Mapping it out: civil engineers hone land navigation skills at Patriot Forge II

FT. DEVENS ARMY RESERVE TRAINING AREA, Mass. – Approximately 200 Civil Engineering Airmen from four New England Air National Guard units hiked through the densely wooded countryside at Ft. Devens with map, compass and ranger beads in hand, August 10-15.

The land navigation training was one of four modules at Patriot Forge II, an immersive field training exercise for Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force Region 1 civil engineers, designed to develop the multi-capable Airmen essential to the future fight.

The two-part way-finding module consisted of classroom time in the morning, where Airmen learned the basics of using analog tools and techniques, and an afternoon spent putting those skills in motion on a land navigation course.

Staff Sgt. Elijah St. Pierre, a water fuels systems maintainer from New Hampshire’s 157th Air Refueling Wing, practiced using ranger beads to measure distance as he hiked up and down the wooded slopes. He explained how those skills would help him navigate through and around different obstacles in the event he had to operate in a GPS-denied environment.

“At any point, our adversaries could disable [GPS] communications and make it impossible for us to do our job normally, so we need to learn the manual side of it,” said St. Pierre.

The instructional cadre was made up of experienced civil engineers with diverse backgrounds and extensive land navigation expertise.

Instructor Staff Sgt. Josh Pierce, a fire fighter from the 157th ARW who learned land navigation from his time as a Soldier in the U.S. Army, said it’s important for Airmen to be comfortable using old technology that can’t be degraded in a near-peer conflict.

“Yes, it’s nice to have GPS. Yes, it’s nice to have all these other things that help you, and indeed you should use them if you have them,” he said. “But you should always have these skills to draw back on in the event of technological failure of some kind.”

Standing in the dappled light filtering through the trees at the starting line of the 300-acre way-finding course, Airman 1st Class Bella Morris, an emergency manager from the 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor, Maine, said she learned basic plotting on a map, how to plan a route, and how to use a compass to measure direction towards a landmark.

“It’s important because we never know what kind of situations we’re going to get into in a deployed environment, or even day-to-day if you’re hiking and get off course,” said Morris. “It’s just good-to-know knowledge to have in your back pocket.”

Patriot Forge II, a training concept first pioneered and executed in 2024, brought together Airmen from the Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine Air National Guards. Participating Airmen built connections and the combat skills necessary in the expeditionary environment.

Prime BEEF Airmen provide expeditionary engineering capabilities wherever airpower is needed. That can require Airmen to move personnel and equipment between operating locations, navigate difficult terrain, and continue performing their engineering mission while responding to changing conditions around them.

The training also reinforced skills that overlap with other portions of Patriot Forge II. Tactical communications, individual movement, casualty response and force protection can all become factors during a convoy scenario. Rather than treating each skill as an isolated task, the module required Airmen to combine them while operating as part of a vehicle crew.

Patriot Forge II used a rotational training model, allowing participating Airmen to move through multiple training areas during the exercise rather than remain focused on a single mission set. Other competencies practiced during the week-long field training exercise included base defense, mounted and dismounted operations, and tactical combat casualty care.

For Morris, the field exercise was an opportunity to brush up on skills and stretch herself to new limits.

“I haven’t done land navigation in so, so long and it’s nice to dust off those skills,” said Morris. “My biggest take away is putting yourself in uncomfortable positions can really show you what you’re capable of.”

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