PMCI: When and where did you start running your courses?
John: “The first class I taught was in September of 2010, in the
Kisatchie National Forest area in the State of Louisiana. The
class had a mixture of Military, Law Enforcement and a civilian
survival Instructor. The class was seven days long, was conducted
completely in a field environment and included:
John D. Hurth
Introduction to Basic Tracking
Mission of the Tracker
Tracking Terms
Dynamics of a Footprint
Gait Analysis
Use of Light
Tracking Techniques (Step by Step method)
Activity Indicators
Identifying and Recording sign
Impression analysis practical exercises (PE)
Sign Classification and Tracking Indicators
Factors that Affect Tracking (ageing and weather)
Tracking Techniques (Persistence method)
Individual/Two Man Tracking PE
Lost Track Drill (individual and team procedures)
Combat Tracker Team Formations
Immediate Action Drills
IED, Mine and Booby trap detection lane.
Night Tracking.
Interview:
PMCI: So John, in your own words tell me what led you to set
up TYR Group?
John: “Wow, this may take a while!
“After I retired from the military in 2008, I worked for a contracting
company that provided Combat Tracker training to the U.S. Army
at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. The contract had a lot of problems. The course
itself really didn’t live up to its name, or provide the Army with
a true combat tracking capability that lead to it being employed
operationally. It was however, a good course that taught basic
individual and team level visual tracking techniques and made
individual soldiers who completed the training more “track
aware” than anything else. It was my personal opinion there was
a serious capability gap within our military that still exists to this
day and the company I worked for at the time had neither the
experience, nor the know-how to correct the problem - and they
didn’t want to take any of my advice.
“Combat Tracking in my mind is not a separate operation. It
is my view that Combat Tracking is another type of patrolling
mission that complements or supports other on-going offensive
operations, like Movement to Contact, Attack, Exploitation and
Pursuit, or other Reconnaissance and Personnel Recovery type
operations. Later, after I left that company, I established TYR
Group LLC in January 2010. I wanted build an organisation that
not only provided the best tracking services and consultation
but also employed like-minded individuals who believe in the
same strategy that I do. That everything we teach is tactically and
technically sound. After the course is done, when our students
employ what we teach them in a real world situation, their lives
depend on it. Also, I did not want anything gimmicky or unproven
because, in my opinion, there’s already too much of that in the
industry. I also wanted to have a company that had the highest
standards of integrity and wanted to make a difference in the
contracting industry by setting a good example.
“Also I wanted to provide other common sense services built
on twenty-three years of combined Infantry, Ranger and Special
Forces operator experience that were not technology driven but
human instinct and intelligence driven. This valuable combined
experience instils our clients with confidence and a sense of
self-reliance. I believe that humans are more important than
machines. If you don’t have a certain type of equipment in your
supply or s