WELDON SPRING, Mo. – A pair of military helicopters were spotted flying all over St. Charles County on Wednesday, with mission to provide civilians with hands-on experience.

“Today, for the fourth year in a row, we're joining forces with the ROTC and the Gateway Battalion to do a land map exercise,” Rodney James Mosquito, the National Geospatial Agency’s deputy division chief of AI Operations & Integration, said.

The NGA is working with Missouri Army National Guard and Gateway Reserve Officer Training Corps to teach basic land navigation techniques.

“We like to work with the NGA because they give us all of our maps and all of our products,” Sophie Hoffman, cadet in charge of event, said. “We use land mapping, which is a very important skill for anyone in the armed forces. We like to give back to the NGA to see how we use their products in tactical situations.”

More than 100 participants began the exercise in a Lindenwood University classroom. And then by air, as UH-60 Blackhawk and CH47 Chinook helicopters dropped them at the Weldon Spring Army Reserve training grounds.

“Several of the NGA intelligence officers learning how to do maps,” Mosquito said. “The cadets teach the intelligence officers. They learn how to move point to point using nothing more than a compass, a protractor, and a map. They learn how to plot points on a map. They learn how to measure distance on a map and the key different terrain features like hilltop saddles. And they learn how to move efficiently from point to point.”

Walking a mile in a soldier's shoes, learning an important geospatial skillset.

“Having accurate maps and ways to navigate terrain is important to missions,” Hoffman said. “Some of the civilians, it's good for them to see how we use it, and we run them through the exact course we do as cadets. So, they get to see pretty much what we do with the stuff they make.”