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UER Forum > Archived UE Tutorials, Lessons, and Useful Info > Tutorial on Scouting and Reconaissance (Viewed 621 times)
distorted void 


Location: Illinois
Gender: Male


What you risk shows what you value.

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Tutorial on Scouting and Reconaissance
< on 8/17/2006 2:15 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Scouting and Reconnaissance Guide

By Distorted Void
(yeah the one from infiltration.org and from many other places...)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I am not taking any responsibility for whatever you do with this document, nor is anyone affiliated taking responsibility with having this document posted anywhere on the internet or in public places; its merely for informational purposes and what you choose to do with it is entirely up to you. You face the consequences so don’t say its anyone’s fault on any UE site, or affiliations with it, or me. You made the choice, you pay the consequence.
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Quick Introduction

This guide is aimed more for the Urban Explorer than anything else, but it does have elements of paramilitary techniques/training and can be equipped to other activities. So a forewarning is again necessary. Now secondly this guide is my first written guide online that I have ever posted so don’t get too mad if its not all fancy-dancy like you want it to be, its about the information, not the way its presented right? Now lastly I would like to say that some people think that you have to be militarily trained be a professional scout and reconnaissance "person". But from what I know, that’s a load of crap. Scouting and Reconnaissance is very basic and the most complicated scouting and reconnaissance is just the basics but accentuated to the very complicated extent, think military vs military; that can get quite complicated with technology, politics, espionage, Major planning, etc. But what the complicated scouting/recon really is, is just the basics, advanced up a level with many other planning considerations and technological advantages.



TERMS:
AO: Area Objective-The area you will be operating in
Progressive Reconnaissance-The act of placing and area under surveillance over time (days to years) and slowly planning out considerable routes and actions against things that will hinder your progress.




Index:
1.What exactly is scouting and reconnaissance
2.Bare Essentials
3.Basics:
A. Mapping and Research
B. Camouflage
C .Equipment
D. Movement
5.Bibliography
6.Next tutorial...





What exactly is Scouting and Reconnaissance?

Scouting and Reconnaissance is the art of observation before going into a site or area that you want to undertake. That scouting can be done at a very minimum and get into your AO very quickly, or you can spend time or even days depending on how well you want to know your site before you go prancing around in your urban flowers environment.

Scouting and Reconnaissance is not very difficult at all, in its most basic form. Even a wolf hunting for food does scouting and recon; the wolf however crouches in the tall grass and waits for the moment of attack, and attacks when it thinks it will be best (or maybe that’s the fox that does that I don’t know, who cares). Some people will say scouting and recon is either very easy or very complicated. But its only dependent off of the situation. Scouting an abandoned building is much easier than scouting an active military facility right? Of course I’m in no way condoning at all about going into active military facilities, cause you’ll either end up shot, or arrested, or if you were really good and got out why the hell would you even bother reading this?

Another thing I want to stress is, I made this guide with a hint of adding novice to professional details on how to do things. You do not have to do them this way, and clearly if you do everything in such a concise manner, it can in certain circumstances take away the whole element of exploring. So take into consideration what my guide is saying as it may help you think of new ways to do things, and develop a skill that less than like (I’m just making up estimates) 90% of the population will know. So remember to take this guide not with a grain of salt, but with a grain of enthusiasm.

Bare Essentials
The most important thing about scouting would have to be that you are aware of your surroundings and you pay attention to detail of your site you want to get into. Many people rush into scouting and reconnaissance, they look at the building for 15 seconds and go yeah...ok it looks good and then jump right in. But scouting, or good scouting at least takes a little patience, say 5 min at the best recommended for abandoned facilities. Remember PATIENCE is the key.

What are you looking for in scouting and reconnaissance? You have to give yourself an objective/s in mind with scouting and reconnaissance. Start at the smaller objectives and work your way up. Are you looking for security? What kind? Security guards? How many? What are their patterns and routes? How often do they change their shifts? When? Are there motion sensors? Placed where? Are their alternative routes? Do I have to disable motion sensors (somehow)? What is the lighting like at night? What ways of entry do I plan on going? Is their water coming out of the drain? Are their hazards where I’m going? What kinds? Do I really have to go here?

Obviously there can be endless and possibly infinitely many objectives to put in mind and it varies from place to place. There should obviously be different scouting done at an active mall than a drain. A completely abandoned building requires looking for more hazards than looking at security like a transit tunnel, in a transit tunnel you have to worry about being seen, surveillance/security systems, guards, and getting hit by large objects going through the tunnels at high velocities (I know what could that possibly be?).

Bare essentials:

You should know the size and shape of the structure, and prepare a map if you cannot get one online on the one of many satellite free servers they have.
Know your exits and entrances at the very basic level at least. Try and find alternate routes into and out of the target area. A few examples would be into a building through ventilation shafts, or into a drain through manhole popping, or into Utility tunnels by the main buildings basement access.
Know the perimeter security (since this is usually the hardest phase of security to bypass), and know your AO's security status as well if you can.
Find out the hazards and get the basics of using your 5 senses.

What do you see that’s important? Do you see a guard dog and a camera? Hmm how do I get around that?
Do you hear a helicopter? That cant be good, screw this place.
Do you smell a foul odor? Yeah it smells lets not go there.
Do you feel a hot manhole or feel electricity? Stop touching it then, what are you thinking?
Do you taste...hush...why the hell are you tasting anything while your Urban Exploring?!!!!


Here’s a little recommendation for the amount of time you should take in scouting on places i can think of, using basic scouting techniques (basic meaning your 5 senses).

Abandoned Buildings-5 minutes minimum
Construction sites-5 minutes minimum
Active sites-Varies from 5 minutes to years (progressive reconnaissance)
Drains-2 minutes
Transit Tunnels-Varies from 5 minutes to years (progressive reconnaissance)
Utility Tunnels-Varies from 5 minutes to number of days (progressive reconnaissance)

Scouting takes time, meaning patience, and using your logic and senses and the most important part, OBSERVATION.

Just remember the two most important parts of scouting and recon, is answering two questions.
What is my objective? What obstacles (mentally or physically) will interfere will my objective?

Basics: Mapping
Now you have one of two ways of mapping an area.

1.Create it yourself
2.Find it using public information

Creating it yourself is an obvious factor that usually means you cant get a map of that area for some reason using public information. In mapping you WANT to try and find things through public information first, because it first of all, is a lot easier and sometimes whatever map your looking at can give even more valuable information than you need.

1.Creating the map yourself: this can be difficult because you may not be able to see every part, and every angle (man that’s obvious). So you should try and make a map from every angle if possible. If it is too much of a trouble, just make a map in specific detail, when i refer to anything as making a map, i refer to Ariel mappage (oh yeah, new word); make the map in birds eye view from the area you are looking at. Put down things such as fences, security checkpoints, entrances, exits, cameras, motion sensors; anything that seems like it will be a necessity to know. Also mark the ways you plan on getting in and out and make them distinct from the rest of your markings of fences, guards and such. Don’t forget alternate back up routes just in case.

2. Find it using public information: Now this is the toughest one to write out...ugh...well here goes, but possibly the most important.

A. The internet: The best form of public information and ways of getting maps and various details of places you are planning on exploring for your devious fun and adventures of sonic. So anyways, the internet is the best way to locate things like drains and Active sites. Abandoned buildings and utility tunnels seem to not like to be up on the internet. Why would anyone NOT have things like that on the internet? I mean COME ON? GOSH, clearly we need to have abandoned references and utility tunnel access sites clearly listed and that will have a tab listed "UE'ers please enter"

Using the internet for Active sites is by far the best, easiest and fastest way of finding information out and getting basic maps, for a particular site. All you have to do is basically know the name of the site and the company and find out information using GOOGLE, and find any and all information on that site. Pretty easy huh? Well, you might want to do research on the electrical company, security company guarding it, the mechanical company, the original construction company. If you find out what those are, you can usually pinpoint lots of neat little things and using the information you’ve just figured out by data mining, you can maybe get blueprints and the things they used for the electricity or where the electricity breaker is, i think you get it...

For drains: using the internet by typing in "your city" + storm drains, can give you good results that if you data mined by going through those long pages of information by hitting ctrl+ F, which will open up a find option that will scan the page for any specific words, and guess what you’ll type in that box? "Drain"!!! So once you find some information about storm drains in your area, put that little bit of information down on paper and keep going; after a while you should have enough information to find the drain and have any other important information dealing with it. Also sometimes looking up your city's web page can also give you valuable information.

Construction sites: Oh wow this is easy, this is probably posted all over the internet, as it will become an active site. Type in the name of the construction and the city the construction will be in and it will give you results almost as if you were the owner of the place (usually).

Utility tunnels, i personally haven’t done anything on utility tunnels yet, so i cant really give much say in this area.

Transit tunnels: i guarantee you’ll find stuff if you Google the transit tunnel, especially if it is active.

Abandoned buildings: This is the toughie one, the one people want to visit the most yet the hardest to find on the internet, if you use the internet try abandoned + your cities name, may give you results, maybe. Its quite doubtful though, and abandoned buildings are better when their found by browsing through an area in your car.

Research
B. The local library and/or city archives can have information about abandoned facilities (like say an old abandoned mall), drains, fire codes, or utility access. The library usually has this stuff in the reference section and is usually open to the public, but if not you may have to do some social engineering. The city archives is a little harder to get access to, as usually its located at the city hall, police station, your local country courts. You usually will have to be A LOT more persuading somehow and often results in you just needing to be higher up in society or have a valid reason for having a look at information there.


Basics: Camouflage

Camouflage means blending in with your environment as to not be noticed. To disrupt the enemies perception of our presence.

Now however, people often mis-interpret what that means, when people often think of CAMO, they think of the shades of green and brown and black colors. Now that’s obviously one form of camouflage, but camouflage is like an art, you must understand how it works and why it does it that way and try it out for yourself before you can use it with a 100% efficiency.

Basics of Camouflage: there’s two types of camouflage; Distortion Camouflage or Blending in Camouflage.

1.Everyone knows the blending in camouflage. How it works: to look exactly like/replace the environment to blend in.

2.What many people don’t understand is distortion camouflage. It works upon how the eye gathers information. The distortion camouflage looks like such a broken pattern that the eye doesn’t recognize it (not right away at least, and if your not looking for it) because your eye and brain scans for things it can recognize. So if your laying on the ground close to several objects with distortion camouflage, chances are you WONT be seen. But if your standing up your silhouette is exposed and the brain through thousands of years of evolution and your lifetime has learned to look for this kind of design (the shape of the human body, standing up).

Here’s a list of the different kinds of camouflage...

Forest Camouflage- works best in forestry, green, over-brush environments, and is usually more suspicious looking if you are caught wearing this. So this is a good type of forest camouflage

Urban Camouflage-Works best at darker periods (or dimly lit areas) such as dawn, dusk, and night time. This type of camouflage works at a distance much better than close up and you can often be exposed at closer distances (which is why its better at darker periods, because darkness distorts the eye and makes things seem further away). Also, it looks less suspicious if you put a regular shirt on over the urban camo shirt, for a quick getaway, if you needed to. Many people wear this type of camouflage for clothing, but not the full outfit though, so wearing the whole thing makes you look suspicious.

Desert Camouflage-I cant say much about this, because I’ve never worked with it enough, but when the heck are you going to need desert camouflage anyways?

Camouflage in plain sight-This is the art of looking SO casual, so obvious, and being so confident (in acting), that it makes others think that you are SUPPOSED to be there; Ninjalicious talked a lot about this, but this is one of the most common things to learn in espionage. Use clothing that will make you look like you are supposed to be there, and use "credibility props" to make yourself seem even more occupied/deserving to be there. The one thing that people don’t practice enough in dealing with this, is being confident in what your doing. Be confident the way you talk to someone if someone asks you a question, be confident in your casual talks, act like you know the raps of this place, being confident in the way your walking, your walking like you know where your going.

Full black costume-This is the best under night and dim lit areas and usually the outfit is a ninja style outfit that is tight fitting to the body and it allows for quieter movement and more precise movement, it also depending on the outfit should be pretty water resilient, and be able to absorb water without being completely wet, like a wetsuit. However its a big price to pay because if your caught, your going to be considered as a dangerous intruder (probably assume right away your a terrorist)

There are other variations of camouflage, but those are the most common, most used, and the best to learn/know.

Why do you need camouflage during reconnaissance? Well its quite simple, this way you wont be seen and have the place be put under surveillance or upped on their security so that way you can plan the best possible route.


Basics: Equipment

Equipment is pretty basic for scouting and reconnaissance. There is other equipment that can be used but is usually not needed, in scouting and reconnaissance operations you want to be light and able to move around and get around, so i recommend traveling light, but you could add cool gadgetry such as binoculars, or night vision, or other neat things you could think of, but here’s what needed.

Camera-for taking photos of things from the outside, obviously.

Pen and Pad of Paper-Those in specifically, because a pencil can break and there’s no sharpener; A pad of paper rather than just one piece because a pad is much easier to write on. You need these to mark down during your observation part of the scouting, you write down any important information like guards changing their posts or when they change in their shifts or if you have to make a map, all in all its handy to have to write anything important down.

Your camouflage outfit-As I said earlier it depends on the situation, time and place. You can always change your outfit for the infiltration change if you want, keep that in mind.

Basics: Movement

There’s not much on movement in dealing with scouting but i thought id add it in just to clarify my point on it more.

When I refer to movement in dealing with scouting and reconnaissance, you will want to use movement in complete stealth, or complete obviousness, depending on how you look at it. If you need to change positions its all about blending in and using your camouflage training and equipment. If your doing the covert op method, you will want to be on the ground more and be very quiet and stealthy about your movements and positions.

If your doing the casual stroll through the building like you belong there, and you have your credibility props; all you need to do is look completely confident and act like you belong there, in fact don’t act, you are that person.

In semi casual areas with a bit of stealth needed, you might need to add a blend of casual-ness with a bit of stealth, in these situations its best to move according to situation and wear camouflage that is more casual, so that way if your caught, as its a much higher risk in these types of situations (these types of situations happen more in suburban areas than anything else).

Movement doesn’t really needed to be focused on too much in this guide, so don’t take movement too heavily when dealing with recon. Movement is another whole tutorial in itself, something which I will make and then everyone can focus on movement then, i just wanted to add it, to clarify that you use movement in coordination with your planning and camouflage.

Bibliography

Knights of Darkness-by Dr. Haha Lung
Access all areas-by Ninjalicious
Spy's guide to Scouting and Reconnaissance-by H. Keith Melton
My own mind...hehe...


The next tutorial....

My next tutorial will be on the applications of the infiltration into structures and perimeters, bypassing security, etc. So be prepared and look for it in the future.

"Infiltration: Perimeter and Structure Bypassing"


--PS: for everyone on UER, hope this helps everyone.--


[last edit 8/17/2006 2:18 AM by distorted void - edited 3 times]

I love doing things in which others have no idea even exist, dont you?
AAExplorer 


Location: Washington, DC
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Re: Tutorial on Scouting and Reconaissance
<Reply # 1 on 8/17/2006 3:14 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Thanks void, your volume of great posts are an example for us all.

MindHacker 


Location: Suburbs of DC
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Re: Tutorial on Scouting and Reconaissance
<Reply # 2 on 8/17/2006 5:14 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Good tutorial. Id mention a quick piece on checking for active use, but thats about all.

Tire tracks, squished plants, rust on gates / doors, dust disturbances.

Oh, and the black vs dark navy blue, but we've beat that horse to death. again.

Let me know if you want any help w/ the next guide, either a cowriter, editor, or technical advice.

"That's just my opinion. I would, however, advocate for explosive breaching, since speed and looking cool are both concerns in my job."-Wilkinshire
DevilC 


Location: Washington, District of Corruption
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I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their views.

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Re: Tutorial on Scouting and Reconaissance
<Reply # 3 on 8/17/2006 9:10 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by distorted void
-- Now secondly this guide is my first written guide online that I have ever posted so don’t get too mad if its not all fancy-dancy like you want it to be, its about the information, not the way its presented right?
--Now lastly I would like to say that some people think that you have to be militarily trained be a professional scout and reconnaissance "person".

Interesting insights Void. Cheers for doing so much work.
-I am often guilty of getting hung up on form instead of substance.
-You are wholly right, this is NOT a military operation. It's supposed to be FUN!! Many young UE'ers want to dress up like it's WW3 and stalk a location in a ghillie suit. Common sense and a keen eye are much better to have on your side in this game than night vision goggles and ninja shoes!
-To be a PROFESSIONAL recon person - you do need military or advanced police training(usually provided by ex-military types). You can be awesome at UE and be very observant - but you are far from possessing the same skill set. ISR is probably the most difficult military skill-set to learn the tradecraft of and be proficient at. "Scouts Out!"
-I would scrub out a lot of the technical details of camo and equipment. Those are your most assailable points. Focus on procedure and practice - gear comes and goes (who ws UE'ing with a digital camera, satellite map, or cell phone 10 years ago?) best practices and good sense are immortal.




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god_of_fear 


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Re: Tutorial on Scouting and Reconaissance
<Reply # 4 on 8/22/2006 11:43 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
When scouting around abandoned sites, I like to dress like I am homeless. You are less conspicuous and if security or cops see you, they usually tell you to just move along and find somewhere else to stay.

Fear is the mind-killer.
Primer 


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Re: Tutorial on Scouting and Reconaissance
<Reply # 5 on 8/23/2006 11:50 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by god_of_fear
When scouting around abandoned sites, I like to dress like I am homeless. You are less conspicuous and if security or cops see you, they usually tell you to just move along and find somewhere else to stay.


AWESOME Cammo!

I have a polo shirt from the environmental/civil engineering firm I worked for years back. Generally I just look like I am supposed to be there. If they really press it (No one has) "no...Company X isn't working on this site...I just got off of work and wanted to take pictures of the old boarded up victorian/base/dealership, etc."

Then again, I like to show up a LOT when scouting out. Generally I show up 2 or 3 times in broad daylight and make lots of sketches while harmlessly eyeing the perimeter, parking areas, etc. so if I am seen there at dusk one evening the locals don't go Good Samaritan on me.

If I am approached I pleasantly greet the approacher and sell 'em bigger lines of bullshit than I did when I used to sell cars.


"When applied at precisely the right time, ignorance is a powerful tool...Usually even surpassing knowledge"-E.J. "Michigan Madman" Potter.
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