I did what you told me to do, Rick. I shook a tree but I still couldn't see where I am on this freakin map.

To use a protractor you first need to know what's a topographic map. Which is... a portion of the earth’s surface as seen from above and drawn to scale on a piece of paper using colors, symbols and lines. To learn more about maps, and how to use’em I suggest you log onto this FREE online map reading manual below.   http://www.map-reading.com

Now that you know what a topographic map is, here's what a protractor is... It's a tool designed to help you to quickly and accurately locate a point on a map with less chance of making any mistakes. They’re also known as "map coordinate scales" too. And there are two types, military and commercial and they are used with topographic maps. And here are some common and popular map protractors used by our US military and they can be purchased from almost any military supply store.

If you're wondering... which of these map protractors is the best one to buy and use? Well even though they come in different sizes, shapes and form and each one appears to have more information on it than other, they are all used basically the same way. And below are some tips in how you can modify and improve a map protractor so you can use them a bit more accurately in determining a location and direction.

Tip#1 - By placing some "white" first aid tape on the back side of the map protractors where the numbers are located so you can see and read them better without having to strain your eyes.

Tip#2 - By adding a "single inner strand of 550 paracord" to the center of the map protractor so you can quickly and accurately determine the direction to a target in either degrees or mils.

By the way...these are the same modifications US Army Rangers and Special Forces make to their personal map protractors when they get'em in their hands. So they can quickly and accurately determine a location on their map to call in a fire mission, medevac, air or other type of support. Makes sense, don't ya think? Sure does, try it.

Moving on...

If there's one thing that I use to enjoy doing in the Army and that was to make some cocky and smart-ass instructor (NCO or Officer) look bad in front of his class, troops, peers and or his superiors. Now don't get me wrong I didn't intentionally go out of my way to make them look bad. But if they acted like they were "God's gift to the Army.." Well I kinda liked to challenge and put'em on the spot and give'em a hard time. To put it more bluntly, yea I was a smart ass in my early military years but a "funny" smart ass who liked to make others laugh.

Now while training the Bosnian Muslim Army back in 1996-97 we had some ex-Special Forces "hotdogs" on our training team. Now not all of these SF guys were hotdogs, just a few of them. And because we didn't get along very well together, we kinda kept and eye on each other to see which of us was a better instructor and who the students liked best and preferred.

And so to keep myself motivated, I told the students that if they thought I was the best instructor and I taught the best classes. When it was time for me to leave, move on and train another Bosnian unit, all I wanted from them was a Bosnian war bayonet. Something I could hang on my wall back home to remember them by.

Well, while these SF "hotdog" dudes were busy trying to teach the Bosnians some military classes by-the-book and putting'em all to sleep too. I was always trying to dream up different ways in how to keep my classes interesting and entertaining so they wouldn't fall asleep, which WASN'T by the book.

Well to make a long story short.. the students loved the way I taught my classes and today I have a bunch of Bosnian war bayonets hanging up on my wall here at home. And just to show you (for an example) as to how I made my classes interesting and entertaining. Check out these two different terrain feature training maps from my basic land navigation class and then you tell me which one would you prefer to use and learn by.

The point I'm trying to make is this... you don't have to teach things by-the-book if you know a much simpler, easier and entertaining way to teach something. It's called K-I-S-S, which means "Keep It SimpleStupid." And if you can make something simple and entertaining, your students will enjoy your class as much as you.

Terrain Features

Hill Top  -   1	Ridge -    3	Depression - 5	Spur -  7
Valley  -    2	Saddle  -  4	Draw -          6	Cliff   -  8