MILITARY GEOGRAPHY
    FOR PROFESSIONALS AND THE PUBLIC

PREFACE

A major American news magazine in the spring of 1997 included an article about the effects of new technology on national defense. It observed that "In future wars, knowledge may be more important than terrain," but geography still exerts enormous influence on military operations, war, and security as it has throughout history. Great commanders, past and present, understand that topography, weather, and climate not only affect strategies but battle and support plans. History in fact is replete with enormous penalties incurred by those who paid too little attention to geographic factors.

Military commanders in the "Information Age" will surely receive data more rapidly and consequently know more than their predecessors about battlefield situations. Information technologies may help military planners and operators better understand geographic factors-- they may even disprove Clausewitz's contention that "most intelligence is false"--but other words he wrote on that subject are likely to endure: "geography and the character of the ground bear a close and ever-present relation to warfare. They have a decisive influence on the engagement, both as to its course and to its planning and execution."

Geographic influences were omnipresent during my service as an enlisted soldier in the Tunisian desert fighting of 1942-43, as a junior officer in the Italian mountains 1943-45, and many years later (1966-67) as a battalion commander in the totally different terrain of the War Zone C jungles in Vietnam. Those experiences, which were very personal, had a great deal to do with the health and comfort of my comrades and myself; they affected our casualty rates and often posed more formidable challenges than the enemies we faced. I often wondered if we were "victims" of geography or "victims" of the higher command's appreciation for geography.

Those early lessons from geography's "school of hard knocks" were helpful later, when I held positions of greater authority for planning and directing military operations in widely varied geographic circumstances, first as a new brigadier in Laos in 1972-73, then as Commander of the United Nations Command in Korea, 1976-79, and finally as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A lot of work and study nevertheless was required by me and my staff officers before we could satisfactorily integrate geography's influence on land, sea, and air operations. Despite our efforts, I suspect that many of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who implemented our plans sometimes felt "victimized" by geography or our lack of appreciation for it, just as I felt so many years earlier.

The Armed Forces of the United States have been, and will continue to be, committed to every conceivable type of military operation in every conceivable geographic environment. Whether for war-fighting, war-preventing, or peacekeeping operations, they must prepare to excel wherever they are sent--all too commonly on short notice. Military Geography for Professionals and the Public, a textbook and handbook written in simple, straightforward terms that tie relevant factors together in a fashion understandable to lay readers as well as the uniformed professionals of all military services, is a rare, if not unique, survey of relationships between geography and military affairs. It ought to be required reading for policymakers, military planners, commanders, and staff officers at all levels. It also will be a very useful reference for political leaders, educators, members of the news media, and concerned citizens in the "Information age." I wish it had been in my knapsack for the past 55 years.

                                                            JOHN W. VESSEY, JR.  
                                                            General, U.S. Army (Ret.)
                                                            Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1982-1985