Mantracking Unit

We specialize in finding and following all types of sign; disturbances to the environment left by our subject(s) - the person(s) we are tracking.  This takes a lot of highly specialized training and we are not just looking for footprints.  Signs of passage may include damaged vegetation at any level, interlaced grasses (where tall grasses when pushed apart come back together and catch), clothing fibers, etc.  We are trained to detect and see things that most people wouldn’t even notice.  Anybody can follow clear footprints in mud but we follow sign including barely perceptible flattened earth and vegetation where the subject stepped on it, scuff marks and pebbles dislodged from their sockets in the ground.  We are trained to follow a subject across concrete and other hard to track on surfaces.  

In addition, we are trained to interpret what we see.  For example, if we find a footprint we can “read” it to determine approximately when it was made, how the subject had to be moving in order to make it, how fast the subject was moving, where the next footprint will be, and more.  We can see things like where a person sat down or put down their pack and determine whether or not they were carrying something and how difficult it was for them to carry it.  By studying the sign a person left behind we can learn a lot about our subject and “get inside their head” which ultimately helps in locating them.  We use a variety of signcutting techniques to pick up a trail and various tracking techniques to follow it.  

We work in conjunction with the rest of the overall search effort.  We are just one tool in the search manager’s toolbox, however, once we pick up the trail the search managers know where to concentrate their resources.  

As you can see, the search can get unmanageable very fast.  So if mantrackers can even determine a direction of travel from the PLS (Point Last Seen), this drastically cuts down the area that needs to be searched from a whole pizza pie to just one slice of the overall pie.  This way we can eliminate approximately 85% of the potential search area relatively quickly.

We track in teams such that one team always stays on track from where we found conclusive sign from our subject(s) while the other tracking teams leap frog ahead to cut for sign where they suspect the subject(s) may have passed.  Once a signcutting team picks up the trail, they stay on track while the other tracking teams leap frog and this process continues until the subject is found.  This allows us to cover a lot of ground relatively fast.

When other non-tracker searchers find clues, trackers can be brought in to determine if they were left by the subject(s) and pick up the trail.  So a small number of trackers can greatly enhance the effectiveness of a search and rescue effort.