Royal Army College

Lesson Overview

One of the most useful things a soldier does in the field is to watch: to take up a hidden position with a good view and observe an area over time, seeing what happens there while remaining unseen. A position used for this is an observation post, and occupying and working one well brings together the concealment and observation the course has taught into a single, deliberate fieldcraft task. The earlier lessons taught the principles of concealment and the skill of observation separately; this lesson teaches them combined in the observation post: choosing and occupying a concealed position with a good view, and watching from it effectively over time without giving it away. It matters because watching an area from hiding is a core way a soldier gathers information, in the search, in the watch over ground, in the gathering of what is happening somewhere, and because doing it well, seeing without being seen over a sustained period, is a demanding skill that joins concealment and observation. For the Royal Kaharagian Army, whose search and watch tasks often require observing an area patiently from hiding, the observation post is a valuable fieldcraft skill. This lesson teaches it: what an observation post is and why it matters, choosing and occupying the position, and working the observation post over time. As with the rest of the course, this is the knowledge layer; the skill of selecting, occupying, and manning an observation post is built in the field under instruction, and the observation post is taken further in the patrolling course.

The lesson takes the observation post in three parts. First, what an observation post is and why it matters: that it is a concealed position used to watch an area over time, that it joins concealment and observation, and that it is a core way a soldier gathers information by seeing without being seen. Second, choosing and occupying the position: selecting a position that both gives a good view and stays hidden, and occupying it without giving it away, the two demands that must be met together. Third, working the observation post over time: watching effectively over a sustained period, keeping the position concealed and the watch alert, recording and reporting what is seen, and the discipline of a long, hidden watch. Throughout, the lesson holds that the observation post is the combining of concealment and observation into a watch from hiding, that it must both see well and stay hidden, and that working one well over time demands the disciplines of both fieldcraft skills together.

By the end you will be able to explain what an observation post is and why it matters; choose and occupy a position that both gives a good view and stays concealed, meeting the two demands together; work an observation post over time, keeping it hidden, watching alertly, and recording and reporting what is seen; explain the discipline of a long, hidden watch; and explain how the observation post joins the concealment and observation the course has taught.

Key Terms

Observation post (OP): a concealed position used to watch an area over time, from which a soldier observes what happens while remaining unseen, joining concealment and observation.
Seeing without being seen: the aim of the observation post, the fieldcraft aim of observing while staying hidden, here sustained over a position and a period.
The two demands: the requirement that an observation post both gives a good view of the area to be watched and stays concealed, which must be met together.
Selecting the position: choosing a place for the observation post that both sees the area well and is, or can be made, hidden, judging the view and the concealment together.
Occupying the position: moving into and settling the observation post without giving it away, concealing it and the soldiers in it so the watch is not betrayed.
Working the OP: manning and running the observation post over time, watching alertly, keeping concealed, and recording and reporting what is seen.
The sustained watch: the keeping of an alert, methodical watch over a long period from the OP, against the dullness that a long watch breeds.
Keeping the OP hidden: the continuous concealment of the position and its occupants through the watch, so it is not discovered and the watch not given away.
Recording and reporting: the noting of what is observed and the passing of it to those who need it, by which the OP's watching becomes useful knowledge.
The combining of fieldcraft: the observation post as the joining of the concealment and observation taught separately into one deliberate task.

What an observation post is, and why it matters

The lesson begins by naming the task. An observation post is a concealed position used to watch an area over time: a place a soldier takes up, hidden, with a good view of the ground they need to watch, from which they observe what happens there while remaining unseen. It is not a passing glance but a deliberate, sustained watch from a chosen, concealed position, and it is one of the most useful things a soldier does in the field. Where the soldier wants to know what is happening in an area, to watch ground, to observe a place over time, to gather what passes there, the observation post is the means: a hidden position from which to watch patiently and see without being seen. The recruit of fieldcraft learns the observation post as a core fieldcraft task with a clear purpose: to watch an area over time, effectively, from hiding.

The observation post matters because it joins the two fieldcraft skills the course has taught and is a core way a soldier gathers information. The course taught concealment, staying hidden, and observation, watching and noticing, as separate skills; the observation post combines them into one task, because to watch an area over time from hiding is to do both at once: to observe well and to stay concealed, throughout. This combining is what makes the observation post demanding and valuable: it is not enough to find a hidden spot (concealment) or to watch well (observation); the soldier must do both together, watching effectively while remaining unseen, over a sustained period, which tests both skills and the discipline to hold them together. And the observation post matters because watching an area from hiding is a core way a soldier gathers information, much of the value of a soldier in the field being what they can see and learn by watching, and the observation post being the deliberate means of watching an area patiently and unseen. For this Army, the value is direct: in a search, an observation post overlooking likely ground can spot the lost person or the sign of them; in a watch over an area, an OP gathers what is happening there; in many of the Army's tasks, the patient, hidden watch of an observation post is how information is gathered. So the observation post is a core fieldcraft task, joining concealment and observation into a sustained watch from hiding, and a valuable means of gathering information by seeing without being seen. The recruit learns it as the deliberate combining of the fieldcraft they have, and the next parts teach the doing of it: choosing and occupying the position, and working it over time.

   WHAT AN OBSERVATION POST IS + WHY IT MATTERS

   OBSERVATION POST (OP) = a CONCEALED position used to WATCH an area OVER
   TIME -- hidden, with a good view, observing what happens while remaining
   UNSEEN. a deliberate, sustained watch, not a passing glance.
   -> the means when you want to know what's happening in an area: watch
      patiently + see without being seen.

   it matters because it JOINS the two fieldcraft skills + gathers information:
     the course taught CONCEALMENT (stay hidden) + OBSERVATION (watch +
     notice) separately; the OP COMBINES them -- observe well AND stay
     concealed, throughout (this is what makes it demanding + valuable)
     watching an area from hiding is a core way a soldier GATHERS INFORMATION

   direct value for the RKA: an OP overlooking likely ground spots the lost
   person in a SEARCH; an OP gathers what's happening in a WATCH over an area.

Choosing and occupying the position

The first practical part is choosing and occupying the position, and the key is that an observation post must meet two demands together: it must give a good view of the area to be watched, and it must stay concealed. These two pull against each other, because the places with the best view, the high, open, prominent points, are often the least concealed, and the most hidden places often have the worst view, so the skill of selecting an observation post is finding a position that satisfies both, that sees the area well enough and is, or can be made, hidden enough. A soldier choosing an OP judges the view and the concealment together: looking for a position from which they can watch the area they need to watch, and which is concealed from the area being watched and from anywhere the OP might be seen from. A position with a fine view but no concealment is no OP, because it will be seen; a perfectly hidden position with no view is no OP, because it cannot watch; the soldier finds the place that does both, often a compromise that sees the important part of the area while staying hidden, using the ground, the concealment principles of the earlier lesson, to be hidden while overlooking what matters. This judgement, balancing view and concealment, is the heart of selecting an observation post.

Having chosen the position, the soldier must occupy it without giving it away. Moving into and settling an observation post is itself a fieldcraft task, because a careless occupation betrays the position before the watch even begins: a soldier seen moving into the OP, or who leaves obvious signs of occupying it, has given it away. So the soldier occupies the OP carefully, approaching it without being seen (using the movement and concealment skills of the course, and minding the signs they leave as the tracks lesson taught), settling into it so that the position and the soldiers in it are concealed, and arranging the OP so they can watch the area while staying hidden. The OP must be concealed both from the area being watched and from elsewhere, and the soldiers in it kept hidden, still, and unbetraying, so that nothing reveals that there is a watcher there. Occupying an OP well means it is in place, manned, and watching, with nothing to show for it, the watchers hidden and the position undiscovered. This combines the concealment skills, hiding the position and the soldiers, with the care not to betray it in the approach and occupation. So choosing and occupying the position is the first half of the observation post: finding a place that both sees and hides, and getting into it and settling it without giving it away, the two demands of view and concealment met together. A soldier who chooses and occupies an OP well has a hidden position with a good view, ready to watch, undiscovered, which is the platform from which the watch is then worked.

Working the observation post over time

The second half of the observation post is working it over time, and the lesson closes with the sustained watch and the disciplines it demands. An observation post is occupied to watch over time, often a long time, and working it well means keeping an alert, effective watch over that period while keeping the position hidden, which brings together the observation and concealment disciplines the course has taught. The first demand is the sustained, alert watch: the soldier observes the area methodically and continuously, using the observation and scanning skills of the earlier lesson, over the whole period of the watch, and the great difficulty, as with all sustained watching, is holding alertness through a long watch where much of the time nothing happens. The soldier fights the dullness of the long watch, watching the quiet hours as carefully as the active, because the thing they are posted to see may come at any time and will be caught only by a watcher who stayed alert, the same alertness-through-tedium discipline the guard and the wider observation teaching press. Where the OP is manned by more than one soldier, the watch is shared and rotated so it is kept unbroken and alert without any one soldier watching so long that their attention fails.

The second demand is keeping the OP hidden throughout. The position must stay concealed for the whole watch, not just at the start, so the soldiers maintain their concealment continuously: staying hidden, still, and unbetraying through the long watch, not letting movement, noise, shine, or carelessness give the position away over time, and minding the signs they leave around it. A position that was well hidden at occupation can be given away later by a careless movement, a lapse of discipline, or accumulated signs, so the concealment is held as a continuous discipline through the watch. The third demand is recording and reporting what is seen, by which the OP's watching becomes useful: the soldier notes what they observe accurately, as the observation and the communication-and-reporting teaching require, and passes it to those who need it, so that the information the OP gathers reaches where it can be used, keeping the seen apart from the guessed as good reporting demands. An OP that watches well but reports nothing has wasted its watch; the recording and reporting are how its value is realised. So working the observation post over time is the combining of the sustained alert watch, the continuous concealment, and the recording and reporting, all held together through the period of the watch. This is demanding precisely because it requires both fieldcraft disciplines at once and over time: to watch alertly and to stay hidden, both sustained through a long watch, and to turn what is watched into reported knowledge. A soldier who works an OP well watches an area effectively over time from a hidden position and reports what they see, gathering information by seeing without being seen, which is the whole purpose of the observation post. As with the rest of the course, this is the knowledge layer; the skill of selecting, occupying, and manning an observation post is built in the field under instruction, and the OP is taken further in the patrolling course. But the foundation is laid here: the observation post joins concealment and observation into a watch from hiding, it must both see well and stay hidden, and working one well over time demands the disciplines of both fieldcraft skills together, with the watch turned into reported knowledge.

   WORKING THE OBSERVATION POST OVER TIME (both fieldcraft skills, sustained)

   1. SUSTAINED ALERT WATCH -- observe the area methodically + continuously
      (scanning, observation skills) over the whole period; fight the
      DULLNESS of the long watch -- watch the quiet hours as carefully as
      the active (what you're posted to see may come anytime). share + rotate
      the watch if more than one.
   2. KEEP THE OP HIDDEN THROUGHOUT -- concealment held CONTINUOUSLY, not
      just at the start; stay hidden, still, unbetraying; no movement/noise/
      shine/carelessness or accumulated signs give it away over time.
   3. RECORD + REPORT what is seen -- note accurately, keep the SEEN apart
      from the GUESSED, pass it to those who need it -> the OP's watching
      becomes useful knowledge (watch well + report nothing = wasted watch).

   demanding because it needs BOTH disciplines at once + over time: watch
   alertly AND stay hidden, sustained, + turn the watch into reported knowledge.
   (knowledge layer; skill built in the field under instruction; taken further
    in the patrolling course.)

In Practice: The Watch Over the Valley

A small party of the Royal Kaharagian Army is tasked to watch an area of ground over a period, to see what passes there, and they set up and work an observation post, the fieldcraft task this lesson teaches, joining the concealment and observation they have learned. First they choose the position, meeting the two demands together. They do not simply take the highest, clearest viewpoint, which would see well but be exposed and soon discovered; nor a deeply hidden spot with no view, which could not watch. They find a position that sees the part of the area that matters and is, or can be made, concealed, using the ground and the concealment principles to be hidden while overlooking what they need to watch, balancing view and concealment. Then they occupy it without giving it away: approaching unseen, minding the signs they leave, and settling into the position so that it and they are concealed from the area watched and from elsewhere, so that nothing shows there is a watcher there. The OP is in place, manned, and watching, with nothing to show for it.

Then they work the OP over time. They keep a sustained, alert watch, observing the area methodically and continuously, scanning as the observation lesson taught, and they fight the dullness of the long watch, watching the quiet stretches as carefully as the active, because what they are there to see may come at any time, sharing and rotating the watch among them so it stays alert and unbroken. They keep the OP hidden throughout, holding their concealment as a continuous discipline, staying still and unbetraying, not letting a careless movement or accumulated signs give the position away over the hours. And they record and report what they see, noting it accurately, keeping the seen apart from the guessed, and passing it to those who need it, so that what the OP gathers becomes useful knowledge rather than a wasted watch. When the thing they were watching for passes, late in a long and quiet watch, the alert watcher catches it, the hidden position is undiscovered, and the observation is recorded and reported.

The value is an area watched effectively over time from a hidden position, with what was seen turned into reported knowledge, all without the OP being discovered, the whole purpose of the observation post achieved. Because the party chose a position that both saw and hid, occupied it without giving it away, kept an alert watch and continuous concealment through the long watch, and recorded and reported what they saw, they gathered the information by seeing without being seen. A party that chose an exposed position, occupied it carelessly, let their watch dull or their concealment lapse, or watched well but reported nothing, would have been discovered, missed the event, or wasted the watch. This party combined the concealment and observation the course taught into a working observation post, which is the fieldcraft skill this lesson teaches, and a valuable means of the patient, hidden watching the Army's search and watch tasks so often need.

Check Your Understanding

Explain what an observation post is and why it matters. How does it join the concealment and observation the course taught separately, and why is watching an area from hiding "a core way a soldier gathers information"?
Explain the two demands an observation post must meet together, a good view and concealment, and why they pull against each other. How does a soldier choose a position that satisfies both, and why must the OP also be occupied without giving it away?
Describe how a soldier works an observation post over time: the sustained alert watch, keeping the OP hidden throughout, and recording and reporting what is seen. Why is holding alertness through a long watch hard, and why does an OP that "watches well but reports nothing" waste its watch?

Reflection (write a short paragraph): This lesson teaches that the observation post joins the two fieldcraft skills, concealment and observation, into a single demanding task: watching an area effectively over time while staying hidden, and turning what is seen into reported knowledge. Think about why it is hard to do both at once and over time, to watch alertly through a long, dull watch while holding concealment unbroken, and why a position that sees well but is exposed, or hides well but cannot watch, is no observation post. What would it take to choose, occupy, and work an observation post that both sees and stays hidden, and to report what it gathers?

Summary

An observation post is a concealed position used to watch an area over time, from which a soldier observes what happens while remaining unseen, a deliberate sustained watch rather than a passing glance, and one of the most useful things a soldier does in the field.
It matters because it joins the two fieldcraft skills the course taught separately, concealment and observation, into one task (observe well and stay concealed, throughout), which makes it demanding and valuable, and because watching an area from hiding is a core way a soldier gathers information, of direct value in the Army's search and watch tasks.
Choosing and occupying the position must meet two demands together: a good view of the area and concealment, which pull against each other (the best views are often the least hidden). The soldier finds a position that both sees what matters and is, or can be made, hidden, and then occupies it without giving it away, approaching unseen, minding the signs left, and settling it so the position and occupants are concealed.
Working the observation post over time combines a sustained alert watch (observing methodically and continuously, fighting the dullness of the long watch, sharing and rotating it), keeping the OP hidden throughout (concealment held as a continuous discipline so no movement, noise, or accumulated sign gives it away), and recording and reporting what is seen accurately (keeping the seen apart from the guessed), so the watch becomes useful knowledge.
The observation post is demanding because it requires both fieldcraft disciplines at once and over time, watching alertly and staying hidden, sustained through a long watch, and turning the watch into reported knowledge. Done well, it gathers information by seeing without being seen.
This is the knowledge layer; the skill of selecting, occupying, and manning an OP is built in the field under instruction and taken further in the patrolling course.
Cross-references: combines the concealment of Lesson 06 and the observation of Lesson 07 into one task, with the approach and not-being-tracked of Lesson 12 (Tracks and Signs) and the night-watch discipline of Lesson 09; the recording and reporting follow the reporting discipline of the course and Signals and Field Communication (FLD 220); and the observation post is taken further in Patrolling and Tactical Movement (FLD 230).

The Observation Post: Watching from a Concealed Position