http://www.securitymanagement.com/news/safe-route-planning-afghanistan-way-006064
08/25/2009 - Wired.com's Danger Room blog has a short post up that may interest security professionals in VIP protection who plan routes for a living.
The article concerns a Marine officer in Afghanistan's new hi-tech but low-cost improvement to a technique known as an "honesty trace," which helps avoid natural ambush points due to the country's tough topography.
By using no more than an off-the-shelf Garmin GPS unit, a USB port, and a mapping software program like Google Earth, former Wall Street Journal reporter-cum-warrior Matt Pottinger devised a process that can map U.S. and British units' patrol routes so they avoid natural bottlenecks where the Taliban and other associated militants could plant roadside bombs or stage ambushes.
Danger Room has more:
Changing up routes is standard in military operations, but creating “honesty traces” (a term borrowed from the British in Northern Ireland, who did the same thing with tracing paper) can help troops avoid falling into unexpected — and potentially deadly — patterns. This unclassified briefing — prepared for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, but also for other International Security Assistance Force units — doesn’t involve much more than a Garmin GPS, a USB port and Excel spreadsheets.
The unclassified briefing also notes how important honesty traces are to safe route planning.
When you click on the link, check unclassified briefing for a link to the pdf
08/25/2009 - Wired.com's Danger Room blog has a short post up that may interest security professionals in VIP protection who plan routes for a living.
The article concerns a Marine officer in Afghanistan's new hi-tech but low-cost improvement to a technique known as an "honesty trace," which helps avoid natural ambush points due to the country's tough topography.
By using no more than an off-the-shelf Garmin GPS unit, a USB port, and a mapping software program like Google Earth, former Wall Street Journal reporter-cum-warrior Matt Pottinger devised a process that can map U.S. and British units' patrol routes so they avoid natural bottlenecks where the Taliban and other associated militants could plant roadside bombs or stage ambushes.
Danger Room has more:
Changing up routes is standard in military operations, but creating “honesty traces” (a term borrowed from the British in Northern Ireland, who did the same thing with tracing paper) can help troops avoid falling into unexpected — and potentially deadly — patterns. This unclassified briefing — prepared for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, but also for other International Security Assistance Force units — doesn’t involve much more than a Garmin GPS, a USB port and Excel spreadsheets.
The unclassified briefing also notes how important honesty traces are to safe route planning.
When you click on the link, check unclassified briefing for a link to the pdf