Military Geology in War and Peace
In warfare, military geologists pursue five main categories of work: tactical and strategic terrain analysis, fortifications and tunneling, resource acquisition, defense installations, and field construction and logistics. In peace, they train for wartime operations and may be involved in peace-keeping and nation-building exercises. The classic dilemma for military geology has been whether support can best be provided by civilian technical-matter experts or by uniformed soldiers who routinely work with the combat units. In addition to the introductory paper this volume includes 24 papers, covering selected aspects of the history of military geology from the early 19th century through the recent Persian Gulf war, military education and operations, terrain analysis, engineering geology in the military, use of military geology in diplomacy and peace keeping, and the future of military geology.
Selected military geology programs in the Arctic, 1950–1970
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Published:January 01, 1998
Abstract
The military environment of the post–World War II years was dominated by the principal threat of air and missile attacks over polar routes between North America and the former Soviet Union. The extremities of the arctic environment demanded unique adaptations to normal military operations, which provided military and engineering geologists an opportunity to exercise a broad range of technical applications. New knowledge and skills in ice physics and engineering, glaciology, arctic geomorphology, meteorology, oceanography, and permafrost engineering were all relevant, often requiring on-the-job learning. Such adaptability could be needed in the future and would once again challenge military geologists.
- arctic environment
- Arctic region
- Canada
- construction
- Ellesmere Island
- Europe
- Finnmark Norway
- Franklin District Northwest Territories
- government agencies
- Greenland
- history
- ice
- military geology
- Northwest Territories
- Norway
- Nunavut
- Peary Land
- permafrost
- Point Barrow
- Queen Elizabeth Islands
- Scandinavia
- survey organizations
- U. S. Geological Survey
- Western Canada
- Western Europe
- Arctic Institute of North America
- Fletcher's Ice Island
- Distant Early Warning Line
- Military Geology Branch
- Eglin Air Force Base
- Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories
- Centrum Lake Greenland
- Storelv region