St. Paul completed several Land Nav objectives last Saturday afternoon and evening. This event found an equal number of cadets and senior members "competing" for the find on each hard-to-find marker. This took a team effort, especially on the 1,066 meter walk at 321 degrees, from "echo" to "lima". We ended up at the lake before breaking up into an east and west team, looking for the little green man with a "L". The west team found the "L" at the bottom of the steep sandy hill, inside the swampy bank of the lake.

As with every exercise we learned as we worked. Our equipment and physical readiness was tested over and over. We were treated to perfect weather and land conditions, so we thought. The course took us into areas we had never even seen. The cattail swamp was one objective with a mix of open water over ice. We all ended up with wet feet and a sense of accomplishment at the end of that segment. Then, several thousand meters of open land, along with a few wood ticks and deer as we wrapped up the day. Cadets McMahon, Tunell and Johnson came prepared for the long afternoon and walked through every corner of the 1,500 acres of AHATS. On the way out of the lake area a number of agates were collected as prizes for the cadets' efforts. Then, we made our way through about two miles of varied terrain to get back to the vehicles.

By this point we decided to retire and claim some pizza and pop for our efforts at the local Davanni's. All agreed that the Land Nav 2010-1 was a success and will be repeated again. The cadets took charge of this event and located the green men of the course as well as a number of other more tangible items. I hope to see more cadets out there next time this is offered. It was a fun event that we can easily do again.

See you Thursday at the meeting.

Jeff Leif, 1Lt, CAP
St. Paul Composite Squadron