Military Applications Geology

7/23/2019 Military Applications Geology

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/military-applications-geology 1/54

MILITARY

APPLICATIONS

OF G OLOGY

BY

MAJOR

JOSEPH

S C

SMITH



Military Applications of

Geology

.

A paper

presented

to

the

Kansas Academy of Science Symposium held

a t Kansas

State

Teachers

College

Emporia; Kansas 1

May

1964.

by

JOSEPH

S. C.

SMITH

Major

Corps of Engineers

United States Army

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

1964

·

;

\

·,



PREFACE

This

paper

was

prepa

r ed by Major Joseph S. C. Smi t

h

CE

author-

instructor

Department of

Division

Operat i ons

United

States Army

Command

and General Staff College for presentation

to the

Kansas Academy of Science Geology Symposium on 1 May 1964

a t Kansas State Teachers

College

Emporia Kansas . While pre

parea a t the direction of ·

the

Commandant

Command

and General

Staff College this

paper

does

not necessarily

refl

ect

t he views

of

the College;

or any other governmental agency .

The

writer

acknowledges

the services

rendered

by

the

Office

of the

Chief

of

Engineers

especially

MajorS. C.

McArthur and

Mr . .s.

Greenberg

in providing backgr0und and

source

m t e r ~ l s

for

the

preparation of

this

paper and Mr.

M.

P. Connaughton who

reviewed

the

paper before

final

typing. The Military Geology

Branch

of

the U. S. Geological Survey Department of Inter ior

is

also

acknowledged

for

i t s

generous

assistance. Two

members

of the staff of the Military Geology Branch must be mentioned

\

especially:

Mrs. E. A. Hol

m

who

provided

source material and \

background from personal

experience

for

the

writing of

the

paper;

and Mr. H. H. Hawkins

who

reviewed

i t before

f inal

typing

.

I

Major James L.

Trayers

Corps of

Engineers

Staff and Fac

ty Command and General

Staff

College. furnished valuable

assistance in

editi ng and proofing the manuscript.

i i



TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

Page

PREFACE - - - - -

INTRODUOI ION-

1

HISTORY OF MILITARY

GIDLOGY BEFORE WORLD

WAR

2

Before

World

War

I -

2

During World

War

I

5

Military geology in the

Brit ish

Army

7

Military geology in the German Army

8

Military

geology

in

the

United

States

Army

9

Military

geology

in the

French

Army

-

10

Mi l i

tary

geology in other armies

11

\

I .

. ;

Summary

of applications of military

" -

\

uring

World

War

.

-

I

\2

e

t ween World

War

I and World

War

~ ~ i G ~ ~ Y

~ T ~ _ s : A : ~ ~ D ~ N ~ ~ 0 ~

Military Geology in Other

Countries

During J ~ l d

War

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Formation of the

Military Geology Unit

-

- -

_;..

17

Organizati on

of the

Military Geology Unit -

18

St affing the

Military

Geology Unit - -

21

Work

of the Military

Geology

Unit

23

Terrain

intelligence

folios

25

Trafficability

studies

- - - - -

4

C ~ n c l u s i o n s

- - - - - - -

35

i i i



.

·

.

. .

.. . . . ·

.

MILITARY GIDLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY

AFTER

WORLD

WAR

I I TO THE PRESENT -

The

Challenge

-

UsefUl Aspects of Geology- - - - - -

Strate

gi c

terrain

intelligence- - - - - -

Tactical and combat terrain intelligence -

Water s u ~ y - .- -

General construction

- -

- - -

Special

problems - -

Post

host i l i ty

reconstruction

military

government - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Current

Organization

for Military Geology- -

Military Geology Branch -

Terraip detachment - - - - - - -

Military Geology

Training

- - - - -

CONCLUSION- ·- - -

LITERATURE CITED

ILLUSTRATIONS

1 .

Figure

1 - Organization of

the

Military Geology

Unit as

of

January 1945

.-

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

2 . Figure 2 -

Projection from a topographic

map

as

the f i r s t

stage

in

preparing

a

Terrain

Diagram. -

3.

Figure

3 -

Terrain

Diagram made from

projection

without

consulting

geologic

or

topographic maps• -

4.

Figure

4 - Completed

Terrain

Diagram

after study

of geologic and

topographic

maps. - - - - - - - -

Page

36

36

37

38

39

40

40

41

42

42

42

44

44

45

47

\

\

22

27

28

29

iv



INTROOOCTION

During

peacetime the United

States

Army

has for

a long

time applied the science of geology

engineering

and con

struction

problems.

Geologists

are

emp oyed

both

in

the Office

of

the

Chief of

Engineers in Washington

D c. , and in the

Engi

neer Distr icts

throughout

the country and overseas. They provide

the

necessary

geologic

services with respect

to the

multi

-

million

dol la r

civi l

and

military construct

·

ion

programs carried

out by

the Army

each

year. The .

design of major construction

projects i s

not

star ted

without

this

geologic

service

.

On

the

other hand i t took two World Wars t .o realize

the

ful l value of applying ·

the

science of geology to military prob

lems

in the Theater of

Operations. In order

for an

army to be

victorious t must control the land; and, in order to control

the

land

i t must take

advantage of a l

l available information

concern

ing

the land . Geology provides military planners with information

concerning the properties

of the ground over which

the army must ·

move

,

shoot

and communicate.

The purpose of this paper

is

to discuss various direct

applications of

geol ogy to the solution

of

military

problems.

Greatest

emphasis

is

pl aced on

the

use of geology during World

War II for i t was in ·this

war

that t'he science .of geology gained

a

permanent

place as

a

useful

tool

in

military

operations

. A

brief history of military geology

is

included as background to

portray the evol ution . of military ~ o l o y to the

present

state

of- the -art .

l

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/evolution.of



2

HISTORY OF MILITARY GEOLOGY

BEFORE WORLD W R

. Before Worid

War I

In

the

years preceding

World

War

I

there

are

scant

t

references

to the value

of applying geology

to m il i tary

problems.

This

was

because geology

was

s t i l l

a

relatively new science

and

was neither

fu

l

ly appreciated nor being extensively applied by

the engineering sciences.

Major

General J.

E.

Portluck of the

British

Royal Engineers ,

appears

to be

the

f i r s t professional

soldier to recognize

that a knowledge

of

geoiogy

wou

l d

be an

aid

1

in

war. General

Portluck

p ~ l i s h e d

a

rudimentary

t reat ise on

geology

in 1868, discussing

the

various

~ p p l i c t i o n s

of the

science

to military problems.

Major A.

Marga, a French

engineer

off icer ,

published

a

t reat ise in

1885

in which

he

recognized

the

influence

of ·

geology

in the matter of controlling troop

movements

by i t s determination

of

the physical

character of

.

soil . He recognized

that:

The

character

of

the

soil ,

which

is known

by

the geology,

greatly in

-

f l

uei_l.ces

the passability of a

region

and the.refore indicates

the

difficul t ies

which

armies

must overcome

in their marches.

2

Another French engineer off icer , Major

0 .

Barre,

an

eminent

geologist, e ~ b o r t e l y presented the physiographic phase of

the

military geography of France and of many other

European countries

lAlfred

H.

Brooks,

The Use

of

Geology

on

the Western

Front,

USGS

Professional

Paper 128

-D,

September

20, 1920),

p.

88 .

\

\

\

\

I



3

in his lectures

between

1897 -19 8

at the school

of

Application

of

Artil lery and Engineers

at Fontainbleau.3

a r r ~

placed

a great

deal

of emphasis on geology

in

his physiographic

treatment

of

to

pography.

His

principal work

predicted with

a

remarkable

degree

of accuracy the

control exercised

by physiography

on

the military

operations of

World

War I .

During the decades prior to

World

War

I

the

French

clearly

established themselves as the leaders in the

fields

of military

topography, the relationships

between

topography

and

geology,

and

the

influence

of

topography

on

strategy

and

tact ics -

particular ly

in Central Europe.

Although

geology received l i t t l e recognition in military

textbooks

i t was

by

no means ignored in

the

t ra ining

of

officers.

Geology was

s t i

l l an embryonic

science

when i t was

introduced

into

the

curriculum at the

United

States

Milita

r y Academy in

1823,

the

Academy

being

one

of the

f i

rs t educationa

l

ins t i t

ut ions

in this

country to introduce

a formal

course of instruction in geology.

Unpublished

manuscr

ip t

Geology Applied

to

Military Intell igence

in

Time

of War

,

Charles

B.

Hunt,

January ,

1949, p. 150.

This

course

was

apparently given for the purpose of general culture,

with

.

l i t t l e or

no

re9ognition

of

i t s application

to war. Both

British

and

French officers received instruction in geology

i n

their

respective military schoo

l s . Between

1886 and 1898 ,

3Ibid, p. 9 .



4 '

Lt Colonel Charles Cooper King

gave

a

course

in military geology

to

Brit ish officers

a t the

Camberly

Staff College.4 Another

course

was

offered at

the Chatham

Engineer School

.

Both of these

courses

were abandoned many

years

befors

Wor

l d

War

I .

Colonel

King

seems

to

be tpe

f i r s t professional soldier to recognize the

wide application

of

geology

in

military

problems

- except

in the

f i

eld of

military topography .

Lit t le

attention was

paid,

however,

.

to his

pioneer

work in the field .

The

f i r s t practical

use of

geology in direct connection with

military operations dates

from. the Russo-

Japanese Wa

r (1904-

1905 ,

in which

the Russian

Army

used a number of

geologists primari

l y

as

advisers

in

constructing

for t if ications.5 Duri ng this same

war

Japan made a geologic survey of Korea and i t

is believed

l ikely

that

some of

the

results

may

have been

~ u to

immediate use . 6

Another earl y application of geology to military

problems

was made by

the

French military geographers or

mi

l i tary topog

raphers.7

The

definite systematic

relationship

between the to

pography and

geologic

s t r u c t u r ~

of

France coupled

with

numerous

wars

throughout the

centuries,

provided the French military

stu

dents with many

examples

of the control of military

movement

by

the h i g h l n d s ~

scarps,

and water courses of

France.

These ex

amples

represented

a

trend toward

the

type of terra

i n

analys

i s

5Frartk C. Whitmore,

J r .

Military

Geology,

(The Military

Engineer,

Vol XLVI No 311, May-June 1954) , p 212.

~ o o k s

p. 91 .

7Whitmore, The Military

Engineer, p

212.

I

I

:;

1 \

i •

\

\



5

presently

used in

planning

wars of

movement.

But

th is trend was

abruptly

al tered

by the

posit ion

or trench warfare of

World

ar

I .

Shortly before the outbreak of

World

ar I

Captain al

ther

•

Kranz of

t he Corps

of

Fort if icat ion Engineers

of the

German Army, .

call ed attention to the

use

of geology in war. Captain Kranz who

was himself a trained geol ogist br ief ly sketched

several

f ie lds

of usefulness of military geology in an art icle which

he

published

in Berlin

in

1913.B

Kranz advocated

that

military geology

be rec -

ognized

as

a

special profession and that

selected

officers

be

s p e c i l ~ y

trained

as

professional military

geology

officers.

Kranz ' s recommendations at t ract.ed l i t t l e attention until af ter

the

o u t b ~ e k

of World

ar

I. Then

such

c9ntrov

ers

i

es

arose as to

the

best

military

use

of geology that

public

discussion i n technical

journals and

the press

was stopped by

mi

l i ta r y censorship in 1916.

During

World ar I.

Although

geol ogy was

d e f i n i t ~ l y

recognized by the

principal

contending

armies during

World

ar I

i t s

ful l usefulness

was

by

\

no means realized.9 Relatively few officers in

the

hi gh

command

of the

armies t

hat

employed

geologists

appreciated their valu

able

services. Consequently they failed

to

seek

·

the

advice of the

geologist on problems

that

clearly lay within his f ield. Geology

S:srooks, p 91 .

, 9Ib.;d

86

p •

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/attract.ed






6 .

was regarded by m ny as a

speculative

and abstract, rather than as

a

practical

and concrete science.10

In

the early

part

of the war

there

are

numerous examples of projects o r . o p e r ~ t i o n s involving

great

loss

of

time

.,

energy,

and l i fe whi ch could have been

avoided

by the application of a basic knowledge

of

geology.

During

the great Batt le

of Verdun,

an order was given

for

a

body of troops to

dig in

on the high plateau of the

Cotes

de

Meuse which ended

in disaster

and

needless

loss of l i fe . A casual

glance at the available geologic m p would have shown that the

plateau

was

underlain

by hard limestone

with

less

than

a

foot

of

soil cover. The

material

could

not be

excavated

with the l ight

tools furnished or

even

with

proper

equipment

in

the time

available. l l

Front l ine

dugouts and trenches, located without any con-

sideration

of the ground water conditions, were rendered useless

by

f i l l ing with

water. Numerous tunnels for attack

galleries

were

star ted

only to be abandoned after a great expenditure of time

and

labor when crossed by hard igneous rocks or hard

sandstone.

Road

metal

was transported from England

to

France in

ignorance

of the

fact that a geologist was

able

to designate

readily

accessible

sources in the Theater of Operations. The witch-hazel stick was

being used

to

locate

sources of

ground

water and hundreds of

wells

were driven that provided no water. Hospitals and a i r f i e l d ~ were

\

< ;

i

l L l .d

Ib P• •

I

\

. J

"

"

\

.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/science.10




7

located without any definite knowledge of

the

source of needed

12

water.

·

Many other

similar

mistakes could be

cited

that clear ly

emphasized the

need for basic

geologic i n t e l l i g ~ n c e on

or

near

the

front.

As the war progressed and stabil ized into s t t ic

trench

war -

fare greater

use was

made

of the

geologic information available

.

The

geologic staffs

of the

various

armies were

increased;

and in

certain

of

the a ~ i e s particular operations

were

not undertaken

without f i r s t

consulting

the s t f f geologist.

Military

geology

in

the

Brit ish

Army.

In

a y ~

1915

the

Brit ish called

into

service

W

B.

R.

King member of the Brit ish

Geological Survey with the rank of Captain. He was attached

to

the s t f f of the Chief Engineer to

determine

ground water re -

sources.

Captain King _so far as is known, was

thf

f i r s t

geo

lo -

gis t

to receive

a

military

assignment for

lo{ork

in bis

own profes

-

'

sion .

1

3 In May, 1916 other geologists were added to the head-

quarters of the Brit ish Expeditionary Force as

advisers on

under-

ground

mine warfare

to the Army

.engineers and

l ter a t

Gen

eral

Headquarters.

The

Brit ish geologic

s t f f

a t

no

time exceeded

five

officers;

but

this was not a

handicap

for among the mining compan-

ies many of

the

off icers were trained geologists. The success of

the

Brit ish in gaining

control

of the underground

si tuation

stemmed

12

.

Ibid.

l3Ibid p . 93.



s·

from

the

i r

geologists

'

interpretations of geologic studies.

Brigadier General

R

N.

Harvey

who

commanded

the Bri

t

ish

·

mining

t r oops

offered this statement:

The

f i r s t

requisite

for success

in

mili tary

mining

.

is to

secure

the serVices of experienced

geo

l o-

gists .

I

wish

I

had

known

that at the

start . ul 4

, Military geology

in the

German

Army

.

Although the use

of

g e o l o g i ~ t s in

the German

Army had

been advocated

before

the

out

-

break of war

Germany

entered

World War I

with

no

geologic staff

or

any

definite

pol

icy for using

geologists

.

1

5 The

development

of

·'

military

geology

in that

army

began

in

the su

mmer

of

1915;

by

February the

staff had

increased to t w e ~ t y

e o l o g i s t s

The

Ger

-

man Army geologists

were organized as a

part of

the

department of

•

military

surveys

controlled by an off icer of the general sta

f

f .

At

each

army headquarters in

the f ield

there was a

survey staff

\

that

included

a

geologist who

was

in

charge of geologic invest i -

gations

and surveys. The

geologists

were

divided

into small

sections

and assigned

as needed.

In add

i

t ion to th

i s

organ

i -

zation

there

were

three geologic

intell igence

sections

or infer-

mation bureaus in base areas which furnished

the field

geologists

with geologic

information . The German

organization

of geologic

services

was

mu

ch more ~ v n c e d

than

that of

the

Allies

and

during

14

Ibid ,

p .

87.

1

f t id

P•

95·

16

Ibid.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/geologists.15




http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/eologists.16

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/eologists.16




9

the course of World War I about 250 army geologists were assigned

to al l

fronts,

some with offices

just

behind the front

l ines.l7

One of

the

f i rs t

duties

of

the German

geologist detailed to

the St. Mihiel

sector

was to collect

data

on the results

achieved

by the witch

-

hazel st ick in

locating

sources of

ground

water

.

This was done

to

destroy

the

confidence of

the

authorities in

the

·

witch-hazel stick.l8

Military geology in the United States Army. The American

Expeditionary· Force was able to profi t by

the

experience of

the

Allies and organized geologic work from

the

star t .

1

9 The geologic

section was established as a part of the

Office

of the Chief

Engineer in

September,

1917.2° To supervise the

geologic

section,

the American

Expeditionary Force

was fortunate

in having

one of

the most broadly trained American geologists,

Alfred

H.

Brooks,

of the

U. S.

Geological

Survey. He was commissioned a

captain in

the Corps of Engineers and la ter promoted ~ o

l ieutenant

~ l o n e l 2

I .

\

.

I

1

7Whitmore, The Military Engineer,

p.

212.

\

18

Brooks, p. 87.

"

J

l9Ibid, p. 88 .

'

\

\

'

\

0

Ibid, p. 94 .

2lWhitman

Cross,

Geology

in

the World War and

After,

Bulletin

of

the Geological

Society

of America, Vol 30, pp. 165 -188, ~ r c h ·31,

1919), p. 170. .

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/lines.l7

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/start.19



http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/c?,lonel.2l



http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/lines.l7

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/stick.l8





10

At

f i rs t

the

geologic

section was made a

part of the

division

of

f r o n t ~ i n engineering

and

l ter

the section was transferred

to

the

division

of

engineering

intelligence.

At s t i l l a l ter date

the

chief geologist

reported directly

to

the'Assistant Chief

Engineer

t General Headquarters GHQ)

_In July,

1918, plans

were approved

to provide

five

geologic

officers

for

each Army allowing

one for

each corps Provision

was

also

made

for two geologic

officers

in the l ine of communications

The chief geologist t HQ was given technical

supervision

over

l l

geologic

work

in

the

American

Expeditionary

Force and

the

Headquarters Section was called upon to serve both

the

engineers

and the

Intelligence Section of

the

General

Staff. A tota l

of

18 geologic officers had been

authorized;

but, at

the

time

of

the

signing of

the Armistice

there

were

only nine geologic

of-

ficers

assigned to the American Expeditionary Force, five t

GHQ,

two

with

First Army, one with Second Army, and one with

the

22

water supply

section.

Military

geology in the French

Army

The French did

not

organize a geologic staff , as such, during

the

war and gave but

l i t t l e definite recognition to

the

military applications of

the

science.

2

3

There was, on

the

other

hand,

probably a greater use

22

Brooks, p.

94

2

3Ibid, p. 92.





11 .

of geologic maps by the

French officers

than by those offfcers of

any

other Allied

Army .

The geologic

map

of

France

had

been com

pleted many years before the war and French

engineers

had long

been

trained

to use t for

certain

k i n ~ of information . Also

since

the French

were

fighting

on their

own

land and were

thoroughly

familiar

·

with

i t s physical features the services of

geolpgists were

less

important to them than to their al l ies

Although

the

French gave no recognition to

the

use of professional

geologists

they

by

no means ignored

the

application of

geology

to

military

problems.

They were

the

f i rs t

to

issue

a

map

showing

the

passability of the country as governed by the

physical

charac

te r

of the surrounding

formations . "Tank Maps"

the forerunner

to

our

present

day

Cross -

Country

Movement Map - were

prepared

dur-

ing

the

summer

of

1918 which took

cognizance of

the physical con

ditions

imposed

by

surface conditions.24

Military geology in other

armies.

Less is known of the

military

applications of

geology

by t ~ e other belligerents during

the war. The Russian Army la te in the war organized a techni-

cal department using

consulting

geologists in

the

search for con

struction materials

and fuel and on

blasting problems.

Geolo

gists

were

attached

to the Austrian

Army

and

this

action probably

closely

paralleled

the organization of the

geologic

corps

in

the

German

Army

. The

Chief of

Engineers

of the

Belgian Army,

24

rb ;d

93

' p. •

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conditions.24




12 .

who was

also

secretary of the

Geologic

Society

of

Belgium,

ful l

use of his

intimate

knowledge of the g e o l o \

of

the

~ ~

2

5

Summary of applications of military geolog.y"

during

World _

I

War

I . s

pointed out earl ier there were n u r o u ~ examples where

\

the

failure

to consider the geology of an area resulted

in

the

failure

of

the task undertaken. s

the war

progressed, however,

the

value

of

geologic services became more apparent

in solving

certain

mili tary

problems.

The principal contributions of the

military

geologists

during the war were the provision

of

engineer

intelligence pertaining to water supply, military mining attack

galleries) ,

si t ing of field

fortifications,

and

locating sources

of construction

materials -

principally road metal. Although

the

employment of

geology

a t

the

time was

by

no means

developed

to

i t s

fullest

usefulness, i t s

contributions were

widely recognized.

After the war the Chiefs of Engineers of both the

British

and

American Armies suggested the advisability of a special develop

ment of this

l ine

of work in f uture

campaigns.

Between World War I and Wor

ld

War I I .

During the years between World

War

I and World

War II

the

Germans and Russians appear to have given

the

most thought to the

future employment and training of military geologists.26

2

5Ibid.

26

Ernest F.

Fox, The Use of Military Geologists

in the

Corps of

Enfineers, Preliminary

Study for the Chief of

Engineers,

June

19

9), p. 3·





13

In

Germany i t was believed that

the lack

of

understanding of

geology

in m ili tary circles , and the lack of

understanding

of

military problems in

geologic circles,

had

limited the

use

of

g e o l ~ g y

in World War

I

I t was proposea that for the future there

should be a specially trained body of professional military geolo-

gists

who

would have

broad responsibilities

in many phases of

military operations . Plans for a comprehensive training program

were

developed

to make military

geology

a part or the regular

university training of a l l geology students. Those

students

specializtng in military geology

would receive military

training

in

the

Cotps of Engineers after which they would

be

commissioned.

Training in geology was also

to

be

included

in.

the

curricula of

a l l military c ~ d e m i e s and officer training schools . I t is be-

l ieved that this

plan

was implemented, a t least in part, prior

to

the

mobilization

of

the

new German rmy that entered World

War

I I

27

Between 1932 and 1939 many papers on

military

geology were \

written by

German scholars ,

but despite this

interest the govern -

ing

concept of

military

geology continued to be that of

sta t ic

warfare conceived

during

World War I .

2

8 This att i tude

prevailed

among military geologists until as la te

as

1941. Even

though

the

military

geologic

thinking

lacked

progressiveness,

the

German s

2

7Ibid .

2

8wbitmore, ·The

Military

Engineer,

p. 212.



14

continued interest in

the

subject led

to the re -

establishment

, in

1935,

of

the

11

Wehrgeologie

11

or

German

Arm.y geologic organization.29

In

the

USSR, geologywas made a part of the regular education

of army

officers

. Functions of

military

geology were performed by

geologists organized into

11

hy

drotechnical

divisions,

operating

under

the

Army General

Staff

. These div

isions were

given respon

sibi l i ty

f?r

l l matters

pertaining to

water supply and sanitation,

and construction of maps showing geology, h y d r ~ l o g y

road

and

transport routes,

deposits of road metal and ball ast , and

the re

sults of seismic surveys . 3°

The application of geology to the military

arts

and science

did

not fare too well in the United

States during this period.

This should not be too disconcerting, however, for t

only

ref lects

the general att i tude

that

prevailed toward the mili tary profes

sion. Who could think about geology when

the

Army was conducting

maneuvers

as

la te

as

1939

with

wooden

r i f les

and mock

tanks? We

were extremely fortunate

in

another sense,

however,

for great

str ides were made in

the

practical applications of geology

to

l l

other branches of engineering, and geology came to be

widely recog-

nized

as

a

concrete

and practical science . 3

1

2

9Ibid, p . 213.

3°Fox, Preli minary

Study

for

the

Chief of Engineers, p. 3.

3

1

Ibid.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/organization.29

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/surveys.30







http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/organization.29





15 .

I t should

be

speculated that

mi.

l i tary geology was considered

by

other

countries and in particular by Japan . For a long time

the Japanese were open- handed

with

geologic data on their

home

land

; but

in

1937,

they

stopped exchangirlg

this data with other

countries . Japan's

pride in i t s botanical

accomplishments, how

ever,

tended

to defeat th is censorship in geology. They invited

botanists from many countries to vis i t their islands to observe

the ir

botanical feats.

The

botanical information

thus

obtained

proved

important in geologic

warfare;

for

plants

can

be a

guide

to

ground

conditions.32

MILITARY GEOLOGY IN TRE UNITED STATES RMY

DURING

WORLD W R I I

Up to this point th is paper has covered a very general ,his

torical

evolution of military geology

,

not only

as

applied

to

U

S.

military operations

, but also ·to the

military operations of

other countries. The

remaining

sections

will apply principally

to

the

military

use

of

geology

by the

United

States

Army

during

and after World War

I I with only passing reference

to

the use of

geology by

other

major belligerents

during World

War I I .

Military

Geology

in Other Countries

During World

War I I

.

I t i s known that in World

War I I considerable use

was made

of geologically trained personnel

in

the Brit ish, Russian, and

32Martin Sonnners

(1945),

The Army's

Pet Prophets

,

Saturday

Evening

Post,

March 24,

p. 98.





16

.

German Armies . Each of

these armies

not only

had

i t s own organic

military geology

units

but employed civilian geologists as well.

t may be

stated

that the

German

rmy excelled applying geology

t

to

their

military operations .

ur

own intel l igence reports

are

replete with examples ·of ski l l ful use of

terrain

by the Germans.

Captured German documents

clearly

reveal that German geologists

played .a major role in assembling

terrain and engineering in te l l i

gence data for al l levels of planning (Hunt,

unpublished

manu

script . Records

indicate that

the number of trained

mi

.l i tary

geologists

in

Germany

a t

any

one

time

in

World

War

reached

a

maximum

of

about 250 with an estimated 1600 assisting personri

el.33

From the

very

beginning of the war the R u s s i a n employed a,

great

body of

geology specialists

to

serve the

ront;

e ~ <

I \

intelligence sources

reported that over

15,000 \ ~ were \

employed

in

military

geology in the USSR

during

the

war

years.3

4

Most

of

the

Brit ish effort

in

military

geology

was\

entralized

\

in the Geological Section of t he

Inter

- Service o p o g r ~ p h i c a l

Department

in the United

Kingdom,

and in the Strategic ~ r ~ ~ c h of

',

the geological

survey

of India.

33Fox,

p.

4.

34Ibid.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/personnel.33



http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/years.34






7

Formation

of

the

Military

Geology

Unit

.

Despite

the recommendations

of

the Chief

of Engineers based

on

our

World War I

experience

concerning the i ~ p o r t n c e of geology

o military

operations the United States

entered

World War

I I

with

no

provision

for

including military geologists as an organic

part

of an:y troop unit

or

staff

structure.

The awareness

among

the

armed

forces of

the

potential

military

use of

geology and

the geologist was

almost nonexistent. Shortly

after the

United

States

entered

the war

i t

became

apparent to

the Chief

of

Engi

neers

U.

s.

Army,

that

the

Army

was

not

equipped

to

fUrnish

the

geologic information necessary concerning prospective areas

of

military operations. World War

I I

had developed into a war of

movement in contrast to the position warfare of World

War

I .

Information

pertaining

to water supply sources landing

beaches

airf ie ld

si tes

t raff icabi l i ty

of soils and sources

of

con

struction

materials - just

to

name a few

of

the

geologic require

ments - was

drastically

needed. Although the Corps

of

Engineers

had

a

small staff of consulting geologists

for

civi l

and military

construction projects within the United

States

i t s organization

could

not

tackle the gigantic problem

of providing

the

required

geologic information

for the

theaters.

There was

not sufficient

time

available

for

the

Corps of Engineers to

build

a geologic

staff and

reference l ibrary of

the

requisite

size

to

conduct the

needed geologic investigations. The means by which this problem

was solve.d

exhibits

an

outstanding

example of cooperation between

two different

departments of our Federal

Government.



18

In

late spring

1942, representatives

of t e Corps of Engineers

. '

called on the

Chief

Geologist

of

the United l ~ G e o l o g i c a l

Survey (USGS), Department

of

the

Interior, to sJ i c i t a s s i s t a n

.

in providing the geologic

information required b ,

the

Army . As

a matter of coincidence, certain factions within ~ h e USGS had

been attemPting

for

months to find a w ~ to get

t ~ e nations

s

35

. . t t • th

geo1 o g s

+

1n o ac 10n 1n

e war • There was

c o m m o n

under-

.

.

standing Qf the problem

involved

and an i m m e d i t ~

m e e t i n g

of

.

minds . The Military Geology Unit (MGU) of

the

usdp

which was

formally established by

means of

an agreement between

the Survey

and

the

Corps of Engineers in June of 1942, was c o m m i s s i o ~ e d to

36

make geologic studies of areas of

strategic military importance

.

Organization of the Military Geology Unit .

The

in i t i l

s t f f

of

10

geologists established

in

Washington,

D. C.

in

1942,

gradually increased

to

about

6 geologists and

soils scientists

in

1943

.

During

this

time

the

M U

prepared

reports

on

strategically significant European Countries and

North Africa. In

July

1943,

an urgent request was made

for

the

S o m m e r s

Saturday

Evening

Post,

p.

98

.

36

U. s .

Geological

Survey and Corps of Engineers U. s.

Army, The M l i t ry Geology

Unit,

(Geol . Soc . Am., Dec 1945),

p. 2, (hereafter

c i t e d ~

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/importance.36






19

.

M

GU

to

prepare

a report on

the

terrain and

water supply in Sicily

.

The MGU originated a new type

of

report which marked a turning

point

in

the

application of geology

to

u. S. military operations

.

This

folio

report

could

be used

for

tac t ica l

field

problems

as

well as problems of

broad

strategic planning. The practical

value of the Sicily report so

firmly

established the reputation

of the MGU in military circles

that

the unit

was

l l

but

over

37

whelmed

with new assigments. The s t f f of MGU was then rapid-

ly increased to include

88 geologists,

26 other specialists,

and

43 sub-professionals.

In the spring of 1944,

a new field was opened up

for the

MGU Teams from

MGU in

Washington were sent to the various war

theaters to work on

detailed

plans for operations and to provide

8

consulting services.3

The

f i rs t

field ·team went to the Southwest Pacific in

May

1944

in response

to a request

by

the

Chief

Engineer of the

Theater

and was

detailed to

the

Research

and

Reports

Sub

s

ec

t

. E

ng1neer

t

e

~ g e n c e

D ·

on,

I

n

·

lVlSlon

.

39

Th

e team

con-

sisted

of one soils scientis t and

four

geologists,

who

were

specialists

in

ground water, engineering geology,

beach

con

,..

ditions,

and land forms. In

June

1945, in preparation for

the invasion of

Japan,

the

Sub-

Section

was

in reased

\

37Ibid, p. 3.

\

38Ibid.

39Fox,

Preliminary

Study

for the

Chief of Engine9\ ,

:p

. 7.

'

-.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/assigments.37


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services.38






20

to 22 military and civi l ian personnel and elevated to Branch

status . 40 The military personnel were drawn from qualified

officers and

enlisted

men who were on duty in the

theater

.

A second field team from

the ¥GU

was

sent

to the Central

Pacific Theater in November, 1944, at

the

request

of the Joint

Intelligence Center,

Pacific

Ocean Areas . This unit was desig

nated an Engineer and Terrain Intelligence Team ETIT) , and w

as

attached to

the

Intelligence Division of

the

Theater Engineer

where i t worked on

detailed

terrain

reports

unti l

the

end

of

hosti l i t ies

. 41 The ETIT

cooperated

closely

with

the

Engineer

Base Topographic Battalion. The strength of the

team

on V-J Day

was 16 and included 12 geologists, 2

soi ls

scient ists, a road

engineer, and a r iver and harbor specialist.

Other small teams were sent to

the

European Theater

of

Operations ETO)

during

the l s t year of the war and were

assigned

to

the

Inter

-

Service

Topographical

Department

in

the

United Kingdom

ISTD

-UK ,to the Combined Intelligence Objectives

Section

of

the Combined

Ch

iefs

of

Staff, and to

the

Engineer

Intelligence Division of the

Chief

Engineer, ET0 . 42

In addition to the work at

their

respective headquarters,

geologists from the teams were periodically

~ s s i g n e

to army

4oibid

.

4libid .

I

42

Ibid.

\

\

, ,

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/hostilities.41






21

and corps headquarters, and

detailed temporarily

to Engineer

Construction Battalions and

other

engineer

units

to provide

consulting services .

t

Figure

l

Hunt,

unpublished manuscript)

shows

the r g ~ n i

zation of the

Military

Geology Unit as of January 19

45.

Staffing the

Military

Geology

Unit.

;

"

s t h ~ program of

the

Military

Geology

Un

t expanded

i t

was

• I

no longer possible for

the

U. S.

Geological

S u ~ ~ to f i l l

the

\

staffing requirements.

A

nation

-wide

search

was made

for

, q u a l ~ ~

1

·

f ied

individuals;

workers

were

recruited

from maclr

sources with

colleges

and

universi t ies

leading the l i s t Besid\s geologists,

"

the

unit included

other professionals such as

soi ls

s i e ~ i s t s .

and, for par t of

the

time,

a

forester

and a

sanitary engineer.43

Other

governmental agencies,

notably the

Division of Soil Survey

in

the Department of Agr icul

ture,

cooperated

with

the

unit

by

lending

some

of

the i r

most

qualified

men.

Besides having

a

sound

geologic background,

the geologist was

required to have

wide f ie ld experience; for i t was

th is

combination that

consti-

tuted

the

foundation

of the entire research

program.

Other

requirements included

f ie ld experience

in

cr i t ical foreign

countries and an abi l i ty to read

two

foreign languages.

The

practice of encouraging

the geologist

or soils

scient ist

to be

43Cha

r les B Hunt, Military

Geology, Geo Soc

Am

Engineering

Geology Berkey) Volume

l950), p. 320.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineer.43

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineer.43



22

1 -

r

RESEARCH CHIEF EDITOR a

~ I W I N G

SUPERVISORS CHIEF ILLUSTRATOR

~

ICE

J

VERSEAS

TEAMS

-

'

\

\

I I

'

BIBLIOGRAPHERS - PHOTOGRAPHERS

SOUTHWEST \CIFIC

AREA

I

\

"

PHOTO

ILLUSTRATORS

CENTRAL PACIFIC " '-

PROCUREMENT

AREA

PROJECT TEAMS

-

EDITORS

EUROPEAN THEATER

OF OPERATIONS

TERRAIN

TYPISTS

INTERSERVICE TOPOGRAPHIC

SPECIALISTS

DEPARTMENT

-

-- - -

Figure 1. Organization of

the

M l i t ry

Geology

Unit as of

January 1945

(Maj. J . S. c. i

th

, U. S.

Army Command

and General

Staff

College

- T

ransactions,

K A.

S.)

I GEOLOGIST IN CHARGE

I

I

I

I

I

I

'



3

able to study the

source

l i terature and maps mi nimized errors

and saved valuable time. Some of

the

studies prepared by the

M U could not

have

been completed in

the

time ~ v i l b l e i f

the

unit had been forced

to

depend on t ransiators·. 44 In addition

to

the

professional

staff ,

a s taff of assis tants which included

bibliographers, photographers,

i l lustrators ,

editors,

and

typists was organized, and

comprised

about 20

percent

of

the

to tal strength

of th

e unit .

Work of the

Military

Geology Unit .

The

primary

function

of

the

M U

in

Washington

during

the

war, was

the

preparation of studies

of

foreign areas for

broad

strategic

and operational planning . The studies were prepared

principally

for

the

Corps

of Engineer s, the Army

General

Staff,

the Army Air Forces,

the Quartermaster

Corps, and

the Office

of Strategic Services. The work covered

a l l aspects

of

terrain

intelligence. The following di

fferent

types and numbers of

strategic reports

were completed:45

Major

strategic

reports

completed :

44Ibid,

p.

4

5Ibid, p .

e r ~ a i n Intell igence Folios (for Military

Intell igence,

Corps

of

Engineers) - - -

140

Special

Intell igence reports

(for

Engineer

and

Air

Corps

Intell igence) -

4

Commodity

reports (for Air Forces and

Quar.termasters)

-

- -

Bomb Target

Reports

( for

Air Forces) -

TOTAL

- - -

323.

\

308 .

\

·I

·

I

\

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/transiators.44



24

Minor strategic reports completed :

For various Army and Navy

Intell igence

Units -- 100

For Board

of

Economic Warfare- 31 .

TOTAL -

-

131

•

These reports contain approximately 3500 large maps, 1500 small

I

maps, 4000 photographs and figures 140 terrain diagrams '

ar

,d

\

2500 large tab les

of

text to accompany the rna s .

•;

tl

'

In addition to the s trategic reports

prep

in

Washington

I

a considerable volume

of

data was furnished to

tact ical \

planners in the theaters

by

the overseas teams

of

the MGU Th .j

\

primary

function

of

these

teams

was

essentia l ly

\

I

he

same

as

that of the unit

in Washington but thei r

studies 'were made .

in

'

the

f ield

for

Theater

Headquarters

and lower

echelons and thei r

"-.·

work was,

therefore of

a t act ical nature. The size

of

the '

areas studied by the f i ~ l teams covered tens

of

square

miles

compared to the thousands

of

square

miles covered

by the

stra

tegic folios

.

The considerable

contribution

of

the Mi l i tary Geology Unit

was

possible

largely

because i t s s taff

consisted

of

highly com

petent professional scientists who,

because

of

thei r

association

with the U. S. Geological Survey were familiar with the standard

operating

procedures

of

government agencies . Also th i s s taff

had

a t

i t s disposal a l l the

faci l i t ies of

the

U.

S.

Geological

Survey including

i t s

great

wealth of reference material and the

advice

and services

of

other

special is ts within

the Survey.



25

Terrain Intell igence Folios .46

t is

difficul t to

say which

.

one

area of

work

accomplished by the

M U

was

the

most

important

to the war effort . The

Terrain

Intell igence

t

have

the

broadest

application; therefore

, a

contents seems appropriate .

of

their .

I

\

The scope of · the folios differed

considerably depending on

1

the

parameters of the planning level for which

t h

~ were intended

the

amount

of information

available

and the

time available

for

preparation.

At

the

beginning

of

each

folio

are

a summary

of

the

terrain

situation

a

l is t ing of the

principal

sources of information

a

statement

of ·the method

of

compilation

terrain

diagrams

and

the

rel iabi l i ty

of the

data.

The

rel iabi l i ty

rating

expressed

the degree of

confidence

the authors

had

in

their statements .

Terrain diagrams depict the topography in

some

form of

apparent

perspective

and

are

a marked

aid

in

map

interpretation

.

They convey

at

a glance a clearer idea of topography than maps

even after extensive

study.

Terrain

diagrams are

not a

map

substitute as

the effect of

perspective is obtained by distor

t ion

of the

map scale.

A good example

of their use i s

related

in the Allied bombing of the Romanian

oi l

center of Ploesti .

47

The

oi l

center had been so well

camouflaged

that the Allied

46rhid

pp.

310- 320

47

6

MGU p. ·

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/Ploesti.47

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/Folios.46

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/Ploesti.47



26 .

bombers had

failed to find

i t

terrain diagram

showing

the

oi l f ields in relation to the neighboring

land

forms

which

of

course could not be camouflaged was

given to the ai r

forces .

•

On the second attempt the

bombers

located the target

and

de

stroyed

the Ploesti oi l

center .

Figures 2 through 4

depict the construction

of a terrain

diagram

. 48 Figure 2

is

a projection made mechanically with an

isometrograph from a topographic map

as the f i rs t stage

in

preparing

terrain

diagrams.

Figure 3

i s

a terrain

diagram

made by

fi l l ing

in

the

framework

of

the projection

without

consulting the

geologic

map of

the

area or

the

top9graphic map

from which

the

projection was made .

Figure

4 is the finished

· terrain

diagram

made

after

study of

the

geologic and topographic

maps and shows

the

improvement

in definition of the terrain

features

.

In

the

section

of

the

folio on

Terrain Appreciation

a

concise and

complete

picture

of the terrain

i s

presented

which

will assist

the commander to make a more

accurate estimate

of

the

tact ical situation . The approach. to

the

appraisal is

funda

- ·

mentally geologic ; but

soils

and vegetation are also

essential

.

Topographic

maps are

indispensable

to

the appraisal

and would

alone furnish

the

basis

for a

fair ly

good study. However, know

ing

the geology

makes

i t possible

to

interpolate details

of

~ n g i n e e r

In te l

ligence

Guide No . 33,

Preparation

of

Terrain

Diagrams, Army Map

Service

June 1960 ),

P•

3·

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/diagram.48






4

I I

I

\

'

Figure

2 . Projection r o ~ a

topograph

ic map

as the i r s t

stage

in

preparing

a

Terrain Diagr am .

(Maj .

J .

S.

C

Smith, U. S.

Army

Command and General

Staff

College -

Transactions

K A. S. )



28

Figure

3.

Terrain Diagram

made

from

projection

without consulting

geologic or

topo-

graphic

maps.

Maj.

J S.C . Smith, U. S. Army Command and General Staff

College

-

Transactions,

K. A S. )



29

-·

'

Figure

4.

Completed Terrain Diagram after

study of

geologic

and topographic

maps.

(Maj. J S. c. Smith} U. S.

Army Command and General

Staff

College

- Transactions K. A. S.)



30

re l ief

that

are

not

shown on topographic maps , to

estimate

con-

di

tions

on

stream

banks and bottoms and

to predict

ground con

ditions that will affect

movement and

excavation

. Charles B.

Hunt

in

his

t reat ise on

Military

Geology

in the

Berkey Volume

of

the Geological

Society of

America,

presents an

excellent

discussion

on

interpret in

g from geologic maps.·

The area on the

Terrain

pp

reciation map

i s

divided into

terrain units

and

an

accompanying

table describes

the

affect

the

topography

will

have on

the

movement,

cover

, and concealment

of

troops.

Climate and

vegetation are

described

in

general

terms

sufficient to emphasize only

those

elements significant

to

te r.

rain

p p r e i t i o n

Vegetation

i s important from the

standpoint

of

concealment

and

as

an

obstacle to

movement.

In

future wars vegetation will be

of

particular importance be

cause

of obstacles to

movement

that

may

be created

from

tree

blow- down

caused

by

nuclear

weapons . The

duration of the

seasons,

frequency of

freezes

or

of

very

wet

weather

and

seasonal

distribution

of

the

amount of annual rainfall are

the

principal climatic factors . Streams are treated on a

separate sheet

; a

general

summary of their fordabLlity and a

description of

the

valleys through which they flow are included

under terrain

appreciation

.

Details

about

uil t

- up areas

are

included

because of their effect on movement,

observation

cover

and

concealment

.



3

A

separate

section

of

the

folio deals with

problems

o

water supply. This section summarizes -the

quantity

and ~ u a ~

of

the

water

in the area and

includes not o n ~ the existing . .

supplies but also the

potential

sourceS th

at

~ l d

be

d e v e l o ~ ~

by engineer

units

. Recommendations were i n l u ~ e ~ as

to

the \

method most feasible for

obtaining

dependable

supplies of

. t

\

I

potable

water . The water supply sheets prepared

by geologists

proved

so

useful

t hat the

office of

the Surgeon G ~ n e r a l

re

quested that

the Chief

of Engineer

s

authorize

the Military

Geology

Unit

to

extend

water-supply

studies

to

cover

problems

pertaining

to sanitary engineering. Later studies included

a

disc

ussion

of

municipal

water systems.

The problem

of finding water

for

drinking

and for con

struction

increased

greatly in magnitude during World

War I I

.

Water mi

ght have been

a

serious

problem in Sic i ly for in

stance i f geologic

assistance had

not been readily

available .

The

Sicily folio

was

the unit

s

f irs t big job

for

direct

use

in

the

field, and fortunately, there were sufficient data availa

ble

for an exhaustive study. Army personnel

who

were unfamiliar

with geologic

methods

reported with

amazement

that

the

Terrain

Intelligence Folio had unerringly

led them

to

good

water.

Another section

of

the

folio dealing with construction

considered

the

problems of road and a

i rf ie ld

-construction and

maintenance. In road construction such factors as t

he

necessity

for steep grades and

curves,

kind

of

hillside cut, fording or



32

bridging requirements suitabil i ty of

natural formation for

subgrades susceptibility to frost

heaving

and drainage and

subdrainage

problems

were considered .

The selection of

possible

si tes for airf ields is a major

problem

in which

geology

has much to offer

in

the way of

solu

t ion. The

select

i on of actual

si tes

was

possible

where de

ta i led

and accurate geologic

topographic

and soils maps were

avail

able. Aerial

photographs materially assis ted in the

location and selection of

possible

airf ie ld

si tes.

In

select

ing

s i tes

the folio i

ncluded

a discussion of topographic

hazards

in

the

approach zone

grad

i

ng and grubbing

required

,

nature of the ground including i t s

stabi l i ty

the availab i

l i t y

of local construction materials and water and the

accessibi l i ty

of the possible s it es. P1'oblems affect ing runway

construction

were summarized i n much

the

same way as were

the

problems

re-

lated

to

road o n s t r u t o n

n

unexpected

use

was made of the map showing airf ie ld

49

Sl

t

· e

s·

·1

F 1 ·

In

s·

Cl

y , th ·

lness

ln

th

l Cl y lO• ·1 e

rw

1

erlcan 1·

were

being bombed

by planes

from a hidden German airf ie ld which

the Allied

planes

were

unable

to

find

. s a las t resort a i r

in te ll i

gence off icers turned to

the Terrain Intell igence Folio

prepared for

the invasion of Sicily which

had

the possible

airf ie ld

si tes neatly indicated. After checking

the

known

f ields

against possible

si tes the Luftwaffe

hide

- out was pin

pointed

and

destroyed.

49sommers, Saturday

Evening

Post ,

p.

19.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/Foll%E7%AF%AE49

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/Foll%E7%AF%AE49



33 -

Construction

material

maps were

included

in

the

folio with

a table

describing

each type of material and i t s suitabil i ty for

concrete, road metal, bal.l st or

other

construction purposes.

The

distribution

of the various

kinds

of'construction ma

teri ls

in

a

given area

can

be

shown by redrawing

the

geologic map so

as to combine rock

types

that have similar engineering prop-

erties.

A section on

geology

was included with the folio as a

professional guide to

the

civilian geologist accompanying

the

troops

to

the area

of

operations.

Other

special sheets

were

prepared

for

some areas

in

order to

t reat

specialized problems

l ike

t r ff ic bi l i ty

for

tank

units , suitabil i ty of

the

ground

for

use of magnetic mine detectors, suitabil i ty of terrain

for

cave

warfare

, or_

vulnerability of

railroad

tunnels.

A Terra

in

Intelligence Folio may include

the

following

maps: Terrain Diagram, Terrain Appreciation, Rivers, Pictor ial

Views, Routes of Movement Roads

and Railroads),

Water

Supply,

Airf ield Sites ,

Soils,

Construction Materials, F u e ~ s Vegetation,

Climate, and Geology.

Several references have been

ma

de previously to

the Terrain

Intelligence Folio on Eastern Sicily. The Unit was al.lot ted

only

lO

days to make

the

study and assemble t

in

form suitable

for printing.5° This report

covered

6000

square miles

and was

5 unt, Military Geology,

p.

308.



assembled in 16

quadrangles

on a

scale of

1 : 100

,000

. t

included

data on most subjects normal ly reported on

in

terrain

intell igence

studies and included 57 maps 2 te r ra in diagrams 6 large

tables

of text ,

and

9 photographic

views.

This report proved

exceed

ingly

valuable both in

planning

and

executing mili tary

operations

in

spite

of

the

handicap of being

prepared

so hasti ly . Some of

the maps of

the

folio were reproduced by

f ie ld

units and

issued

to

troops . The

off ic ia l

critique on the

engineering phases

of

the operation states tha t these maps proved to

be

accurate and

complete,

were

a t

times

indispensable,

and

in

many

cases

pos-

sessed more information than the natives themselves. 5

1

Traff icabil i ty studies . As mechanized forces came to be

used in

increasing

numbers during

the war,

a

need

arose for

more exact,

advance

information on ·a l l features

f the

te r ra in

that would

affect

movement across country.5

2

To meet th is

need, one

phase

of

terrain

appreciation was expanded

into

·

t raff icabi l i ty

studies

which show

in

detai l the conditions

that affect the t ravel of tracked vehicles. These -studies

present in deta i l

the

effects of soil , slope, .

vegetation,

drain-

age,

weather,

and

natural

or man -made obstacles

on

movement .

These studies

offer an

outstanding

i l lustrat ion

of

the

val

ue

of cooperation between geologists and soil scientis ts .

5

1

rbid, p. 309.

5

2

MGU p. 13.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/country.52





35

The t raff icabi l i ty studies used

the

same sources of data

as terrain appreciation

.

Detailed information

on

soils

was

desired in

prepar

i ng

these studies

but

was

often lacking

.

This

difficul ty

was well met however by

the

soils

sc

ie

nt i s t

.

He could predict with

a

great

deal

of accuracy

the

soi l type

in

a given

area

from

the dat

a

supplied

by

the geologist

on

l i thology and topog

rap

hy

toget

h

er with information

on

climate

and

vegetation

.

Trafficability

studies

played

a

very

important

part

i n

the

f inal

push

into

Germany and were

the basis for

another

rush

job

by

the

Military Geology

Unit in

January 1945.

On

January 16 1945 the uni t

received

a

request ~ o

the Euro-

pean Theater of Operations asking for

l/100

000

t raff icabi l i ty

maps

covering

65

quadrangles in

Germany

with the f i r s t 18 to

be delivered in Paris

on

January

21 . Only

five days

were

available

to

make

the studies

prepare

the

copy

and

deliver

t

to the Theat

er. ga in

an almost

impossible

task was

performed by the unit and delivery

was

made

on

time.

Conclusions

.

During

World

War geology gained

a

permanent pos

i

t ion

as an important scientif ic

implement both

in

the

planning

and the conduct

of m il i tary operations by the United

States

rmy

.

This

advancement

of

geology in military science

was

due

to

the increased appreciation

on

the part

of our military

leaders and scient ists a l i

ke

as

to

the usefulness

of geology



36

in the solution

of

a large variety of practical problems . Yne

civil ian

make

-up of

the

Military Geology

Unit

does not appear

to have been a great handicap to

the

successful completion of

i t s mission . H ~ w e v e r a basic

understanding of military

sci

ence and

military

engineering problems by the members of i t s

s taff would have

faci l i tated the

work of

the unit.

From our

wartime

experience evolved, however, a fundamental

requirement

for geologically trained

officers

in the Corps of Engineers

to

give military direction to

our

civil ian

military geology

organization.

Also

i t

was made

apparent

that

a

regular

Engineer Table of Organization

and Equipment Unit which

would

include

a military geologist should

be

organized within

the

Army structure to serve in the Theater of Operations to

provide

geologic

services .

:r ITLITARY GEOLOGY IN THE

UNITED

STATES RMY

AFTER

WORLD W R I I TO THE

PRESENT

The Challenge.

The

application of geology to

military

problems

was

not

forgotten after World War I I as i t was during the period fol

lowing World War I There have been major organizational

changes

in our military structure

but the

basic

mi

l i tary

functions

have remained

- including

the

function of

provid

ing

geologic information

for

planning

and

operations

.

In

fact

our

need for geologic services is more pronounced due

to

the

increas

ed

scope of our

overseas

deployments

since

World

War I I



37

United States overseas commitments since World War I I have

included in addition to those land areas with

which

vr

were

already

familiar

new

and

relatively

unknown

areas

.

e are

•

faced

with an

aggressor

who

strikes

in unexpected places taking

advantage of

every

opportunity to subvert

and

convert

weak

or

faltering

nations into

the

communist sphere of influence. e

have been confronted

with

this enemy in Korea Viet Nam Laos

Cuba, Berlin

the

Congo,

Greece and Venezuela

-

just

to

mention

a few of the locales involved.

To

be able to counteract

the

communist

influence

we

must

study

countries

which

may

be

af

fected and among the knowledge which we must

possess

i s

the

geology of the

areas

. Another aspect of our commitments

is

that in

the

not too distant future our involvements

will

no

longer be earthbound.

As the

f i r s t stepping stone into outer

space the National Aeronautics and Space Administration i s

feverishly working toward

our f i r s t manned

space f l ight

to

the

moon. The

U.

S. Geological Survey has already prepared

a geologic map of the moon for the U. S.

Army

Corps of En

gineers who

are

planning

for

the construction of shelters

and for obtaining water

on the

moon for

our

space

men.

Useful Aspects

of

Geology.

In our experiences gained in both World War I and World

War I I we

have been

able to clearly

identify

those

aspects

of

geology which are most

useful

to

military

planning

and

operations and those military problems

which

can

best

be



handled .by

geologists

. The mili tary

problems

involved fa l l

general

l y

into

five categories:

l) strategic te r ra in

in te l l i

gence,

2)

tact ical and combat terrain i n t e l l i g ~ n c e 3) water

supply,

4) general

construction, and )) special problems.53

The t i t l e ,

scope

and extent of the studies which include

geolog

ic tnformation

will

vary, depending on the

level

of

planning

and type of operations.

Geologic

information

is

in -

eluded in National Intell igence Surveys Strategic

Engineering

Studies, Area

Analyses, Cross

Country Movement Studies, Engineer

ing

Geology

Studies,

and

Intelligence

Estimates

-

just

to

men

t ion

a few of the

formats

.

Strategic te r ra in intell igence

. In the f ield

of strategic

in te l li gence, which i s a

basic requirement

for

policy planning

a t the

highest

leve l that par t of

the

broader

f ie ld

of geo

graphical

intell igence

i ch comes under terrain

intell igence,

has

been

provided almost exclusively by

geologist

and al l ied

earth science specialis ts . Subjects covered by strategic te r

tain in tell

igence

based on

exist ing

maps reports

photographs,

and other recorded

information

which are made

the topics of

broad general studies are

included in

the

following

outline :

1. Terrain

Appreciation

in

l ight of climate,

vegetation,

land use, e tc . ) .

a) Analysis and classif ication of topography.

53Fox Preliminary Study for the Chief of

Engineers,

10- 15 .

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/handled.by



http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/problems.53


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/problems.53



39 .

b) Analysis

and

class if icat ion

of

surface

and

near

-

surface formations soils , cinders, rock, etc.

.

c) Study

of r ivers .

d) Study

of

coasts to determine su i tab i l i ty for

amphibious operations.

2 . Water

Supply Studies

.

3. Construction Possibil i t ies .

4.

Basic Data

wh

ich

includes

terrain diagrams, and special

maps on

Topography,

Geology

Soils, Trafficability, Transport

routes,

Vegetation,

and Others

.

Tactical

and combat

terrain intell igence.

Tactical and

combat

terrain intell igence

is a

basic requirement for planning

and operating i n

an

active

theater

. The subjects

covered

may

include any or

a l l

of the subjects ·

l i s ted

above under strategic

te rr ain

intell igence,

depending on

the nature

of the

theater

and

i t s l ines of

communication. The intell igence

provided will

contain

much greate r detai l

than

the

st rategic inte

l

ligence

re -

ports

and

cover

much smaller areas. Aerial photography and

ground reconnaissance play an

important part in

these studies.

Combat

intell igence further requires an estimate

of

the enemies

capabilities

and

methods for using terrain. I t

may be

expected

that enemy forces

will

consult mi

l i tary

geol

ogists

before

oc -

cupying positions

in

the f ield .

ome countries use

geologic

features

instinctively, l ike the Japanese who turned to caves

during

World War I I .

Prepared

enemy

positions will

be

influenced



4

by

geologic

features requiring

geolo

g

ic counterintelligence to

determine his most

l ikely

dispositions .

Water supply. In both

world

wars one

of

the most important

services rendered by geologists was locating sources

of potable

water

for

our troops

in the

f ield

. Furnishing an

adequate

water supply is

always a major

responsibility of

the

Engineers

and

in

most

regions

the

water

supply provided for

civi l ian

consumption i s not sufficient for military needs . When

wa

t

er

cannot be obtained from

surface

sources

i t

is a primary

duty

.

·

of

the geologist

to

locate

sources

of

ground

water

from sub-

surface water bearing

s t rata

that

can

be obtained t feasible

depths from new wells and bore

holes

.

Our

military forces

presently deployed overseas have

won

much

favorable comment in

helping certain

emerging

nations

develop sources of

potable

water •

In

areas l ike

the Greenland ice .cap unique methods

have

been devised to

pro

vi

de

water

.

One of the

most

productive

methods is to dri l l many feet into the ice cap and use steam

to

melt

the

ice . The resultant water is then pumped to the

surface

for

subsequent use

. The

water obtained

is

reported to

be as

pure

as dist i l led water purchased from

the

corner drug

store .

General construction. Construction problems which

can

best be handled by military geologists

include

1. The selection

of favorable

sites for

airf ields

.



4l -

2 . The

selection

of favorable routes

of

communication

(roads and r i l ways).

'

3·

The location

of

sheltered harbors and morrings •

4.

The inspection

of

mines and the

selection of other

favorable

si tes

for the construction

of subsurface

structures

for

hangers, munition dumps) storage, etc .

5.

The selection

of

favorable si tes for fort if icat ions ,

gun emplacements, and other heavy structures .

6. The

location and

rehabilitation

of

existing .

quarries,

and

the

location

and

development

of

accessible

new

deposits

of

building stone, gravel,

road

metal, and sand for

use in

general

construction work .

7. The study

of

drainage problems with a view to the con-

struction

of

dams, levees, and canals for the purpose

of

either

drainage

or

flooding to create obstacles.

8pecial

problems

.

Military

geologists

are

frequently

called in

as

consultants on a

variety of

engineering and scien-

t i f i c

problems

which affect

military operations.

ome of

these

special

problems include

the

following

:

1. Reports on the

dist r ibut ion

and

effect of magnetic

ironbearing

rocks on compasses and other direction finding

stations, radio propagation, mine d e ~ e c t i n g etc .

2. Selection

of key

mineral and fuel oi l production cen-

te rs in

enemy

te r r i tory

which

are vulnerable

to bombing.

3. Evaluation of mineral and oi l deposits

in

occupied

te r r i tory which may be

of

use to occupying forces.



42

4.

The

pinpointing

of bombing targets

(tunnels,

deep

road

cuts, dams,

etc

. ) which make enemy l ines of communication vul

nerable to destruction by landslides

or floods.

5· Selection of analagous

areas '

for

pre

- invasion t rain

ing

and

tes t ing of equipment.

6. Reports on volcanic

and

earthquake dangers pertaining

to the location, construction

or

protection

of

bases.

7·

The study

of

permafrost, and

i t s bearing

on engineering

construction in polar regions.

Post

host i l i ty

reconstruction (Military

Government).

Mili

tary

geologists have contributed immeasura ::>ly

in

t he reconstruc

t ion .

of

defeated nations by making surveys for, acting

as

con

sultants in ,

and directing the development of new and the rehabil

i ta t ion

of

old mineral industries and construction programs .

They

have

also worked closely with indigenous

geologists

in

re-

habil i ta t ing

the i r professional

act iv i t ies .

Current Organization

for Military

Geology.

The civil ian

Military

Geology

Unit

which

provided

the

Army

with

geologic

services during World

Wa

r

i s

continuing to

provide

those

services. In

addition,

the recommendation

that

the

Army have organic units with

the

capabili ty of providing

geologic services i n the f ield

has resulted in

the organization

of

such a unit .

Mi

l i tary Geology Branch . The Military Geology

Unit

which

saw service

in

World

Har

has

continued

.to work in the post

war years on geologic

studies

for the

Army

.

Some

of

the

studies



prepared by the unit

during

the war were hampered

by

shortcomings

in

geologic and so.i l s

data in

foreign

areas

especially some of

the

areas in

the

Pacific

.

Immediately

after the war the

overseas

teams

in occupied areas

conducted field sur.veys

to evaluate the

accuracy

of

the

studies

prepared by the

unit.

n

example of thiS type of work was the Report

of Recon-

naissance of Coronet Operation

Area,

1-2

March

1946.54

One

year

after

Operation Coronet,

11

the code

name

for

the

invasion

of

Japan, was to have taken

place,

a reconnaissance

of

the

proposed

landing

beaches

was made.

~ n s

reconnaissance

was

to

compare

the intell igence

upon

which

plans

for

the

landings

were

based with actual conditions vThich would

have

confron:ted

tb e

invasion

forces . t was found that the sand on one of the

beaches contained sufficient magnetite to destroy the

effec

tiveness of magnetic mine detectors . This characteristic had

not been mentioned

in

the

study

. I t was

further

found

that

on

another

of

the beaches the

gra

in size

and

moisture content

of

the sand would have made vehicular t raff ic from the water 's

·edg

e to the

f i r s t road

i

nland

difficul t or

impossible.

I n September 1948, as the result

of

a reorganization

within the

U

S. Geological Survey,_ the Military Geology Uni t

was

upgraded

to

section

status

and

a few months l a te r V as

ele

vated to branch level . The

official

name is now the Military

, Report of Reconnaissance of

Coronet

Operation

Area,

1-2 March 1946.

(Office

of the

Engineer, General

Headquarters

Far East Command . )

54



44

Geology Branch. The current organization

of

the Military Geology

Branch

includes

g e o l o g ~ s t s and botanists and in

addition

soils

'

scientists and climatologists whose services obtained under

contractual arrangement

with the

e p a r t ~ e n t

of Agriculture . A

special

section

has been

established

for

studies

of terra i n

and

permafrost in Alaska . In addition consulting services for the

Army in the Pacific

area and in

Europe are

s t i l l

being provided.

Terrain detachment. The

Army has organized

a terrain

de

tachment

under Table

of

Organization 5-500 C which

includes

a

geologist

with

the rank

of

major.

Several

of

these

detachments

are presently

operating

in the

Far East and

in

Europe.

I t

is

intended

that

these

detachments

perform many

of

the servi ces

that were provided by the

overseas

teams from the Military

Geology Un t during World

War

I I

Military

Geology

Training .

Since

World War

I I

the

t rain

i

ng

of mili tary personnel

in

the applications

of

geology to m il i tary

problems

has been

increased

.

The U. S. Army Engineer School at

Fort

Belvoir Virgini a

provides a

course

in Military Geology as part

of

the program

of

ins tructi on

of

the Engineer Officers Advanced Course . The

bas

i s

of

this

instruction

i s

Army Technical Manual T 5-545,

Geology

and I t s

Military Applications which was prepared for

the Army by the Military Geology Branch of the U. S. Geological

Survey.



As

previous

l y

mentioned

the

Un

i ted States Military Academy

was one

of our f i r s t

educational

ins t i

t

utions to provide

a

c

ourse

i n geology; but

that

course

wh

i ch was

discontinued in

1917,

was primarily

cultural

. From

then unt i l about 196 there

was very l i t t l e mention

of

geology

in

the

curr

i cu l um t the

Academy

except

for guest

lecturer

presentations . In 196 there

was a broad

curriculum re

- ev al

uation

t

the

Academy which re

sulted in

new

subjects such as

physical

geography world

geog

raphy

,

astronomy

and

astronautics being

added

to the curriculum

.

The Academy

now

has

a 30

hour course

in

physical

geogr

aphy

which

includes geology and related earth sciences . The applications

of these sciences to military probl ems is stressed.

Many Corps

of

Engineers officers pursue graduate

studies

t civi

l

ian col

l

eges

and un i vers i t ies

for the purpose

of

ob

taining advanced degrees

. Geology is among

the subjects studied

t s9me

of

these insti tutions

which

further increases the Army s

base of

geologic

know

l edge. Many more

office

r s have become

aware

of

how

the applicatio

n of geology

can

be a

valuable aid

in solving certain

of

our

mil

i tary

problems.

CONCIDSION

Geology

has

been firmly established

as

a

usefu

l

tool

in

providing superior i

nformation

concerning the

terrain

on which

military operations are conducted and

in

solvi ng numerous

pr

oblems

of

mili tary planners in wh

i ch a technical knowledge

of

the earth is required . Although the usefulness

of

geology

was made apparent i n

the

Fi r s t r ld War, i t was necessary to



6

relearn the

lesson

during

World

War I I

The

reliance

on a

civil ian organization to provide the Army with the greatest

portion

of

the geologic information required has

not

been

any

great h

inderance in the provision

of

th is servi

ce but empha

sizes the feas ib i l i ty

of

cooperation between the various

governmental

agencies.

I t is

expected

that

th is type of

_

·cooperation wil l further increase with the

application

of

nu

cle

ar

power and weapons and

our

advancements

into space.

The requirement for the

Army

to have

organic uni ts

capable of

providing geologic

services

in

th

e

f ield

is

also

appare

nt

and

such units have been

organized

and are presently operating

in

the

f ield .

The

Army has also emphasized the

·

need for geologic t rain

-

in

g

of

i t s personnel

not

only in i t s own

mi l

i tary schools but

in

civil ian

ins t i tut ions as well.

A

course in Military

Geology,

offered as

a

part

of

the regular undergraduate instruction

open

to a l l

geo

logy

students

in our leading

universi t ies

would

further extend the

awa

reness in th is

important

f ield . A

greater

understanding on the part

of

geologists and military

men

alike will

go

fa

r

in

improving

future

applications of

g

eolo

gy to the

military

science . Only the

his to

ry

of

the

future

can re la te

the as yet unforeseen

applications

of

geol

ogy to the military

science.

'

\



47

LITERATURE

CITED

Brooks, A.

H.,

The Use

of

Geology on t he Western Front , U.

s.

Geol. Survey

,

Prof. Paper

128-D, September 1920) .

Cross, Whitman, Geology In The World \.Jar and After, Geol. Soc .

m

. ,

Bull

. ,

Vol.

30, pp. 165-188, March 31, 1919).

Fox, Ernest F. , The Use of

Military

Geologists in the Corps

of

Engineers,

Preliminary

Study for the Chief of Engineers,

June 1949).

Hunt, C.

B.,

Military Geology, Geol . Soc. Am., Engr . Geo . ;

Berkey Vol . , 1950).

Sommers, Martin, The

Army

s Pet Prophets, Saturday Evening Post,

March 24,

1945).

Whitmore, F. C. , r . , M l i t a ry Geology, The Military Engineer,

Yol.

XLVI,

No . 3;Ll, May -

June

1954) .

The Military

Geology Unit,

U.

S. Geological Survey

and

Corps_of Engineers U. S. Army, In

formal

statement prepared

by members of the s taff of MGU for distribution a t the

Pittsburg meeting of

Geol.

Soc. Am., 1945).



8

Preparation of Terrain Diagrams, (Engineer Intelligence

Guide No. 33, Army

Map

Service, June 1960) .

, Report of Reconnaissance of Coronet Operation Area

1-2 March 1946, (Office of the

Engineer, General Headquarters,

Far East Command).

Military Applications Geology

Documents

Transcript of Military Applications Geology