Washington National Guard's Counter Drug Task Force Helps Police in the Fight Against Drugs

(Editor's note: This story comes from John Simpson, a longtime journalist who has spent years covering everything Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His work is also available at northwest.military.com)

Standing in a patch of tall grass and brush, Mike Cooke looked at his compass, checked his map and headed off in a northwesterly direction.

The Pierce County Sheriff's deputy's objective – a red-topped, white post - was over 1,300 meters away.

Lucky us, I thought, this was no walk in the park. Luck, though, has nothing to do with our task.

As a member of the Washington National Guard's Counter Drug Task Force, Cooke had first used a small map, a smaller protractor and a plastic, pink tipped pencil to decipher the map coordinates. With that done, he used his lensactic compass to take an azimuth reading, found true north, which is to say he figured out the direction we need to move to find the post.

Three hundred forty-three degrees was our heading.

All we had to do to reach the objective was navigate over hilly and bramble-clogged terrain while keeping an eye on the compass heading. A degree or two off, and we could spend the better part of the day finding our objective.

In other words, we could get lost.

“I’m pretty sure we’re moving in the right direction,” Cooke said as we half walked, half slide down the steep and frost covered side of a hill on a training range located in the middle of nowhere at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

“The instruction we’ve received in land navigation has been great, and I’m confident we’re headed in the right direction.”

Established by Congressional order in 1988 and headquartered at Camp Murray, the guard's Counter Drug Task Force provides training to law enforcement and community based counter drug operations at the local, state and federal levels.

During the course Thursday, US Marshalls, Deputy Sheriffs, Department of Corrections officers and local police officers took advantage of the task force’s offer to learn and practice land navigation.

The officers learned how to read a map, use a protractor, take a compass reading, develop a pace count and then navigate to an objective during the day and at night.

As a deputy who works the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula areas, Cooke is one of the local officers who trained at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Thursday, relying on tactics and strategies they can use to reduce drugs in their community.

That includes investigating clandestine methamphetamine laboratories and other signs of drug manufactoring that are often found in unincorporated parts of Pierce County.

“Much of the territory we work in my area is remote.  It is heavily wooded, sparsely populated and easy to hide in,” Cooke explained.

In other words, it sounds like a great place to set up a drug operation.

“It is,” Cooke said.  “Finding these places can be a bit challenging.”

That challenge, however, is getting easier - much easier - to meet.

“These 15 law enforcement officials from a number of localities came to us and asked to take the three-day course we offer in land navigation,” Sergeant Bob explained.

Bob (whose last name is not being used due to operational security) is an Army Special Forces soldier attached to the task force. An integral component of the training involves Special Forces soldiers and the advanced skill sets they possess.

“Building rapport with outside agencies through teaching is big with Special Forces,” the sergeant added with a smile.

“These guys came in motivated,” he continued.  “They haven’t let down once, and yesterday was a 13-hour day for them.”

Four hours and a handful of minutes later, Cooke and I found ourselves back at the start point.

He had successfully navigated the course without getting lost.

“I can see the practicality of the course the Guard offers; it sharpens my skills as a patrol officer and as a member of the lab team.”