Totse throwback
Manual for Nighttime Missions
by HARDMAN
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I originally posted this in the Night Ops II thread in the Bad Ideas forum. This is essentially the same as the post, with some minor editing and additions. It is similar to Infrared's "The Definitive Guide to Infiltration" article, but I have included many of my own personal tactics and things I have learned reading the message board. I hope this will act as a summary of Nighttime Ops covert operation knowledge.
Mandatory Equipment
-Flashlight, preferably with a red lense so your eyes will adjust better.
-Dark clothing, BDU's, whatever. It should match the environment you're operating in, so if you're going downtown woodland camo probably wouldn't be the best choice. Also, it's better if your pants and your shirt match, because if there is too much contrast between them it could make you a little more noticable.
-A good pair of shoes. They can be boots if you want to climb well and need good ankle support, or shoes if you want speed and stealth. I find the most important thing is that they be a good dark color, though. Some people say you should wear multiple layers of socks instead of shoes for ultimate speed and stealth, but that's just not my bag.
-A knife
Optional Equipment
-Headcover. A hat is so important I almost put it on the mandatory list. Hell, it is mandatory if you have blond hair like me. Even better would be a balaclava or ski mask.
-Binoculars. Clarity is more important than magnification at night.
-Water, or food if your going on an especially long op
-A night vision scope or goggles could be very useful. They are expensive though, and take note if you live in an urban area, some of the cheaper and lower generation scopes can be damaged by bright lights.
-Police scanners, which are, once again, on the expensive side. Scanners are simply radios that allow you to listen to police radio transmissions. If you buy a more expensive scanner, it will probably already have frequencies for major cities programmed into it. If you live in a smaller city, you'll have to get the frequencies yourself. Each police department has two very important frequencies when it comes to nighttime ops, a dispatch frequency(this is the 911 operators and shit who tell the cops where to go), and a car-to-car frequency.
Planning Your Mission
You'll probably want to scout out your target area the day before your operation. It needs to be during daytime so you can see, so you don't want to wear something too suspicious, and you don't want to be very invasive into the target area. A hat is good to cover your appearance, and sunglasses are even better. The advantage to sunglasses is that nobody will be able to tell what you're looking at. There are several things you need to find out about your target zone...
-Fencing. If you will need to get past a fence, you'll need to check for weak areas of the fence that you can climb over. You need a way to climb in, and a way to climb out.
-Lighting, check for porch lights and possible motion sensing lights.
-If your target zone is a person's house, check for dogs in the back yard and possible signs of dogs, like chewed up tennis balls and bones.
-Check for windows with open blinds that people might be able to see you from, so you can avoid them.
-Cars. If it is a person's house, if there is a car missing at night that was there during the day, it means the people are probably out partying for the night and come home at any time.
-Hiding spots. You'll need to check for temporary hiding spots inside your target area incase someone comes outside while you're performing your mission, and check for better and more long-term hiding spots outside the target area.
-If you are going to ride your bike or drive there, you need to find a good hiding spot for your bike or inconspicuous parking spot for your car a good distance away from the target zone. If it is too close to the target zone and the cops are called on you, you'll have cops swarming around your transportation and it will be pretty hard to get to it.
Escape and Evasion
OK, so you see a police car pull up and a cop step out. He hasn't seen you yet, so you have two options, run home, or run to a hiding spot. Whatever you choose, it will probably consist of some running. The main goal, however, is that the cop doesn't see you. When the cop leaves, it's up to you whether or not to continue with the operation. If the cop calls in for backup to look around, it's probably not a good idea to continue with your mission after they leave. If the cop does see you, it's a completely different situation. He will probably chase after you.
-So you decide to run home. You need to lose this cop quick. Jump over fences, go through back yards. You may even want to hide for a few seconds just to get this one cop off your tail. One thing to consider while running is that you want to zig-zag your direction so when the cop calls in for backup he won't know what direction you're going so his backup can't cut you off.
-If you decide to get a good hiding spot and let things cool down before going home(or continuing with your mission), your number one goal once again is to lose the first response cop. Run like hell, and get to a hiding spot. Most criminals are stupid, so the cop won't expect you to go from running at full speed to stationary hiding. So you're in a hiding spot(this is why planning is so important, so you'll know where all the good hiding spots are), the cop just lost sight of you and he has slowed down to try and find you. One little tactic I've come up with if you're hiding from a chasing cop is to pick up a few rocks off the ground, and when the cop isn't looking in your direction throw one of the rocks at a fence away from you. The cop will hear it and think it's you accidentally banging against the fence, and he'll go check it out. This will give you the chance to get to your car or get home, get to a better hiding spot, or just plain throw the cop off if you decide to stay in your current hiding spot. When it comes to hiding spots, some of the best spots are elevated positions. Trees, and on top of houses are great, because of something I call the 3-D Hiding Theory. This theory takes into consideration that humans are naturally 2-D animals, we live on the ground. Therefore, it is unnatural for us to look for each other hiding in elevated positions. If you decide to take this approach to hiding, remember that you need to be able to get down quickly in case you are spotted, and never get on top of a house with lights on inside. If you decide to get on top of a house, always go very slowly and quietly so as not to wake the occupants.
Some cops might think you're dangerous when they see you in your ski mask and camo. If they pull their gun on you, throw your hands up in the air and scream something along the lines of "DON'T SHOOT, I'M JUST A KID!!!!", but keep running. This will hopefully keep them from shooting you or at least make them hesitate enough to let you get away.
And remember kiddies, always have an excuse if you're caught. It's good to have a few rolls of toilet paper in the back of your car, so if a cop catches you, you can just say you were going to toilet paper someones house(I'm young enough for that to believable). And if you run into a civilian on one of your ops, have some excuse like "Hey, have you seen a dog around her? I'm looking for my lost dog."
