Engineering geosciences and military operations

Abstract

The earliest recorded use of geology for the terrain assessment of the battlefield occurred at Katzback in 1813 and contributed to the defeat of Napoleon's Army. Ever since, most major military operations have utilized geologic counsel to evaluate the terrain and features or execute battle actions. The value of geologic insight was recognized in books on the military applications of geology in 1859 and 1885 and the release of “Militargeologie” in 1913 by a German Army officer. During World War I, geologic data became available on specialized maps for: trafricability and movement of supplies, vehicles and personnel; identifying water and construction materials sources; planning and design of surface and underground fortifications; and guidance of underground warfare via tunneling. U.S. Forces (1917–1918) prepared the first engineering geology maps for battlefield use and construction of field works. All participants acknowledged the importance of geology after the war for resources, strategy, and understanding battleground features for tactics and combat. A field manual for Military Geology (Wehrgeologie) was released by the German Army in 1938. The geologic assessment of potential battle areas and strategic features became increasingly important during World War II, for example, pre-war German terrain maps of North Africa with location of water sources and the wadis, steep-walled barriers to mechanized movements. The U.S. Military Geology Unit prepared geologic folios for the southern European operations and throughout the Pacific Island region. The British Military Geology Unit supplied maps and geologic counsel for the western European operations. Refinement of on-going geological practices aided such operations as: the selection of airborne landing sites and airfields, beachheads and assault landings; location and construction of surface and underground protective installations; as well as other works, for example, harbors for Normandy landings. Military geophysics became critical for naval purposes, for example, development of magnetic and acoustically active mines, tracking German U-boats and supplying maps of the sea bottom and sediments; aerial heat-sensing techniques identified Vietnam Era movements beneath the jungle cover. During the 1940s and 1950s, GeoScience principles and techniques were utilized on an unprecedented scale for military and engineering purposes. Tunneling, so successful by Union Forces in Civil War and by the British in World War II, became a major offensive weapon of the North Koreans in the 1950s. Infiltration tunnels exist today beneath the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and South Korea. The permanent Military Geology Branch, U.S. Geological Survey (1946), studied atomic test sites in the Pacific and Nevada. Research by U.S. Army Corps Engineers and RAND Corporation led to the design and construction of underground installations by the 1960s. Geoscientists interpreted the Rainier (1957) nuclear detonations and discriminated between a nuclear explosion and a seismic event. This National Security project ( 1957–1966) relied on many GeoScience principles and techniques. and the Plowshare program of the 1960s adapted this database for many potential military and industrial purposes. Geologic efforts during the Vietnam Era of widespread guerilla warfare required a shift from the established approach of folios and terrain maps by a centralized geological unit. Geologic functions were largely refocused from the army combat forces to the Defense Intelligence Agency by the 1970s. Many National Security projects serve the military establishment and are dependent on the principles of geoscience.