Night Ops: 2nd Homework Assignment
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:49 pm
Is this post tl;dr? Fuck you, read it anyway. If you don't have time, put a reminder somewhere to look at it when you do have time.
We operatives are a dark lot in the sense that our lifestyle revolves around the night. However, each of us have a day life too that we have to maintain. This daily life often gets in the way and prevents us from opping as often as we'd like. And on the rare occasion we have the time to do an op we either lack the motivation, are out of shape or simply can't get into the "zone".
But just because we can't op enough doesn't mean we have to fall completely out of touch with ourselves. So for the next few weeks I'm going to be setting homework tasks that I expect each and every one of you to complete. Just simple exercises to help you stay sharp and in shape.
These assignments also extend to you visiting guests and silent lurkers - yes, you, the reader - I want you all to participate as well.
Lesson:
Last week's lesson was on Observation, but just as important as keen Vision is key Hearing. Our sense of hearing is one of our main tools of alertness on ops because, while us operatives have generally better night vision than the average person, we're still as blind as bats when it comes to fumbling around in the dark. And if we can hide in shadows, so can others.
Not only is it dark at night, but it's also very quiet. This means that even the minutest sounds travel farther than they normally would during the day and any sound made by an operative is amplified significantly. We operatives generally take better care to move silently during the night, which gives us an advantage in audible awareness (since the average clot moves around at night just as they would during the day, making them easier to hear). However, just as our eyes can deceive us, our ears can play tricks with us as well. It is not uncommon to hear unidentifiable sounds in the night, even within one's own house as they're drifting off to sleep. As mentioned previously, sound is amplified significantly at night meaning that the minutest sounds that we'd otherwise ignore suddenly become new experiences for us. A lot of times we don't know if we'd just heard the wind or a whisper, a twig hitting the ground or a footstep, a beam setting or a lock turning, a bird or Sam fucking Fisher.
Perhaps more important than keen audible awareness is being able to evade other people's awareness; I don't need to explain why remaining silent on ops is important. What, I do? Geez, we really have let ourselves go haven't we? Okay... the primary focus on night operations is not to be detected. Not being detected depends largely on not being seen or heard. Obviously being seen is when the real trouble starts, but operatives are generally only seen when they're being searched for, and they're generally only being searched for if they have been heard, and they're generally only heard when they make a lot of noise. It's not rocket surgery!
When we operatives first step out into the night and, more importantly, when we enter the AO (Area of Operations), we've generally got the audible awareness of a hare that's had too much coffee. However, after spending some time in our AO we tend to let our guard down when we're confident the area is secure. We move around in a more casual manner, no longer sticking to cover as much as we should, not taking care to soften our footsteps and dismissing sounds we would've otherwise hugged the ground at hearing. This can be dangerous if our little endeavours were to be interrupted by unexpected visitors. Therefore, just as important as keen environmental observation, it is also crucial for us to develop a keen habit of maintaining strict sound discipline and awareness.
Homework:
First task this week is a hearing exercise to be conducted right now. Close your eyes- WAIT, not yet! Finish reading this paragraph first. Close your eyes, breathe calmly and just listen. Note every sound you here; what's causing it, how loud it is, how far it is, is it particularly noticeable or is it part of the background ambience, everything you can. Do this for about 60 seconds or however long you see fit, then go outside and do the same thing. Note any new sounds or differences in sound. Do this... now. So will I. (pause any music or videos you may have playing before doing so)
Inside I hear my computer tower humming quietly, occasionally cranking as it works in the background. I hear my dog breathing quietly and occasionally licking his lips as he tries to get comfortable. I barely hear the fridge in the kitchen, although it's largely drowned out by my computer tower. I hear the toilet in the bathroom making some regularly timed plumbing noise. Through my window I hear crickets, chirping slower than usual due the the recent decrease in temperature (crickets generally chirp more frequently in warmer weather). I hear distant traffic... maybe one or two cars, heading away from my position. I heard a high altitude breeze, barely skimming the top leaves. I hear a train going along the distant tracks - a cargo train due to the faster, louder, more 'metallic' rattling (probably a coal train). And just now I heard a bat land in a tree across the road. Some other cracks & clops around the house, but nothing to write home about.
Outside I heard traffic in the distant north-east & north-west, tracking the Doppler shift of each vehicle. I heard dogs barking in the distant north-east, then one more barking in supposed reply from the west. I heard a number of chirping crickets (or cicadas, or some kind of night birds) all around. I heard the occasional leaf or twig fall out of a tree, probably the work of some night creature judging from the regularity of it. The breeze ceased, although the clouds were still moving west. On my way back inside I heard a plane or helicopter approaching from the south, but it departed within 40 seconds or so.
You don't have to report what you heard in this exercise (unless you want to), this is strictly for your benefit. However, I want you to repeat this exercise throughout the week, at different times and preferably at different locations as your circumstances see fit. As with last week, I also want you to maintain constant audible awareness as you go about your daily business and analyse the sounds you hear. Note the way sound travels indoors and outdoors, how it bounces off walls and echoes in the distance, in tunnels and in open spaces, in vehicles and on the street, in the morning and afternoon, etc. Note which sounds are the loudest & most noticeable and which ones aren't as obvious.
In addition to the sounds you hear pay close attention to the sounds you make and minimize them as much as possible (without going overboard). Do your best to soften your footsteps and note how each surface behaves; one does not walk across concrete the same way one walks across leaves or grass. Change your stepping technique accordingly to whatever surface you're walking on to minimize noise as much as possible. Try doing everything as quietly as possible; opening/closing doors, picking up/putting down items, flicking switches and pressing buttons, shuffling through your pockets or bags, etc. Make a habit of keeping strict sound discipline and it will serve you well on ops.
Brotips: * When opening doors, have a firm grip on the handle, turn it slowly and push/pull it open quickly but stop it suddenly. Don't swing it all the way open, just enough for yourself to slip through. Close it in the same manner; quickly but stopping suddenly as it reaches the doorframe and then ease it gently back into positon & gently release the handle. For better control, have one hand pressed on the door just above the handle and slip your fingers between it and the frame as you close it to avoid slamming it.
* Make a habit of avoiding standing directly in front of a door when you open it - you'll become a prime target for whoever's on the other side.
* Take advantage of environmental noises, such as passing vehicles or a gust of wind blowing through the leaves, to move a little faster or perform some other action.
* When picking up an item off a table (particularly off glass or some other hard surface) practice just lifting it gently a small distance and then whisking it away much in the same way as you'd open a door quietly. Same goes for putting down an item, only in reverse order. The trick is to gently lift the item at a 90° angle (to avoid scraping it along the surface) by just a few millimetres before pulling it away. Try it now with whatever's in front of you.
* Instead of stepping normally, roll your foot onto the ground as you walk and lift your feet to avoid scraping them along the surface. Not too much though, you don't want to look like a goose-stepping Ninja.
* On the subject of doors again, keep in mind that they conduct less sound when closed.
Class dismissed.
We operatives are a dark lot in the sense that our lifestyle revolves around the night. However, each of us have a day life too that we have to maintain. This daily life often gets in the way and prevents us from opping as often as we'd like. And on the rare occasion we have the time to do an op we either lack the motivation, are out of shape or simply can't get into the "zone".
But just because we can't op enough doesn't mean we have to fall completely out of touch with ourselves. So for the next few weeks I'm going to be setting homework tasks that I expect each and every one of you to complete. Just simple exercises to help you stay sharp and in shape.
These assignments also extend to you visiting guests and silent lurkers - yes, you, the reader - I want you all to participate as well.
Lesson:
Last week's lesson was on Observation, but just as important as keen Vision is key Hearing. Our sense of hearing is one of our main tools of alertness on ops because, while us operatives have generally better night vision than the average person, we're still as blind as bats when it comes to fumbling around in the dark. And if we can hide in shadows, so can others.
Not only is it dark at night, but it's also very quiet. This means that even the minutest sounds travel farther than they normally would during the day and any sound made by an operative is amplified significantly. We operatives generally take better care to move silently during the night, which gives us an advantage in audible awareness (since the average clot moves around at night just as they would during the day, making them easier to hear). However, just as our eyes can deceive us, our ears can play tricks with us as well. It is not uncommon to hear unidentifiable sounds in the night, even within one's own house as they're drifting off to sleep. As mentioned previously, sound is amplified significantly at night meaning that the minutest sounds that we'd otherwise ignore suddenly become new experiences for us. A lot of times we don't know if we'd just heard the wind or a whisper, a twig hitting the ground or a footstep, a beam setting or a lock turning, a bird or Sam fucking Fisher.
Perhaps more important than keen audible awareness is being able to evade other people's awareness; I don't need to explain why remaining silent on ops is important. What, I do? Geez, we really have let ourselves go haven't we? Okay... the primary focus on night operations is not to be detected. Not being detected depends largely on not being seen or heard. Obviously being seen is when the real trouble starts, but operatives are generally only seen when they're being searched for, and they're generally only being searched for if they have been heard, and they're generally only heard when they make a lot of noise. It's not rocket surgery!
When we operatives first step out into the night and, more importantly, when we enter the AO (Area of Operations), we've generally got the audible awareness of a hare that's had too much coffee. However, after spending some time in our AO we tend to let our guard down when we're confident the area is secure. We move around in a more casual manner, no longer sticking to cover as much as we should, not taking care to soften our footsteps and dismissing sounds we would've otherwise hugged the ground at hearing. This can be dangerous if our little endeavours were to be interrupted by unexpected visitors. Therefore, just as important as keen environmental observation, it is also crucial for us to develop a keen habit of maintaining strict sound discipline and awareness.
Homework:
First task this week is a hearing exercise to be conducted right now. Close your eyes- WAIT, not yet! Finish reading this paragraph first. Close your eyes, breathe calmly and just listen. Note every sound you here; what's causing it, how loud it is, how far it is, is it particularly noticeable or is it part of the background ambience, everything you can. Do this for about 60 seconds or however long you see fit, then go outside and do the same thing. Note any new sounds or differences in sound. Do this... now. So will I. (pause any music or videos you may have playing before doing so)
Inside I hear my computer tower humming quietly, occasionally cranking as it works in the background. I hear my dog breathing quietly and occasionally licking his lips as he tries to get comfortable. I barely hear the fridge in the kitchen, although it's largely drowned out by my computer tower. I hear the toilet in the bathroom making some regularly timed plumbing noise. Through my window I hear crickets, chirping slower than usual due the the recent decrease in temperature (crickets generally chirp more frequently in warmer weather). I hear distant traffic... maybe one or two cars, heading away from my position. I heard a high altitude breeze, barely skimming the top leaves. I hear a train going along the distant tracks - a cargo train due to the faster, louder, more 'metallic' rattling (probably a coal train). And just now I heard a bat land in a tree across the road. Some other cracks & clops around the house, but nothing to write home about.
Outside I heard traffic in the distant north-east & north-west, tracking the Doppler shift of each vehicle. I heard dogs barking in the distant north-east, then one more barking in supposed reply from the west. I heard a number of chirping crickets (or cicadas, or some kind of night birds) all around. I heard the occasional leaf or twig fall out of a tree, probably the work of some night creature judging from the regularity of it. The breeze ceased, although the clouds were still moving west. On my way back inside I heard a plane or helicopter approaching from the south, but it departed within 40 seconds or so.
You don't have to report what you heard in this exercise (unless you want to), this is strictly for your benefit. However, I want you to repeat this exercise throughout the week, at different times and preferably at different locations as your circumstances see fit. As with last week, I also want you to maintain constant audible awareness as you go about your daily business and analyse the sounds you hear. Note the way sound travels indoors and outdoors, how it bounces off walls and echoes in the distance, in tunnels and in open spaces, in vehicles and on the street, in the morning and afternoon, etc. Note which sounds are the loudest & most noticeable and which ones aren't as obvious.
In addition to the sounds you hear pay close attention to the sounds you make and minimize them as much as possible (without going overboard). Do your best to soften your footsteps and note how each surface behaves; one does not walk across concrete the same way one walks across leaves or grass. Change your stepping technique accordingly to whatever surface you're walking on to minimize noise as much as possible. Try doing everything as quietly as possible; opening/closing doors, picking up/putting down items, flicking switches and pressing buttons, shuffling through your pockets or bags, etc. Make a habit of keeping strict sound discipline and it will serve you well on ops.
Brotips: * When opening doors, have a firm grip on the handle, turn it slowly and push/pull it open quickly but stop it suddenly. Don't swing it all the way open, just enough for yourself to slip through. Close it in the same manner; quickly but stopping suddenly as it reaches the doorframe and then ease it gently back into positon & gently release the handle. For better control, have one hand pressed on the door just above the handle and slip your fingers between it and the frame as you close it to avoid slamming it.
* Make a habit of avoiding standing directly in front of a door when you open it - you'll become a prime target for whoever's on the other side.
* Take advantage of environmental noises, such as passing vehicles or a gust of wind blowing through the leaves, to move a little faster or perform some other action.
* When picking up an item off a table (particularly off glass or some other hard surface) practice just lifting it gently a small distance and then whisking it away much in the same way as you'd open a door quietly. Same goes for putting down an item, only in reverse order. The trick is to gently lift the item at a 90° angle (to avoid scraping it along the surface) by just a few millimetres before pulling it away. Try it now with whatever's in front of you.
* Instead of stepping normally, roll your foot onto the ground as you walk and lift your feet to avoid scraping them along the surface. Not too much though, you don't want to look like a goose-stepping Ninja.
* On the subject of doors again, keep in mind that they conduct less sound when closed.
Class dismissed.