As a leader do you feel that Land Navigation should be taken out from the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development System (NCOPDS)?

no it is very impotant

If it is done away with, make sure your units have individuals that are either Eagle Scouts or were Boy Scouts since they were taught Orienteering. That will be the only saving grace.

Being able to do things using a compass, map, and using the stars to navigate buy is necessary for any unit. That is one reason for being able to read maps. Those leaders that say GPS will solve all this has rocks in their heads. What happens when GPS fails you. You need to know how to land navigate using a compass and a map, your watch, the stars. Even the sun can guide you to your destination.

So if any of you are an Eagle Scout or were a Boy Scout, make sure a compass is part of equipment as well. Do not let your leaders tell you its not needed.

Even though our technology continues to advance, so does the adversary's and their ability to defend/manipulate ours. Should always be taught. Even in the intel field we have to learn how to format electronic reports by hand. Good topic.

When I went through Camp Shelby WLC, during land nav day, we had NCO instructor, who got completely lost in the middle of the woods. I found it pretty perplexing since the day before instructors took us out to those woods and showed us every single nook and cranny, so we would not get lost.

No! Land Nav needs to stay. But what needs to happen is BLC be revamped. I have a fellow SGT in BLC right now and it's a horrific program (Yes I know that it's a SGT in BLC but there are mitigating factors). If a SPC calls this NCO by their 1st name or just by last name and no rank and this NCO calls them out on it, it's the NCO that gets a negative event oriented counseling. The program is worse than boot camp and is no longer a developmental course. BLC should be a program where they teach and develop people to be NCO'S not a program that's in place to teach what should have been taught in Basic Training.

A little more Land Navigation and a little less buffer time!

Just the NCOPDS? I was thought basic land Nav skills in well, basic training. After that of course we trained on land Nav/map reading tasks annually but my confidence did not come through until PLDC (old school). I had a great instructor and I could have been dropped anywhere and would have been able to navigate, with map, compass. Did I use it in IRAQ, No but what if I had too? what if equipment went down? years have gone by with no training and my confidence is gone. I would need retraining because we didn't use it! Who knows if and when you may deploy, could be ANYWHERE!
Continue to teach this skill!!!! don't be foolish!

No way, never totally depend on electronics working all the time.

No, it should remain to be taught. I do get that we have technology now but, when your equipment is dead in the water your only alternative to navigate is to use this fundamental skill.

NO NO NO equipment gets damaged, batteries go dead, you can't read map and compass you and your people die that simple