The Grid They Don't See

Practical Guidelines for Effective and Secure GRG Use

If you’re serious about preparedness, you should be just as disciplined about how you communicate as you are about what gear you carry. Most people aren’t. They plan routes, stash kits, load mags, but when it comes to saying where to go or where the problem is, they fall apart. They start naming streets. Landmarks. Buildings everyone else can see too. They forget that if someone else is listening, they've just compromised everything.

That’s why Gridded Reference Graphics exist. Not the ones buried in a military PDF you downloaded and forgot about. Real ones. Built to your AO, for your team, with your references. I use them constantly in my work, because I have to. And if you plan on coordinating anyone during a blackout, civil unrest, disaster, or security event, you’re going to want the same tool.

Here’s the difference.

Standard radio traffic:
"Team two, push north to the intersection of Elm and Pine. Set up on the roof of the old Walgreens."

Anyone with a map, scanner, or set of ears can figure out what you’re doing.

Gridded Reference Graphic (GRG) radio traffic:
"Two, move to Red Three. Take position Overlook Two."

Unless they have your GRG and your legend, they’ve got nothing. Just noise.

A GRG lets you build a second layer of reality underneath the one everyone else sees. The kind where your team can talk in plain English and still sound like static to anyone else. That isn’t just convenience. That’s control.

You don’t need a server. You don’t need encryption. You just need to prepare it ahead of time and train your people to use it. Simple. Quiet. Effective.

At ISG, we focus on making real tools for real people. The kind of things that work under stress, in real time, without high-tech dependencies. This reference system is one of them. Let’s walk through how to build it, how to name it, how to scramble it, and how to make sure your team can move without saying too much.

Building Your GRG

Start with your area of operation. That could be a city block, a ranch, a section of national forest, or a structure you're responsible for. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as you know it well and can map it with some level of precision. Use satellite imagery if you want detail, topo maps if you're in varied terrain, or draw it by hand if you need total control over how it's presented. Accuracy matters. Style doesn’t.

Once you’ve got your map, overlay a grid. Most people go with a 6x6 or 10x10 layout. That gives you enough granularity to call out positions without getting bogged down. Each square in the grid becomes a reference cell. Keep the spacing even. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be consistent. If your team looks at it and hesitates, it’s too complicated.

Now label it. Alphanumeric is a good baseline, A through F across the top, 1 through 6 down the side. That gives you fast, intuitive calls like C4 or E2. For low-risk environments or early training, this is more than enough.

If you need more discretion, or you're operating in a context where someone might be listening, scramble it. Replace each grid coordinate with short, neutral code names. Keep them simple and avoid any that give away location, size, or tactical features. Use words like Drift, Slate, Hold, Chalk, Flat, or Span. Nothing flashy. Nothing that hints at what it actually is. No references to terrain, buildings, directions, or function. Just clean identifiers only your team understands.

Inside the grid cells, identify points of interest or control, rally points, breach sites, fallback positions, obstacles, or surveillance lines. Do not name them descriptively. You’re not trying to help the enemy paint a picture. For example, avoid terms like "window," "roof," "hallway," or "garage." If someone hears "Move to Window Two," you’ve just told them exactly what to sweep. You’re creating a language your team speaks fluently that means nothing to anyone else.

Use vague, numbered markers instead. "Point One," "Site Four," or "Post Three." If needed, match them to your team’s SOPs behind the scenes. All the detail lives on your overlay, not in your radio traffic.

Once the grid is built, print it. Laminate it. Keep copies where they belong. Every person who needs it should have it in hand, not on a phone or buried in a file. This is a tool for when things get loud, fast, and uncertain.

The more familiar your team is with the grid, the faster they’ll move. The cleaner your references, the less you’ll need to say. The less you say, the less you give away.

Using the GRG: Comms and Control

The map is just paper until you start moving people against it. That’s where communication either holds everything together or blows it wide open. The grid only works if everyone knows how to use it, sticks to the language, and understands that radio discipline is as much a security measure as body armor.

When it comes to using a grid over comms, keep it tight. This is not where you get conversational. Say what’s needed, say it clean, and get off the mic.

For example:
"Three, hold at Slate Two. Wait for green from Base."

That’s it. You just gave a team a grid sector, an action, and who gives them the next move. Nothing extra. No fluff. No terrain descriptions. Just execution.

Now compare that to how most people talk when they’re untrained:
"Hey, we’re on the north side of the alley, behind the red car near the building with the broken fence. Do you want us to push across the street?"

That kind of traffic gives away your direction of travel, visual identifiers, proximity to structures, and a sense of your uncertainty. If someone is listening, they just drew a box around your position. That is the opposite of control.

Good grid comms follow a rhythm. Reference, action, status. Say the sector first, give the instruction, move on. Do not describe anything visually unless the situation is actively unfolding and the information is critical. Even then, stay vague and neutral.

There is also no freelancing. Your team does not get to invent names or add commentary. If something isn’t on the grid, you fall back to the nearest known point and call that. You don’t make up new terms in the middle of an operation. That opens the door for confusion, mistakes, and cross-talk that kills tempo.

Keep in mind that every extra word is an opportunity for compromise. If you tell someone to set up on "window three," you just gave away not only the presence of a window, but which one you think matters. Anyone with a brain will sweep windows first. Same with "roof," "garage," "north fence," or "balcony." You don’t want to make your opponent’s job easier. So keep all tactical indicators off the radio. You are not narrating. You are directing.

The other half of this is structure. Not everyone on the net should be using grid calls. That’s a leadership function. One person per team, preferably the team leader or a designated radio hand, calls sectors and makes location references. Everyone else works from visual signals, pre-briefed movement plans, or short confirmation calls. The fewer voices, the less clutter. The less clutter, the more clarity under stress.

And it does need to be practiced. Not just once. Not just until people understand it. Until they stop thinking about it. Run drills. No gear required. You can lay out a grid on a whiteboard or tape one to the hood of a truck and walk through reps. Give people scenarios. "You’re hit at Chalk Three. Your team lead is out. Where’s the fallback?" Watch them stumble the first few times, then tighten up. This is how you build real proficiency, and real confidence.

Finally, shut down bad habits immediately. If someone goes off-script, makes up names, or slips into plain language, you stop the drill right there. You do not let it slide. Either your grid system is clean and disciplined, or it is one more liability on the field. There is no middle setting on that switch.

Grid Security, Rotation, and Tradecraft

Once you’ve built a GRG and trained your people to use it, the next threat isn’t failure to understand. It’s compromise. That includes lost copies, shared radios, intercepted traffic, and even someone finding a discarded version in a glovebox. If a GRG falls into the wrong hands and your calls are still active, you’ve just handed someone your entire plan. That’s not just sloppy. That’s dangerous.

You need to treat your GRG like a sensitive item. Every physical copy should be tracked. Print on paper, laminate it, and hand it out only to those with a clear need. If a copy is missing, you either recover it or assume compromise and issue a new version. There’s no exception to that. One lost grid in the wild is all it takes to blow your setup.

Always version your grid. In the corner of every printout, there should be a clear label. "GRG BRAVO 2.3" or "SITE GRID 5A — AUG 2025." You need to be able to say with certainty, "We’re on version X" and toss the rest. If someone brings up a reference from an old grid, that’s a problem. Rotate your grid any time the environment changes, the team shifts, or a mission resets. If you’re in a dynamic setting, you may need to rotate weekly or even daily. If nothing else, change the reference codes. You don’t need a new map every time, but you do need new names.

Protect the legend. The lookup sheet that links grid codes to their actual locations should never travel with the map. Keep it separate. If you’re smart, you keep one on paper and one in your head. The more layers someone has to break to make sense of your traffic, the better. That’s tradecraft. Distance your real actions from the words you say on the net.

Digital storage should be minimized. If you’re storing your GRG in the cloud, on Google Drive, or worse, sending it through email or text, you’ve already failed the security test. Use encrypted flash drives if you must go digital. Keep them offline. Most of the time, you should default to hard copy. A folded map in your chest rig is faster and safer than an app when the signal drops or the lights go out.

You should also consider making layered grids. One for general movement and logistics, another for elevated situations, and a third for internal use only by leadership or QRF. Each version should use different code sets and different levels of information. That way, even if a low-level version gets exposed, it doesn’t burn your entire playbook.

Finally, think about destruction. Every grid should be easy to destroy if needed. If things go south and you have to dump a kit, you should be able to burn or shred your copy fast. No one should be picking it up later and piecing it back together. If you're serious about this, you carry what you’re willing to lose and nothing more.

A GRG is a force multiplier, but only if it's handled right. Built, briefed, protected, rotated, and rehearsed. Anything less is just drawing on a map.

Final Thoughts

Most people think maps are just for navigation. Most people don’t think about what happens when comms go open, when location becomes a liability, or when your team has to coordinate without exposing themselves. That’s why most people are unprepared.

A GRG is a simple tool. But it’s one that closes a gap most people don’t even know exists. It’s scalable, fast, and quiet. It doesn’t need batteries or internet. It doesn’t scream for attention like tech does. It just works if you take the time to build it and train your people right.

This isn’t theory. Here’s a real-world scenario. Civil unrest has spread across the city. Police presence is minimal. Cell towers are overloaded and location-sharing apps are useless. You’ve got a small team assigned to protect a few critical properties, an apartment building where family members are holed up, a small supply cache, and a clinic staffed by volunteers.

You’re working off Baofengs. Anyone with a scanner can listen in. Your GRG is already in play.

You don’t say, “Head to the corner of Lincoln and 3rd and check in on the med center.”
You say, “Team Two, confirm presence at Chalk Five. Hold until Slate Four is cleared.”
That tells your team exactly what to do. No one else has any idea what it means. You’ve just moved people across open air, through a chaotic environment, without exposing a thing.

That’s the value of a GRG. Not just to be clever. Not to feel tactical. But to maintain control when things break down and everyone else is scrambling.

Build one. Brief it. Rehearse it. Protect it. And be ready to use it when everything else fails.

-Gino