Trails Found - Grasky Tracking School

Every expert started out as a beginner. Here 3 young men are showing an older guy what they see. God bless everyone who exposes someone to the wonders of Tracking and all the knowledge and skills that come with it.

At midnight, on a cold December night, Havre city Police responded to a break-in and burglary of a mobile home. The thieves gained entry and then exited through a large broken window. At the bottom of the window, a single foot print was discovered. It was of a type like a Converse All Star Tennis Shoe. This footgear has a distinct shape and patterns. The track was pointed toward a dirt alley way. A Havre Policeman called me in to help, and he and I began a tracking operation. The alley surface was hard packed and frozen, and no real identifiable track was visible. However, it was at night, and we used flashlights to cast long beams of light. In this way, we were able to detect abrasions and scuff marks and displaced items. The thieves had stolen some heavy objects, a large TV, a portable oven and a radio and record player. We made a deduction that carrying these heavy objects was a factor in their leaving the sign that they were. The sign indicated travel west bound. Along the route, the dirt alley way was intersected by a paved street. At this point we looked for transferred material that might come from the alley way. This was minute, but visible, because of the light angle of the flashlight. The end result of this operation was that we found a Converse All Star track leading into a residence. One of the occupants was wearing this foot gear. Three people were arrested and stolen property recovered. The tracking operation started around midnight and was successfully concluded right before dawn.

Lt Col H. John Poole is a combat veteran who served in the USMC for 28 years. He was both a Non-Com and a Commissioned Officer. His view point about the value of Tracking and Signcutting is worthy of some attention. He noted “The requisite attention to detail becomes automatically available to every school trained tracker.” He added, if US military commanders were really interested in saving the lives of their subordinates, they would provide them with better observation skills, thus….Tracking Training!

In learning and practicing the business of Tracking and Signcutting, certain skills are exercised:
• High alertness to the situation you are in and an extreme awareness of the surroundings
• Keen attention to details
• Sharpening of Observation, Detection and Deduction skills.

Skills such as these can be applied to everything we do.