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About Us

Mountain Trackers Association (MTA)

The Mountain Trackers Association (MTA) is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) tax‑exempt training organization, founded in 1988 to preserve, teach, and advance the discipline of Visual Man‑Tracking. For more than three decades, MTA has provided specialized tracking instruction to thousands of students across the United States, reviving a critical skillset that was rapidly disappearing from modern law‑enforcement and search operations.

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MTA’s membership and student base spans federal, state, and local law‑enforcement agencies, emergency management, SAR teams, and specialized units. The organization is proudly sponsored by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and Middle Tennessee State University’s School of Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE). MTA’s teaching cadre is supported by parent organizations representing law‑enforcement, search‑and‑rescue, emergency management, and forensic science disciplines, ensuring that instruction is grounded in real‑world operational experience and professional standards.

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Training Standards & Accreditation

 

All Mountain Trackers Association training is fully approved by the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission. Each course provides:

  • 40 hours of POST credit

  • 4 hours of Adult Continuing Education credit through Middle Tennessee State University

 

Curriculum Focus

 

MTA’s curriculum is built on operational field experience and emphasizes real‑world tracking skills, including:

  • Visual Man‑Tracking fundamentals

  • Daylight and low‑light tracking

  • Loss‑of‑sign recovery

  • Tactical movement and dangerous‑subject tracking

  • Rural, urban, and transitional terrain operations

  • Behavioral interpretation and direction‑of‑travel analysis

  • Integration with patrol, investigations, tactical units, and SAR operations

 

Students learn to detect, interpret, and follow human sign while maintaining tactical awareness and responder safety during high‑risk or felony‑related incidents.

 

Agency Impact

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MTA’s instruction has directly contributed to the strengthening and advancing the tracking teams used by three of Tennessee’s largest county law‑enforcement agencies:

  • Metro Nashville Police Department

  • Knox County Sheriff’s Office

  • Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office

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In addition to these major agencies, numerous sheriff’s offices, police departments, and rural agencies across Tennessee and surrounding states have adopted MTA‑trained personnel and incorporated tracking skills into their patrol, investigations, and search‑and‑rescue operations.

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These agencies rely on MTA‑trained officers for subject apprehension, evidence location, search operations, and real‑time terrain‑based intelligence during critical incidents.

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Mission Commitment

 

The Mountain Trackers Association remains committed to strengthening officer capability, reducing search time, and enhancing operational safety by providing field‑proven tracking skills that support patrol, investigations, tactical units, and SAR operations.

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Contact & Additional Information

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E-mail: mountain.trackers.1988@gmail.com

Phone: 931‑967‑5402

Mailing Address: Mountain Trackers Association P.O. Box 305 Winchester, TN 37398

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