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I picked up a book recently on Orienteering. "Be Expert With Map and Compass" Before I read it I knew how to use a compass and a topo map. But it showed me a lot of interesting ways to do things I'd never thought of on my own and Uncle Sam didn't bother teaching me. I knew about declination but largely dismissed it. It showed me I was a fool if I ever went more than 300 yards to find something.
Makes me want to take up a new hobby. Hiking. Any of you hike regularly?
I don't hike. Wish I had the time and desire, though. As for land nav, unfortunately I've forgotten more than many people ever learn. Star, shadow-tip and watch skills are in dire need of refreshing in my case. The latter two are simple but the last time I used them was almost seven years ago. Sadly, I even had to look up declination (I've heard the term some but most of the time we refer to it as G-M Angle).
For better or worse most Army land nav courses I've encountered are simple. At Fort Knox I used terrain association and still was the first in with all four points. AP Hill is a little trickier. Yankee North at Fort Benning was a bit tougher, but that was due more to the 100 degree heat and humidity than the course itself. Then again, we didn't even have 1:50,000 scale maps in Iraq. It was PLGR/GPS and grid coordinates all the way.