of the points (not just one of the three courses). Instead of using our map and compass for navigation, our groups (same groups as last time) had access to a shapefile that had the location of all the points. Using a GPS unit, we were to navigate to each point (in any order we wanted) and log a point with the GPS showing we had been there. The twist to this navigation assignment was that we all had paintball guns.

Since every group had different starting locations, and could navigate to the points in any order, groups would have random encounters with other groups. It was a navigation race, and if any member of your team was shot your whole team had to stop moving for 1 minute. The idea was to use geographical combat tactics to help better understand navigation. Do you want to walk straight through that clearing towards the course marker? Or take a little extra time going around so that you aren't ambushed without cover? The point of the game was to add another layer to our thought process (and make it really fun), instead of just traipsing through the woods from point to point.

Equipment

Trimble Juno GPS using ArcPad to track our progress and points.

Paintball guns. This Tippmann A-5 was the most common paintball gun we had access to, but there were several other random models in the bins as well.

Safety masks. This is not the one we used in the field, but I forgot to photograph the ones we used before they were put back in storage. The one pictured is the cheapest one I found on Amazon.com, and it looks to be drastically higher in quality than what our class was actually wearing.

Methods

On April 28, when we were supposed to do a navigation exercise at The Priory, the weather was pretty bad. Instead, that day was devoted to preparing for this last exercise on May 5th. This actually turned out to be good, as we had time to set up the GPS devices and export any layers and shapefiles we thought would help. We also planned out the path we would take once we started.

Figure 1 - Navigation map that would be used on the GPS. Contains
contour lines and a DEM. The red polygons show strict no-fire zones.

We had access to all of the data we had when we created our navigation maps for the last exercise (2 and 5 ft contour lines, DEM, navigation and point boundaries, and satellite imagery) as well as two new feature classes: no-shoot zones and the points we had to navigate to. Since we would only have the small screen of the Trimble to guide us, 2 ft contours would have been too cluttered. We went with 5 ft contours an an advance/retreat color scheme to help see elevation, the location points, and the no-shoot polygons (Figure 1). The no-shoot areas were in place because, while the woods surrounding The Priory were safe for this kind of activity, wearing masks and brandishing weapons near a building that houses a daycare center is typically frowned upon. We were under strict orders to not fire (or even look look slightly menacing) near these buildings.

Figure 2 - Navigation map with the planned route.

Next we needed to decide the optimal path to take. Each group was given one of three starting points, as well as the first point we had to navigate to. The rest was up to us. Our group was given starting point 2 and a first nav point of 15. Figure 2 shows the path that we settled on. We kept terrain in mind and tried to plot a course that would be the quickest overall route, not just the next closest point. Lastly, we added an empty feature class where we could add the points we collected at each marker.

Figure 3 - ArcPad toolbar. 

To export the map to the GPS, we followed the same steps as in the microclimate assignment.On the ArcPad toolbar (making sure to have the ArcPad Data Manager extension activated under the Customize drop-down menu in Extensions), we clicked on the far left icon to Get Data for ArcPad (Figure 4). This created a map file that could be used in ArcPad on the GPS. The file with all of the data for ArcPad was saved on the computer, so I copy/pasted the folder into the GPS unit.

Figure 4 - Finished GPS map for use in The Priory.

Figure 4 shows the map in ArcPad. Notice that the background elevation raster image did not make it. I never did find our why that raster did not export, however it wasn't necessary since we had contour lines and already had an idea of terrain since the last time we were out there. We decided to just use the map as it was. With that, we were prepped and ready to start the activity. The navigation wouldn't happen until a week from then, so we just had to make sure that we checked out the same GPS unit the day of the activity.

Study Area

Figure 5 - Location and extent of our study area: The Priory.

On May 5th, our class met at The Priory. This study area was described here in the post for our first navigation exercise, and figure 5 shows the location of The Priory. The weather for this assignment was actually very similar to the last time we navigated these woods. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, though windy. We haven't had too many days yet this year that were sunny, warm, and dry all at the same time, so it was nice that both times we visited The Priory had these conditions.

Navigation

Before anything could be done, Professor Hupy and several students helped get all of the paintball equipment ready. Tanks of compressed gas and paintball hoppers had to be attached to all of the guns, and we tested them to make sure they all worked (Figure 6). By the time the entire class was there, the arsenal was laying on the grass near the edge of the woods (Figure 7).

Figure 6 - Professor Hupy and students assembling the guns
and making sure everything works. (Good trigger discipline, Joe) 

Figure 7 - All of the working paintball guns laying in the grass,
ready to go.

Figure 8 - The black circle shows where we encountered the
most resistance. Along that path we got into several firefights
with several different groups. The blue line shows the detour
we took around the fenced off area.

Once the equipment was ready, we all split up and went to our designated starting areas. The navigation itself was very simple. The map we created worked wonderfully, so we mostly just followed the path we created. We did have to make some detours, like the blue line around the no-fire zone in figure 8. This was fenced off and forced us to go around. Also, the black circle seemed to be where our group saw the most combat. This slowed us down and also caused us to deviate from the path in the process of tactical maneuvers.

I had the Trimble, so at each point I had to get close to the flag and collect a point. Jeremy and Zach covered me while doing this, since it took about 10 seconds to gather the point. Jeremy was the only one in our group wearing full camouflage, so during most encounters with other groups Jeremy would flank while Zach and I drew their fire.


Results

We were able to collect all the points, but we only finished 3rd. Figure 9 shows our navigation map again, but this time with all the points I collected.

Figure 9 - Completed navigation map with points we collected
at each marker.

Discussion

I was surprised that we only came in third. The first 3rd of our path included several firefights, but after that we rarely even saw another group, much less engaged them. I, for one, was getting exhausted in the heavy clothes, and I am not in as great of shape as many people in the class. The masks we had to wear was the biggest problem. My mask was constantly fogged up, so I could not see where I was walking or shooting. I had to constantly take it off and wipe the visor clean. This made me nervous, since the thought of getting shot in the face was not appealing. 

For each point I collected, I put the Trimble right under the marker. As you can see in figure 9, these points are not exactly on the points in the feature class given to us. This shows that, whether it was the GPS unit I was using or the one used to mark the points, GPS devices (even expensive ones) are not 100% accurate.

We had turned on a track log on the Trimbles. This would keep track of the actual path we walked the whole time. There was no track log when I retrieved the data, however. It turned out that the menu where we selected to activate the track log was actually just to display the track log, not turn it on. That was in a different menu. As a result, no one had this data. It would have been really interesting to see the path each group took, and to see how far we deviated from our path because of obstacles  or opposition.
 

Conclusion

Adding the paintball guns to the mix was more than just making it fun. After each firefight, we had to find out where we were and get back to our path. We had to plan the gathering of our points from a tactical perspective. One of the points (point 3) was just on the other side of a clearing. As we walked up to it, another group was approaching the same point from a different side of the clearing. Using cover fire and flanking, we had to suppress the other group long enough to gather the point and get out of there. It added another layer of problem solving to the navigation. Otherwise, we would have just walked through the clearing, taken the point, and moved on. With the threat of getting shot, we had to put the navigation part of the exercise to the back of our minds, making it second nature.