3D Army Land Navigation Courses • Hacker News Board

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#21

Post by gonzalohm » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 12:55 PM UTC

sdkgames wrote: post #14

How to play is explained here [1] By the way you can run the games locally. Just download all files. For the forest game you would have a local directory: ├── Build │ ├── Build_7_30_F.asm.code.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.asm.framework.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.asm.memory.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.data.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.json │ └── UnityLoader.js └── index.html then just run the following in the directory…

And how do you download the files?

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#22

Post by closewith » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 12:57 PM UTC

polyvisual wrote: post #19

Possibly the longest email address I've ever seen! usarmy.jble.tradoc.mbx.eustis-tboc-dtl-helpdesk@mail.mil

usarmy (U.S. Army)

jble (Joint Base Langley-Eustis)

tradoc (Training and Doctrine Command)

mbx (mailbox)

eustis (Fort Eustis)

tboc (Training Brain Operations Center)

dtl (Data Transmission Lab)

helpdesk (help desk)

mail (mail)

mil (military domain)

Tells you everything you need to know.

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#23

Post by closewith » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 1:00 PM UTC

jsvaughan wrote: post #13

Can highly recommend orienteering racing if this seems like your kind of thing

And practised by nearly all Western miliary as a military sport for that reason.

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#24

Post by dave881 » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 1:05 PM UTC

guax wrote: post #3

thaumasiotes wrote: post #2

This looks really cool. But I'm stuck on understanding the setup. I spawn at a known point defined as 32QAU04710542. I have a list of "given" points that I'm trying to reach, all beginning with 32QAU0 and then ranging from 3500715 to 5790531. And I have a map. I assume I'm supposed to locate these points, including the known point, on the map. And I'm hoping the names of the points will help me do that. But I don't k…

I assume the game is meant to be played with the knowledge of some supplementary course and material. the coordinates seem to be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Grid_Reference_System

This seems to be run by TRADOC, the US Army's TRaining And DOCterine Command.

I assume that it is intended to facilitate the Army's Land Navigation (LANDNAV) training for Soldiers. MGRS is the standard format for all US Army maps.

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#25

Post by p_l » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 1:42 PM UTC

closewith wrote: post #22

polyvisual wrote: post #19

Possibly the longest email address I've ever seen! usarmy.jble.tradoc.mbx.eustis-tboc-dtl-helpdesk@mail.mil

usarmy (U.S. Army) jble (Joint Base Langley-Eustis) tradoc (Training and Doctrine Command) mbx (mailbox) eustis (Fort Eustis) tboc (Training Brain Operations Center) dtl (Data Transmission Lab) helpdesk (help desk) mail (mail) mil (military domain) Tells you everything you need to know.

looks like gateway address between SMTP and X.400

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#26

Post by teeray » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 2:10 PM UTC

I didn't know the objective, so I created my own simple one: get to the lake because I'm thirsty. Then I created another one: get back to where I started so I can bring water to my injured companion.

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#27

Post by jeffbee » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 2:36 PM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #8

domatic1 wrote: post #6

I need a Navigation Course to navigate the course.

All I've done so far is read guax's link on the coordinate system, but I think the intended workflow goes like this: 1. Plot the point where you currently are on the map. 2. Flag that point; you only get two Grease Pencil Points, but you need to remember this forever. 3. Plot the point you want to get to. Flag that one too. (You'll need to clear the grease pencil in order to do this. Flag your location before you do.…

A key thing may be overlooked right at the beginning: you're supposed to enter a conversion factor of paces per 100 meters. Easy to miss and will leave you feeling like everything is too close together. Also the way the counter works when you're walking around is baffling.

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#28

Post by red_admiral » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 2:49 PM UTC

dmos62 wrote: post #16

closewith wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They taught us to triangulate using pencil and ruler, but no one has time for that when it's starting to get dark. I was a military land nav instructor (although not for the US military) and this was one of our biggest challenges, especially once smart phones become common. People would consider position fixing to be an unbearable waste of time and would inevitably waste hours of time and effort because of it.

Sad story. A few weeks ago, a few US tankmen got lost in a Lithuanian training grounds driving a M88 recovery vehicle. They drowned in a swamp. Took most of a week to find and excavate them (they were under meters of mud). Last I heard the investigation is ongoing, but a theory is that their GPS was malfunctioning due to Russian or Belorussian GPS jamming and the crew failed to navigate without GPS. Russian GPS jammi…

Isn't the Navy going back to teaching sextants and astral navigation, just in case in a conflict the enemy interferes with GPS?

On land, I always carry a paper map while hiking and have a bit of a, shall we say, opinion of people who neither take a map nor could competently use it if they needed to. Especially on multi-day mountain walks with a night in a hut along the way.

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#29

Post by sdkgames » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 3:09 PM UTC

gonzalohm wrote: post #21

sdkgames wrote: post #14

How to play is explained here [1] By the way you can run the games locally. Just download all files. For the forest game you would have a local directory: ├── Build │ ├── Build_7_30_F.asm.code.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.asm.framework.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.asm.memory.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.data.unityweb │ ├── Build_7_30_F.json │ └── UnityLoader.js └── index.html then just run the following in the directory…

And how do you download the files?

1. One can use the browser's devtools (press F12 when browsing the site) to figure out the needed files.

2. Create a list of the files (files.txt).

https://oe.tradoc.army.mil/oegames/landnav/forest/Build/Buil...

https://oe.tradoc.army.mil/oegames/landnav/forest/Build/Unit...

https://oe.tradoc.army.mil/oegames/landnav/forest/index.html

3. Download the files using the browser or a downloader:

      wget --input-file=files.txt --show-progress --directory-prefix=forest --force-directories

Re: 3D Army Land Navigation Courses

#30

Post by giraffe_lady » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 3:17 PM UTC

red_admiral wrote: post #28

dmos62 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sad story. A few weeks ago, a few US tankmen got lost in a Lithuanian training grounds driving a M88 recovery vehicle. They drowned in a swamp. Took most of a week to find and excavate them (they were under meters of mud). Last I heard the investigation is ongoing, but a theory is that their GPS was malfunctioning due to Russian or Belorussian GPS jamming and the crew failed to navigate without GPS. Russian GPS jammi…

Isn't the Navy going back to teaching sextants and astral navigation, just in case in a conflict the enemy interferes with GPS? On land, I always carry a paper map while hiking and have a bit of a, shall we say, opinion of people who neither take a map nor could competently use it if they needed to. Especially on multi-day mountain walks with a night in a hut along the way.

I don't know about the standard navy officer school but the naval academy only stopped teaching it for like a ten year period and then brought it back.

Funny enough though serious rec sailors are the most likely to know it well I think. They are much more likely to be in a situation where it's necessary and they have fewer shipboard obligations compared to a naval officer so more time/boredom to use futzing with it. It does take practice.