DVM’s Scout School – there are a few slots left

Death Valley Magazine, the “Magazine for Professional Adventurers and Interesting People” is holding an open enrollment MOBILE SCOUT SCHOOL in Houston this July. The Mobile Scout School starts on a Friday evening and runs through the following Sunday evening for a total of 28 hours of training they described as  “modern update on the legendary LRDG…”

The LRDG of course was the Long Range Desert Group that so plagued the Afrika Korps during WWII. In this class students will learn the basics of vehicle scout teams like those used by the military and PMSCs in Iraq and elsewhere; skills learned, they advise, will translate to any person who wants to be prepared “in today's unsure environment.” Think evacuations from natural disaster, areas where there has been a loss of rule of law, overland trekking remote area LEO work, that sort of thing. You may be able to use what you learned anywhere, from Portland to Hinsdale County Colorado to Makassar, but you'll be hot while you learn them.

“I picked Texas in July because it's Iraq hot,” DVM lead instructor James Price (an experienced PMSC contractor) advises. As for the course he says, “I have done my best to balance learning skills, having a good experience and the price – I think it is a good balance.”

The class is limited to 12 students, who will be divided into 3 four-man teams; one each for the gun trucks that will be provided (not sure if this means a DShk-equipped Hilux). Note that during this course students will sleep on or around their gun trucks and will remain in the field, training, during the entire weekend. Meals will be provided. Topics will include, among other things:

-Mobile Scout Vehicle Selection
-Equipping a Mobile Scout Vehicle
-Medical Equipment Selection
-Mobile Scout Equipment
-Mobile Scout Weapons
-Team Member Designations
-Operating in Permissive and Non-Permissive Environments
-Tactical Vehicle Convoys
-Downed Teammate Recovery
-Mobile Team Immediate Action Drills

For more information or to register, head over here. Cost is $450.

You'll be using much more modern vehicles and equipment, but this is a pretty interesting look at some of the ancestors of the mobile scout concept.

Check out this video too.