Tracking Team

A tracking team is a specialty search resource that uses human track and sign, terrain interpretation, and field observation to help locate a missing person. In wilderness search and rescue, tracking is most valuable when teams have a reliable point last seen (PLS), last known point (LKP), known footwear pattern, direction-of-travel clue, or other evidence that can connect the subject to the landscape.

The tracking team does not replace other SAR resources. Instead, it helps the incident management team narrow the search area, test assumptions, identify likely travel routes, preserve clues, and guide the deployment of ground teams, K9 teams, aircraft, drones, and technical rescue assets.

Core Responsibilities

• Locate and interpret sign: Identify footprints, scuffs, broken vegetation, displaced stones, disturbed soil, transferred mud, dropped items, and other indicators of human passage.
• Confirm or refute travel: Determine whether sign is consistent with the missing person, unrelated searchers, animals, or older human activity.
• Establish direction of travel: Use track shape, stride, pressure releases, vegetation disturbance, and terrain funnels to determine where the subject may have gone.
• Protect the clue environment: Prevent unnecessary contamination around the point last seen, last known point, track traps, campsites, vehicles, trailheads, and possible find locations.
• Support search strategy: Provide field intelligence that helps prioritize search segments, containment points, sign-cutting lines, and likely travel corridors.
• Document evidence: Record sign location, description, photographs, sketches, measurements, GPS coordinates, time, weather, and confidence level.

Typical Team Structure

Many wilderness tracking teams work in small units, often with a lead tracker and two flankers. The lead tracker focuses on the primary line of sign, while flankers scan adjacent ground, protect the track line, look ahead for confirmatory sign, and help prevent the team from stepping on evidence. Roles should rotate regularly because tracking requires intense concentration and can be physically demanding.

• Tracking Team Leader: Receives assignment, coordinates with Operations, manages safety, communicates findings, and recommends next actions.
• Lead Tracker: Works the primary sign, interprets tracks, confirms direction, and decides when to slow, stop, or expand the search for sign.
• Flankers: Search to either side of the track line, protect evidence, watch for hazards, and help reacquire sign when it is lost.
• Recorder or Navigator: Documents observations, marks locations, tracks team movement, maintains maps, and supports radio reporting.

Roles for Tracking Team Search Team

Lead Tracker

The Lead Tracker is the tracking team member responsible for directing tracking operations in the field. This role focuses on locating, protecting, interpreting, and following sign associated with the missing person while coordinating closely with the Search Leader, Incident Command, flankers, and other search resources. The Lead Tracker helps turn subtle clues—such as footprints, disturbed soil, broken vegetation, displaced rocks, or dropped items—into actionable information that can guide the search effort.

Primary Responsibilities

• Receive the tracking assignment, mission briefing, subject information, last known position, known direction of travel, environmental hazards, and communication plan before entering the field.
• Establish and protect the initial sign, clue, or track line so it is not contaminated by searchers, vehicles, animals, or unnecessary foot traffic.
• Direct trackers and flankers in a disciplined formation that allows the team to follow sign while preserving the surrounding area for continued tracking.
• Interpret sign to determine possible direction of travel, pace, behavior, and whether the sign is consistent with the missing subject.
• Maintain team safety by monitoring terrain, weather, fatigue, hydration, visibility, wildlife, and other wilderness hazards.
• Coordinate with the Search Leader and Incident Command to report progress, significant clues, direction changes, hazards, and recommendations for additional resources.
• Ensure that tracks, clues, decision points, routes, and areas searched are documented accurately in SAR Topo or the approved mission documentation system.

Operational Function

During a tracking assignment, the Lead Tracker manages the balance between speed and preservation. The team must move efficiently enough to remain useful to the search operation, but slowly and carefully enough to avoid destroying or missing sign. The Lead Tracker determines when to advance, when to stop and study the area, when to widen the search for lost sign, and when to request support from additional tracking teams, containment, K9, UAV, or route search resources.

The Lead Tracker should keep the team organized around clear roles. Trackers work the sign, flankers protect the sides and watch for additional clues, and the radio operator or designated communicator maintains contact with command. If the team is small, the Lead Tracker may assign multiple duties to individual members while ensuring that the primary tracking effort remains focused and controlled.

Required Knowledge and Skills

• Advanced clue awareness and sign-cutting techniques in desert, mountain, riparian, road, trail, and mixed terrain environments.
• Ability to distinguish probable subject sign from unrelated human, animal, vehicle, weather, or older environmental disturbances.
• Understanding of last known position, point last seen, direction of travel, containment boundaries, and how tracking information supports search planning.
• Proficiency with maps, compass, GPS, and SAR Topo to maintain location awareness and document the team’s track and findings.
• Strong communication skills using plain language, concise reports, confirmation of critical messages, and immediate reporting of significant clues.
• Ability to lead a small field team, assign duties, maintain discipline, manage pace, and preserve team safety under stressful wilderness conditions.

Training Evaluation Details

• Practical demonstration: Candidate leads a tracking team through a realistic field exercise, establishes team roles, protects the initial sign, and maintains controlled movement along the track line.
• Decision-making: Candidate explains when to advance, pause, widen the search for lost sign, request additional resources, or report a change in confidence level to command.
• Communication: Candidate provides timely radio updates using clear location references, sign descriptions, hazards, team status, and recommended next actions.
• Documentation: Candidate records tracks, clues, decision points, confidence levels, and route information in SAR Topo or the approved documentation system.
• Safety and leadership: Candidate maintains accountability, monitors fatigue and environmental hazards, adjusts pace as needed, and ensures team members avoid contaminating potential evidence.

Required Knowledge and Skills

Tracking

Topic	Skill	Criteria
Tracking Techniques	Track Aware	Describe why you should always be aware of tracks.
	Sign cutting	Know when and how to use sign cutting to require a lost track.
	Track Aging	Be able to estimate the age of tracks
	Track Traps	Demonstrate capability to identify natural areas where tracks are more likely to be preserved, such as mud, sand, or snow patches.
	Pattern Recognition	Show ability to recognize footwear tread, stride patterns, direction of movement, broken branches, displaced rocks, torn clothing, and dropped items.
	Tracking Team Leadership	Demonstrate the ability to organize trackers and flankers, assign roles, maintain spacing, and keep the team focused on the tracking objective.
	Sign Protection	Show how to protect initial sign, prevent contamination, and control team movement around tracks and clues.
	Sign Interpretation	Identify and explain probable subject sign, direction of travel, and factors that may affect the reliability of the sign.
	Communication and Reporting	Provide clear updates to command, including location, findings, confidence level, hazards, and recommended next actions.
	Documentation	Document tracks, clues, decision points, search routes, and significant observations using SAR Topo or the approved mission documentation method.

Flanker

The Flanker is a tracking team member assigned to move alongside and slightly behind the Lead Tracker or primary tracker. This role supports the tracking effort by protecting the track line, observing surrounding terrain, identifying additional sign or clues, and helping maintain team safety. Flankers expand the team’s awareness beyond the exact track line while avoiding unnecessary disturbance to potential evidence.

Primary Responsibilities

• Receive the assignment, briefing, subject information, team formation, communication plan, safety concerns, and specific flanking position before entering the field.
• Move in the assigned flanking position while maintaining spacing, visibility, and communication with the Lead Tracker and other team members.
• Protect the track line and surrounding area by avoiding unnecessary movement across likely sign, clues, or areas that may need to be examined later.
• Observe adjacent terrain for footprints, scuffs, broken vegetation, displaced rocks, dropped items, clothing, scent articles, or other clues associated with the missing subject.
• Alert the Lead Tracker immediately when possible sign, hazards, containment issues, or changes in terrain are observed.
• Help maintain team safety by watching for terrain hazards, weather changes, wildlife, fatigue, hydration issues, and hazards that may not be visible to the primary tracker.
• Assist with documentation by noting locations of clues, decision points, hazards, and areas checked as directed by the Lead Tracker.

Operational Function

During a tracking assignment, the Flanker supports the Lead Tracker by widening the team’s field of observation without disrupting the main sign. The Flanker should move deliberately, avoid stepping on likely tracks or clue areas, and keep attention divided between the track line, adjacent terrain, and overall team safety. When sign is located, the Flanker should stop, protect the area, and notify the Lead Tracker rather than moving directly through the evidence.

The Flanker’s position may change based on terrain, vegetation, visibility, and the confidence level of the track. In open terrain, flankers may maintain wider spacing to detect movement patterns or parallel sign. In brush, washes, rocky ground, roads, trails, or steep terrain, spacing may be reduced to preserve communication and safety. The Flanker should remain flexible and follow the Lead Tracker’s direction as the team adapts to changing conditions.

Required Knowledge and Skills

• Basic clue awareness and understanding of how footprints, scuffs, vegetation damage, disturbed soil, displaced rocks, and dropped items may indicate subject movement.
• Ability to maintain assigned spacing and team formation while moving safely through varied terrain.
• Understanding of sign protection, contamination control, and the importance of avoiding unnecessary travel through possible clue areas.
• Ability to communicate observations clearly, briefly, and without over-interpreting findings beyond the Flanker’s level of confidence.
• Basic map, compass, GPS, or SAR Topo awareness sufficient to assist with location reporting and team orientation.
• Situational awareness for terrain, weather, wildlife, visibility, fatigue, hydration, and other field safety concerns.

Training Evaluation Details

• Practical demonstration: Candidate maintains assigned flanking position, spacing, and movement discipline while supporting the Lead Tracker during a field exercise.
• Observation skills: Candidate identifies possible sign, clues, hazards, or terrain changes adjacent to the track line and reports them without disturbing the area.
• Evidence protection: Candidate demonstrates proper movement around tracks and clue areas, avoids unnecessary foot traffic, and stops movement when uncertain about potential sign.
• Communication: Candidate gives brief, accurate reports to the Lead Tracker, including location, observation type, confidence level, and immediate safety concerns.
• Field safety: Candidate maintains situational awareness for terrain, weather, visibility, wildlife, hydration, fatigue, and spacing while continuing to support the tracking assignment.

Required Knowledge and Skills

Tracking

Topic	Skill	Criteria
Flanker Techniques	Track Aware	Describe why you should always be aware of tracks.
	Sign cutting	Know when and how to use sign cutting to require a lost track.
	Track Aging	Be able to estimate the age of tracks
	Track Traps	Demonstrate capability to identify natural areas where tracks are more likely to be preserved, such as mud, sand, or snow patches.
	Pattern Recognition	Show ability to recognize footwear tread, stride patterns, direction of movement, broken branches, displaced rocks, torn clothing, and dropped items.
	Team Formation	Demonstrate proper flanking position, spacing, movement discipline, and communication with the Lead Tracker.
	Sign and Clue Awareness	Identify possible sign or clues adjacent to the track line and report observations without disturbing the area.
	Sign Protection	Show how to avoid contaminating tracks, clue areas, and possible evidence while moving with the team.
	Communication and Reporting	Provide clear, concise reports to the Lead Tracker regarding possible sign, hazards, spacing issues, or changes in terrain.
	Field Safety	Maintain awareness of terrain, weather, fatigue, hydration, wildlife, and other hazards while supporting the tracking assignment.

Recorder/Navigator

The Recorder/Navigator is the tracking team member responsible for keeping the team geographically oriented, preserving the operational record, and helping translate field observations into usable search intelligence. This role supports the Lead Tracker and Tracking Team Leader by recording clues, plotting movement, maintaining maps, tracking time and location, and ensuring that important findings are reported clearly and accurately.

The role is not passive. A good Recorder/Navigator actively protects the track line, watches terrain, anticipates navigation problems, confirms team location, and keeps the documentation organized enough that another team, the Command Team, or an investigator can understand what was found, where it was found, and why it mattered.

Position in the Tracking Team

A typical wilderness tracking team may include a Team Leader, Lead Tracker, flankers, and a Recorder/Navigator. The Lead Tracker concentrates on the line of sign. Flankers protect the evidence area and scan adjacent ground. The Recorder/Navigator stays close enough to observe and document, but far enough back to avoid contaminating sign or distracting the Lead Tracker.

• Primary support: Team Leader and Lead Tracker.
• Primary outputs: field notes (markers), clue records(markers), and team track using SAR Topo. Radio communications with the Command Post and other teams.
• Primary discipline: accuracy over speed. The team can move only as fast as it can preserve, interpret, and report reliable information.

Core Responsibilities

Documentation

• Record each clue, track, sign-cutting result, lost-sign point, decision point, and significant terrain observation on SAR Topo.
•  Sketch or describe sign when photographs are not possible or not sufficient.
• Attach photographs and notes to Markers preserving locations and report times.

Navigation

• Maintain awareness of the team’s current position using map, compass, GPS, terrain association, and assigned search segment boundaries.
• Plot the team’s route, sign locations, containment points, and changes in direction of travel.
• Identify terrain funnels, barriers, hazards, roads, trails, drainages, ridges, cliffs, water sources, and likely travel corridors.
• Help the Team Leader avoid drifting outside the assigned area unless authorized.
• Maintain a backtrack route and emergency egress options.

Communication Support

• Prepare concise updates to the CP by radio or cellphone.
• Confirm coordinates, clues, and location descriptions before they are transmitted.
• Track requests for resources, containment, evacuation, medical support, or additional tracking assets.
• Note when information is confirmed, uncertain, or pending verification.

Required Equipment

• Documentation: Waterproof notebook, pencils, permanent marker, flagging tape.
• Navigation: SAR Topo, compass, spare batteries or power bank, binoculars.
• racking Support: Camera or phone camera, scale ruler, small measuring tape, tracking stick if trained, flashlight or headlamp, spare light source.
• Communications: Radio, spare battery, frequency/channel plan, call-sign list.
• Field Safety: Personal SAR pack, water, food, first aid kit, weather protection, gloves, eye protection, whistle, emergency shelter, personal medications.

Movement and Positioning

Move deliberately and stay out of the track line. The Recorder/Navigator should usually trail the Lead Tracker and flankers, stepping only where directed or where contamination risk is low. When the team stops, choose a position that allows notetaking, map work, and observation without blocking team movement or disturbing potential sign.

Recording Tracks, Sign, and Clues

For every significant observation, record enough information that the clue can be relocated and evaluated later. Use a consistent format: time, waypoint, location description, observation, interpretation, confidence, action taken, and report status. Markers in SAR Topo is the preferred method with attached photographs.

Lost Sign Procedure Support

When the team loses sign, the Recorder/Navigator marks the last confirmed sign and documents the conditions. Record the time, location, confidence level, and sign-cutting pattern used.

Communication Standards

Radio traffic should be brief, accurate, and operationally useful. The Recorder/Navigator should help the Team Leader prepare updates that include who is reporting, where the team is, what was found, what it means, what action is being taken, and what support is needed.

Evidence and Clue Protection

• Do not step on, touch, move, or collect clues unless directed by command or law enforcement authority.
• Mark clue areas according to local protocol and avoid creating unnecessary visual clutter.
• Photograph sign before placing markers when practical.
• Record who found the clue, who photographed it, who reported it, and whether it was left in place, protected, or transferred.
• Distinguish operational clue documentation from formal evidence handling. Follow agency policy when a clue may become evidence.

Safety Responsibilities

The Recorder/Navigator contributes to team safety by maintaining location awareness, monitoring time and terrain, and helping the Team Leader recognize when operational risk is increasing. Tracking can draw a team into drainages, cliffs, heat exposure, dense vegetation, darkness, or long distances from access routes. Documentation should never distract from situational awareness.

• Track elapsed time, distance traveled, weather changes, daylight remaining, and team fatigue.
• Identify emergency evacuation routes and nearest access points.
• Maintain accountability for team location during movement and stops.
• Speak up immediately if the team is approaching a hazard or losing orientation.
• Keep personal gear accessible; do not bury radio, map, compass, light, or notebook deep in the pack.

Best Practices

• Write for the next team. Assume someone who was not present must understand the record later.
• Use plain language. Avoid vague phrases such as “over there,” “nearby,” or “looks good.”
• Document uncertainty honestly. A low-confidence clue can still be useful if clearly described.
• Separate observation from interpretation. Record what was seen before recording what it may mean.
• Do not outrun the documentation. If the team is moving faster than the record can support, ask for a pause.
•  Protect the mission record. Keep notes dry, backed up when possible, and transferred promptly at debrief.

Training Recommendations

Recorder/Navigators should practice documentation and navigation under realistic field conditions, including low light, poor weather, confusing terrain, and intermittent radio coverage. Training should include clue documentation, coordinate reporting, sketch mapping, SAR Topo management, terrain association, sign-cutting support, lost-sign documentation, and after-action briefing.

Recommended recurring drills include: following a short track line while documenting each clue; plotting a route from GPS data onto a paper map; preparing radio reports from field notes; conducting a lost-sign exercise; and producing a debrief map and summary from a training scenario.

Training Criteria and Qualification Standards

The following criteria are intended to help a wilderness SAR tracking team evaluate whether a member is ready to serve as Recorder/Navigator during training missions, supervised deployments, and operational assignments. Local authority having jurisdiction, agency policy, and team standard operating procedures should always take precedence.

Prerequisites

• Current membership in the SAR organization and approval for field deployment under local policy.
• Completion of basic SAR orientation, personal field safety, communications, and team accountability training.
• Working knowledge of the Incident Command System and local mission reporting procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to travel safely in the expected wilderness environment while carrying required field equipment.
• Basic land navigation competency using map, compass, GPS, and terrain association.
• Basic understanding of clue protection, scene preservation, and documentation expectations.

Sources and Reference Standards

This guide is intended as a practical team training aid and should be aligned with the standards, certifications, and procedures adopted by the authority having jurisdiction. Useful references include National Association for Search and Rescue training and certification materials, FEMA National Incident Management System doctrine and resource management guidance, ASTM search and rescue training and documentation standards, and local SAR team operating procedures.

                        • National Association for Search and Rescue: FUNSAR/SARTECH II materials include SAR field training and certification content, and related offerings include crime scene preservation and basic GPS training.

                        • FEMA National Incident Management System: NIMS provides a common incident management approach for command, coordination, resource management, and information management.

                        • FEMA NIMS Resource Management Guidance: FEMA guidance emphasizes consistent personnel qualification, certification, credentialing, typing, and resource tracking.

                        • ASTM F1767: Standard Guide for Forms Used for Search and Rescue; useful for understanding SAR forms, documentation, investigation records, training documentation, and incident reports.

                        • ASTM F2209: Standard Guide for Training of Land Search Team Member; establishes minimum training expectations for land search personnel.

                        • ASTM F2685: Standard Guide for Training of a Land Search Team Leader; useful when Recorder/Navigator duties support field leadership, sign cutting, or search boundary work.

                        • Local authority having jurisdiction: Agency policies, communications plans, evidence handling procedures, training records, and mission documentation requirements remain controlling.

Required Knowledge and Skills

Tracking

Topic	Skill	Criteria
Navigating and Recording	Field Documentation	Be able to produce a chronological log that records time, location, clue description, interpretation, confidence level, action taken, and report status using SAR Topo.
	Navigation	Show capability to maintain team location and track within assigned area.
	Tracking Support	Documents confirmed sign and direction of travel without contaminating the track line.
	Communications	Prepares concise radio updates with location, findings, significance, action, and request.
	Clue Protection	Recognizes potential evidence, avoids unnecessary handling, marks clue areas according to protocol, and records chain-of-information details.
	Safety and Team Awareness	Tracks time, distance, weather, fatigue, hazards, and exit routes while maintaining documentation duties.

Tracking Team Leader

The Tracking Team Leader is responsible for directing the specialized tracking team that uses human track and sign, terrain interpretation, and field observation to support the search for a missing person. The role exists to turn field clues into useful search intelligence while protecting evidence, maintaining team safety, and keeping the Incident Command structure informed.

Position in the Incident Command System

The Tracking Team Leader is responsible to the Incident Commander through the Command Post Chief of Staff. The team leader receives assignments, clarifies objectives, manages the tracking team in the field, and reports findings in a way that supports the Incident Commander’s intent.

• Accepts tasking only through the established chain of command.
• Ensures the team understands the assignment, search segment, communications plan, safety plan, and reporting expectations.
• Maintains accountability for all assigned personnel and equipment.
• Provides timely situation updates, clue reports, and recommendations for next actions.

Core Responsibilities

Lead the Team Safely

The leader is responsible for the safety, wellness, pace, discipline, and accountability of the tracking team. Wilderness tracking often requires slow movement, intense focus, night operations, remote travel, and exposure to weather, terrain, wildlife, and fatigue. The leader must manage these risks continuously.

The Tracking Team Leader must balance the value of following sign against the risk to the team. No clue is worth an uncontrolled injury, lost searcher, or preventable rescue of rescuers.

• Monitor heat, cold, dehydration, altitude, fatigue, hypothermia, and reduced visibility.
• Maintain navigation awareness and avoid target fixation on the track line.
• Use appropriate spacing so team members can see sign without stepping on it.
• Set turnaround times, rest intervals, and reassessment points.
• Request additional resources before entering technical terrain or unsafe conditions.
• Maintain communications discipline and have a contingency plan for radio failure.

Protect the Clue Environment

The leader establishes procedures to prevent unnecessary contamination at the point last seen, last known point, trailheads, campsites, vehicles, track traps, possible find locations, and any area containing sign. The team should move deliberately, avoid stepping on potential evidence, and mark or photograph important clues before disturbing the area.

Convert Sign into Search Intelligence

The Tracking Team Leader guides the team in interpreting footprints, scuffs, broken vegetation, displaced stones, disturbed soil, transferred mud, clothing fibers, dropped items, and other indicators of human passage. The leader is responsible for distinguishing confirmed sign from probable sign, unrelated human activity, animal sign, and observations that remain uncertain. Because significance is best assessed at the location of the track or clue, the field leader’s on-site assessment should be given primary consideration in operational decision making.

Pause for Critical Decisions

The leader should stop the team before committing to a major change in direction, entering hazardous terrain, leaving the assigned segment, disturbing important evidence, or reporting a high-confidence clue. Short pauses reduce errors and give the team time to compare observations.

Pre-Deployment Briefing Checklist

• Confirm assignment, operational period, reporting supervisor, and communications plan.
• Identify the subject profile, footwear description, clothing, equipment, behavior, medical concerns, and urgency factors.
•  Clarify the point last seen, last known point, direction-of-travel information, and known contamination issues.
• Review maps, segment boundaries, hazards, evacuation routes, and weather forecast.
• Confirm team member fitness, gear, water, food, medical capability, lighting, navigation tools, and overnight readiness if required.
• Establish clue marking, photographing, evidence preservation, and reporting procedures.
• Assign team roles and define movement discipline before entering the search area.

Common Leader Errors to Avoid

• Overstating uncertain sign as confirmed evidence.
• Allowing the team to contaminate the clue environment.
•  Moving too quickly through subtle terrain transitions.
• Failing to document the first reliable sign before continuing.
• Leaving the assigned area without approval.
• Focusing only on footprints and ignoring vegetation, soil, objects, terrain funnels, and behavior clues.
• Neglecting team fatigue, hydration, weather exposure, or navigation awareness.

Post-Assignment Duties

Debrief the Incident Commander or the assigned CP staff upon return to the Command Post.

• Identify areas searched, areas not searched, confidence levels, and hazards encountered.
• Report team condition, injuries, equipment issues, and readiness for reassignment.
• Participate in after-action review and capture lessons learned for future tracking operations.

Summary

The Tracking Team Leader is a field leader, safety officer, evidence steward, communicator, trainer, and tactical advisor. The leader’s most important contribution is not simply finding tracks; it is helping the search organization make better decisions from reliable field observations while protecting the team and preserving the integrity of the search.

Sources and References

• National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). “Tracking.” NASAR recognizes tracking as a specialty SAR resource and offers tracking education and certification programs.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Management Institute. “National Incident Management System (NIMS)” and “ICS Resource Center.” These resources describe ICS/NIMS structure, baseline ICS courses, and role-based incident management training.
• Arizona Search and Rescue Coordinators Association. “SAR Taskbooks.” Arizona SAR taskbooks provide recommended standards for SAR technician and tracker qualification levels.
• Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. “Search and Rescue.” This source describes Arizona SAR responsibilities, sheriff authority, statewide coordination, and training standardization support.
• TEAM Solutions. “Tracking and Clue Awareness.” This course description outlines clue awareness, footprint identification, stride measurement, sign cutting, track traps, lighting, and clue-integrity concepts relevant to SAR tracking.
• U.S. National Park Service. “Search and Rescue” and Joshua Tree Search and Rescue information. These references describe wilderness SAR team training expectations, including tracking, search, technical rescue, navigation, emergency medicine, and operational leadership.
• Douglas County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue. “Team Leader Standards.” This source provides an example of SAR team leader qualification expectations, leadership traits, prerequisite training, field experience, and practical evaluation.

Required Knowledge and Skills

Tracking

Topic	Skill	Criteria
Tracking Leadership	Mission briefing	Accurately restates assignment, hazards, communications plan, team roles, and reporting expectations.
	Track and sign recognition	Identifies relevant human sign and explains why it is confirmed, probable, possible, or unrelated.
	Team control	Maintains safe spacing, prevents contamination, rotates duties, and keeps team members accountable.
	Lost-sign procedure	Returns to last confirmed sign, protects it, expands search logically, and uses sign-cutting when appropriate.
	Safety leadership	Recognizes hazards, manages fatigue, maintains navigation awareness, and requests support when needed.

Sources and Further Reading

                        • National Association for Search and Rescue. “Tracking.” Describes tracking as a SAR specialty resource and explains the value of skilled trackers in finding missing persons.

                        • National Association for Search and Rescue. “Ground SAR.” Provides context for ground SAR training, clue awareness, missing-person search skills, and the relationship between general SAR skills and specialty disciplines such as tracking.

                        • Federal Emergency Management Agency. “ICS Resource Center” and “NIMS Toolkit: Incident Command System.” Provides incident command guidance, ICS forms, job aids, and incident-management references relevant to SAR coordination and reporting.

                        • Arizona Search and Rescue Coordinators Association. “SAR Taskbooks.” Provides Arizona SAR Technician and Tracker task-book standards, including recommended training progression for SAR volunteers and tracking personnel.

                        • Arizona Search Track and Rescue. “SAR Training.” Summarizes wilderness, desert, man-tracking, clue-awareness, communications, crime-scene preservation, and SAR readiness training used by an Arizona SAR organization.

                        • Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate / Homeland Security Digital Library. “Lost Person Locator: Locating Missing Persons in Wilderness, Rural, and Urban Locations.” Discusses use of historical SAR case data, lost-person behavior profiles, and first-response search guidance.

                        • Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. “Training Solutions.” Discusses sign cutting and tracking training, including visual cues of human activity across different environments.

                        • TEAM Solutions. “Tracking and Clue Awareness.” Summarizes training topics such as footprint identification, stride measurement, sign cutting, track traps, lighting, clue integrity, and converting clues into actionable intelligence.

                        • Undark Magazine. “The Burgeoning Science of Search and Rescue.” Provides background on lost-person behavior research and how SAR teams use behavioral patterns and data to prioritize search areas.