A bit more about me (or Do I know what I'm talking about?)

I didn't grow up backpacking - but lots of camping, hunting and the yearly month-long camping trip to Colorado. It wasn't until I entered the Service that I really began backpacking. From solo trips along the AT in Tennessee and the CDT in Colorado, to trips with friends or family in the Sierras or Pecos; I love to get away for days at a time. But it was in the Service that I really learned the wilderness skills needed and how to prepare for and conduct training for these skills. Training I participated in included about three weeks of Land Navigation / Orienteering at OCS (aka Benning School for Boys), mountaineering training at Mountain Warfare School, survival training at survival school (SERE High Risk), and numerous planning exercises and new skills at SF school (aka the Q Course). Of course this was followed by the opportunity to plan and conduct training in the mountains/hills/plains of Colorado/Oklahoma/Texas/North Carolina/etc, the jungles of Indonesia, Korea and Thailand, as well missions in other locals. On the civilian side, it has been more pleasure: camping, backpacking, orienteering, rock climbing. I'm sure there are other activities that you may have an interest in, but we'll end here. So what is contained in this blog are wilderness skills that I have learned along the way from formal training, watching some of the best wilderness/survival experts in the country, planning and conducting training around these skills, and lessons learned from doing it myself. A note of warning: How I plan for a trip and act in the wilderness is highly influenced by my military experience and training - but from what I have read about SAR missions, this may not be all bad.