Fieldcraft

Fieldcraft is a term used especially in American, Canadian and British military circles to describe the basic military skills required to operate stealthily and the methods used to do so, which can differ during day or night and due to weather or terrain. The motto of field craft is "to see without being seen"; this is upheld through the skills learned in field craft lessons.

These skills include camouflage, land and water navigation, understanding the difference between concealment from view and cover from fire, using the terrain and its features to mask ground movement, obstacle crossing, selecting good fire positions, lying up positions, camping positions, effective observation, camouflage penetration, Countersurveillance, detecting enemy-fire directionality and range, survival, evasion, and escape techniques. For example: Snipers often use ghillie suits.

Good fieldcraft is especially important for the effectiveness and survival of Infantry soldiers, Snipers, Special Forces, Reconnaissance and Sabotage teams. In the more effective units, a huge amount of time, effort, and attention is put to memorize battlefield details, infiltration and escape routes, construction and employment of hide positions, enemy force doctrines and equipment; making good fieldcraft second nature.

Field craft is also used in espionage to cover maneuvers such as blind passes, dead drops, and other ways of passing documents or other items between agents.