Brushbeater Courses in WA State, Apr-May 2022

Brushbeater will be teaching several of their classes in Washington State at the end of April and early May. These will be held in the vicinity of Yakima. Forward all inquiries to: brushbeater@tutanota.com

Scout Course – April 29 – May 1, 2022

Three day class covers the basics of scouting and reconnaissance for irregular or unsupported forces. Course focuses first on marksmanship to 400 meters, personal camouflage and ghillie suit construction, individual and team movement, observation techniques, practical range cards, target acquisition, and basic wilderness survival in an off-grid encampment. By the end of the course, students will demonstrate abilities required for functioning as a small team to effectively locate and engage a simulated enemy, replicating real-world guerrilla operations.

RTO / ADV RTO / Signals Intelligence – May 3 – 8, 2022

RTO:

This class will teach students the basics of communications at the Team or Squad Level in the field. Topics of instruction include:

  • Identifying Equipment Requirements
  • Writing a Signals Operating Index
  • PACE Planning for Communications
  • Basic equipment capabilities
  • Traffic handling
  • Improvised antenna types, uses and construction
  • Setting up and running an NVIS HF station
  • Message Formats
  • Setting up and communicating from a field site

Two day course will culminate in an field training event running a TOC station and Hide site in the field. Students will each build an antenna and demonstrate competency in team communications basics during the field exercise. Amateur Radio license qualification is helpful, but not required. This is NOT a ‘ham radio’ class but each student will come away with a basic understanding of a team’s communications needs in a tactical environment and how to best meet them under less-than-ideal circumstances. No equipment is required for this course; however, if students want to get field practice with their own gear, it is highly encouraged but done so at their own risk. Instruction is completely off-grid.

Advanced RTO:

Two day class picks up where the RTO Basic Course leaves off, covering advanced techniques for clandestine communications in the field. Points of instruction include:

  • Advanced SOI planning
  • creating a brevity matrix
  • Planning and coordinating a dedicated transmitting site
  • Theory, construction and use of directional wire antennas
  • Recognizing and mitigating signs of Electronic Warfare
  • Advanced HF Techniques

As with RTO Basic, the course will culminate in a field exercise where students demonstrate the concepts covered in a live environment. By the end of both courses, students will be able to build a bulletproof communications network with even the most basic off the shelf equipment and little, if any, external support.

Signals Intelligence:

Two day course covers the essentials of signals collection and analysis in an asymmetric warfare environment. Course specifically focuses on building skills to better prepare a retreat or small unit for intercepting and exploiting an OPFOR’s ground communications. Students will learn:

  • Communications Mapping of your Area of Operations
  • Common, Off The Shelf tools for Signals Intelligence
  • Planning and construction of Listening Posts
  • Radio Direction Finding (RDF) Techniques
  • Signals Interception and Analysis
  • Coordinating with an Analysis and Control Element (ACE)
  • Tactical Exploitation

Each student in class will receive open source tools for conducting signals intelligence. At a minimum every student will come away with the essential skills needed to receive possible early warnings or simply stay abreast of problems in their area of interest or potential threats to their patrol.