MILITARY GEOGRAPHY AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN STAFF

PLANNING

Introduction

One of the main activities of the General Staff officers is the task of planning, the
result of which allows the Commander to make decisions and, based on this, the
subsequent development of operational plans that the respective forces will carry
out in the different situations that arise. .

For the technical and efficient fulfillment of this planning, it is necessary that the
officers and their participating assistants be nourished by a series of sciences that
provide different valuable elements and that will finally produce a useful product of
an adequate qualitative degree. One of these sciences that has accompanied the
high command of the forces since its beginnings and that makes up that group of
military sciences essential in the art of War has been Military Geography.

Military Geography and Intelligence

Military Geography is a branch of general Geography that specializes in the

geographical analysis of an area, sector or territory according to the requirements
requested by the commands to be able to establish through different procedures
and with the respective General Staff planning, the advantages or disadvantages
of the terrain that arise and to be able to take advantage of them, avoid them or
solve them as the case may be, in the military operations to be carried out.

Normally, the work of Military Geography is associated in the military field with that
of the intelligence officer of the General Staff at the different hierarchical levels,
since it is he who formulates the Battlefield Intelligence Preparation-PICB at the
tactical level, the Preparation Intelligence of the Field of Operations-PICAO at the
operational level and the Intelligence Preparation of the Military Strategic Field-
PECEM at the strategic level. To prepare these procedures, you must be supplied
with the data provided by Combat Intelligence, responsible for knowing two
transcendental aspects for the planning and conduct of operations: Enemy and
Zone of Operations. Within the latter, there is properly processed information about
the terrain and meteorological conditions.

The terrain and military geographical study

The terrain gives the war a special character. Thus, war in mountainous areas is
very different from that which takes place on the plains or in southern areas; In
each of them the terrain shows its powerful influence from which no army can
become independent. Let's look at the clear military historical example of the
development of the Second World War: The German invasion of Belgium, a flat
territory, is far from resembling the Italian offensive on its border with Austria; The
German offensive advanced easily and quickly in Poland and on the other hand the
Russian offensive, considered formidable, was stopped in the Carpathians.

In the study of the terrain through Military Geography, it is necessary to analyze

under what conditions it can favor or hinder the execution of the mission entrusted
to the forces. Know with certainty which permits movement, concealment, the use
of fire, the combined action of weapons, observation, logistical actions such as
transportation, supplies and evacuations; and immediately it will be necessary to
determine the favorable or adverse possibilities that the terrain offers to the enemy.
We then define the military geographical study as: " An orderly and methodical
study that allows us to define, with a degree of precision, the influence in favor or
against that geographical factors will exert on military activities, both isolated and
jointly. " The geographical factors to which the concept refers are those that
constitute a set of elements that General Geography analyzes such as geophysical
factors (morphology, hydrology, vegetation, climate, etc.), geohuman factors
(populations, urban areas, rural areas ), the geoeconomic factors (livestock,
agriculture, mining, industry, etc.), the spatial relationships (external geographical
manifestations) and from which aspects of military interest are deduced.

The importance of studying the terrain is due to the fact that this is a determining
element of the maneuver and is what generally dictates the choice of the main
effort zone. Regarding this choice, the most important element of assessment
almost always consists of the greater or lesser ease that the terrain offers for good
support of the various forces such as mechanized, aviation or artillery. The
experience of war from a military historical analysis shows that attacks achieve
success, in most cases, in parts of the terrain that have been duly studied and
where adequate observation can be counted on. The terrain is so important that it
is the imperative obligation of the operational level Commander to personally carry
out the reconnaissance in which the actions can be carried out. This applies from
ancient times to the present as an absolute dogma at all levels of command. Let us
remember the case of the Macedonians before their confrontation with the
Persians in Gaugamela, in which the previous night reconnaissance of those plains
by Alexander himself allowed him to design a strategy that is remembered as a
tactical masterpiece of military history.

Lieutenant said Crl Julio Cesar Guerrero in his book “Belicology” that “ Any terrain
is modified for three reasons:

1. Floor configuration

2. Due to natural obstacles, jungles, lakes, etc. and

3. For the modifications that progress has introduced.”

Without a doubt, these reasons remain fully valid and lead to the understanding
that the more the characters are accentuated, the greater the influence the terrain
exerts on military action. In military geographical study we learn to take into
account that the terrain, due to its shape, quality, vegetation and other
characteristics, sets the defined limits to mechanization.

Military Geography and its current events

It is of utmost importance in Military Geography to have the most up-to-date

cartography possible. The chart is the terrestrial graphical representation that
shows topographic features in sufficient detail for use by forces. Today, many of
the world's military powers have technological tools such as satellites and UAVs
that allow them to permanently renew their cartography, in addition to obtaining
highly accurate meteorological information, which facilitates strategic decision-
making if necessary.

In current conflicts in which the battlefields are in many cases cities, military
geographical study is much more complex because they are urban areas full of
artificial structures and man-made land transformations. As has been seen in the
cases of the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq, even with the latest
technological advances in the field, the difficulty of carrying out work prior to
military operations in urban areas where the population is hostile, causes in almost
all cases, collateral damage that usually has greater negative repercussions with
respect to social adhesion compared to non-local regular forces.

Conclusion

Finally, it is understood that Military Geography constitutes a vital source for

military sciences, since it is interrelated with practically all of them. In some cases
supplying it with data and information and in others complementing it. We had
already mentioned strategy, intelligence and cartography, there are others such as
military topography, geopolitics, Military History and many more that make this
valuable branch of general geography a permanent and crucial scientific influence
for armies. modern.

Bibliography

Cycle of Conferences in the Military Circle of Peru (1937). Officer's Military Library
No. 17. Printing and Bookstore of the Military Cabinet Ministry of Defense Lima-
Peru

Clement, P. (1919) “Military Conferences”. Printing press of the General Staff of

the Army. Lima Peru

Furrer, M. (2008) “Thesis for obtaining a Bachelor's degree in political geography”

University of Oklahoma - USA
Guerrero, J (1943) “Warfare. A broad look at total war” Typographic Company
“Salas e Hijos”. Lima Peru

Herrero, C (2002) “Military Geography in Spain (1819-1936): an applied science”

University publishing group. Madrid Spain.

Pontillo, M (2002) “Importance of Military Geography in the decision making of

military leaders.” Presentation by Lt. Crl ECH Mauricio Pontillo in El Salvador.