SOF-Overland Development

SOF-Overland Development (SOF-OD) is designed for military personnel seeking to advance their cross-country land navigation skills in complex, demanding terrain. The training builds confidence, strengthens instructional ability, and better prepares candidates for the land navigation phase of SOF selection. It focuses on terrain association and route planning while moving under realistic conditions. Throughout the course, clients are encouraged to ask questions, refine technique, and critically assess their gear, movement methods, and nutrition—while experimenting with alternative approaches to identify what works best under load and fatigue.

Since most clients are preparing for a SMU assessment and selection, this training is designed and scheduled to dovetail with our Tier One Navigation Development (TONDEV) courses. This provides you options and flexibility to best meet your goals, training needs, and constraints.

Highlights

When outcomes matter, clients choose True North for the quality of our instruction:

• Built for high-stakes preparation: Our courses are designed for candidates preparing for demanding assessments. Small class sizes and well planned training days ensure focused learning and meaningful development.
• Highly skilled instructors: Training is led by experienced professionals who adapt instruction to the individual, identifying and refining performance areas that matter under assessment conditions.
• Trusted by the SOF community: True North has extensive experience working with the special operations community—both individually and at the unit level—across Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy components.
• Proven training environment: Instruction takes place in a training area used by the SOF community based in Kingwood, West Virginia.
• Focused on outcomes, not volume: We intentionally limit class size and instructor-to-student ratios to preserve training quality, accountability, and meaningful performance gains.

Your training will involve the following two core evolutions over fourteen (14) hours of training:

• Day I (0900-1600) will focus on reviewing and refining the fundamentals of land navigation over moderate distances. You’ll become familiar with the local terrain, vegetation, and weather as you dead reckon and terrain associate to refine your route-planning skills.
• Day II (0900-1600) will be framed as a series of staged checkpoints over longer distances. It will offer you the opportunity to cover approximately 15 miles in 6.5 hours depending on your load.

You should already possess a solid understanding of fundamental and advanced techniques. We will certainly help you to fine-tune your technique and improve, and answer all of your questions, but if at any point during this program we are not confident in your overall skill and physical fitness level, then you will be asked to leave with no refund available. If you have any general questions, especially those concerning your present ability, we strongly recommend that you contact us for answers before you register.

Related

The physical difficulty of this course is Strenuous. This course involves hiking, usually with laden rucks, over extended distances at a steady pace over varying terrain that will include off-trail sections, rough spots, unexpected obstacles, and low to steep terrain inclines and declines. This course is conducted in low to no light conditions in varying weather, including hot, cold, humid, rain, and snow, or a mixed combination. This is a very physically challenging course so it is only suited for those in excellent physical condition and ready for a long day.

Once you book a slot, then one of our staff will follow up personally with an email. It will include three short forms for you to complete and return to us. We will also send you the course information sheet, which will contain all of the details that you will need to prepare and arrive (like required and optional gear; exact rally point; general driving directions; and overnight recommendations).

This course is often conducted as a private offering to better accommodate the specific needs, goals, and schedules of an individual or group. Please note that if you see a class on our schedule listed as a “Private Group,” you may still be able to join so don't hesitate to inquire (in many cases, these sessions are scheduled for an individual client who is willing to share the training, which can also reduce overall costs). Please contact Erik for additional details (412.913.6000 or erik@exploretruenorth.com).

We typically reply to emails and telephone calls within 1-2 hours. Please note, however, that it may be as long as 24 hours if we are away teaching.