ADVANCED LAND NAVIGATION: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A PROTOTYPE PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION

To enable infantrymen to acquire proficiency in advanced land navigation (ALN) techniques, an ALN performance requirement at the level of infantry advanced individual training (AIT) was developed in this study. Graduates of infantry AIT were tested on navigational routes of the level of difficulty prescribed by the performance requirement. This diagnostic assessment provided guidance for development of a 10-hour prototype program of instruction in ALN. The program was administered to 100 enlisted men whose performance was then evaluated on the prescribed navigational routes. In the experimental group, 50% of the men met the prescribed daytime performance requirement, as opposed to 5% of those without the experimental training; 76% met the performance requirement for nighttime navigation. The 10-hour program of instruction in ALN can be used to train enlisted men to navigate accurately over difficult, unfamiliar terrain under all conditions of visibility.