Topography troop

Beret badge of the decommissioned topography troops and most army uniforms in the geographic information system of the Bundeswehr

The topography troop was a branch of the army of the Bundeswehr. Technically, the topography troop was part of the armed forces joint military geographic service . The main task was the procurement and processing of information about the terrain and space and the appropriate supply of the troops with the geographic information obtained .

The topography troop was dissolved by 2004. Personnel and equipment were used in the armed forces base to set up the geographic information service of the Bundeswehr . Most of the army uniforms in the Bundeswehr's geographic information system continue to wear berets , troop badges and the weapon color of the decommissioned topography troops . In this military geographic specialist service of the Bundeswehr, above all in the Center for Geoinformation of the Bundeswehr , most of the tasks of the topography troops are continued.

assignment

In order to plan and carry out troop movements and deployment of own troops, as well as to classify those of the enemy, as well as to direct extensive fire from their own positions , in addition to the reconnaissance, precise knowledge of the topography of the operational area for the army was essential. The main task of the topography troops was a sub-area of military geography , namely the procurement and processing of information about terrain and space and the appropriate supply of the troops with the geographic information obtained . The troops created maps or plans using the methods of surveying and distributed them to the troops after they had been copied. Current aerial or satellite images were provided by the reconnaissance , measured by the topography troops and prepared for the needs of the troops. As a result of the advances in networked warfare , geographic information has recently been increasingly made available digitally via geographic information systems and sometimes fed directly into digital command and control systems . Due to the foreign missions of the German Armed Forces , the creation and provision of information about the country became increasingly important. The topography team worked with the civil surveying offices to create and correct civil maps.

history

When the Bundeswehr was set up, fully mobile topography batteries were set up at the level of the corps , which were initially assigned to the artillery troops . The assignment to the artillery, which had a special need for reliable maps for the fire control of their weapon systems, was similar to the assignment of the map and surveying troops of the Wehrmacht , which were also assigned to the artillery. From a technical point of view, military geographic forces from all branches of the Bundeswehr formed the cross-armed forces military geographic service . The topography troops have always been one of the smallest branches of the army; at last it consisted of only around 1,100 soldiers and civilian employees.

Subordinate to the batteries of the corps was a survey, an image measurement and a cartography train, each of which was responsible for the tasks of surveying, aerial photo measurements and aerial photo plans, as well as map creation and map reproduction. In 1963 the batteries also received a card storage train. One reason for this was that the provision of the maps, which were now available nationwide, came to the fore in the 1960s compared to the tasks in surveying. At the same time, the topography troops were assigned to the command troops in the 1970s and separated from the artillery troops. In 1979, the topography troops, along with most of the other branches of the army, received the beret with their branch-specific beret badge . In 1981 the topography batteries were transferred to the territorial army . There they were transformed into rather stationary units whose main task was surveying, cartography, map storage, map provision, map duplication and map correction, because the full mobility of corps batteries had proven to be an obstacle for these tasks . The image measurement train was omitted. In the field army , small, mobile topographic trains were planned at the corps level as compensation. In order to meet the increasing demand of modern weapon systems for military geographic data, in 1993 the staffs subordinate to the corps (at that time merged division / military area commands ) received topographic features, which were soon afterwards reclassified to military geographical locations in each military area.

In the course of reunification , the topography troop worked together with civil authorities on maps for the countries that had joined . New challenges arose from the Bundeswehr's missions abroad in the Balkans and Afghanistan, where the topography troops now increasingly focus on regional studies .

resolution

In 2002 it was decided to merge the military geographic service with the geophysical advisory service of the Bundeswehr to form the geoinformation service of the Bundeswehr . The approximately 1,100 soldiers and civilian employees of the topography troops of the army were transferred to the Office for Military Geosystems at the end of 2001 . After the merger, the Bundeswehr Office for Geographic Information , which was now part of the newly established armed forces base , emerged from the Office for Military Geosciences . Since almost all soldiers and facilities of the topography troops had now switched to the armed forces base and were organizationally and technically connected with the forces of the other branches of the armed forces, the topography troops in the army were solemnly decommissioned in 2002 at the artillery school in Idar-Oberstein by the general of the artillery and the remaining departments in the army dissolved. The military branch was completely dissolved by May 26, 2004.

education

The course-related and troop-specific training essentially took place at the artillery school . The 7th and 8th inspections were ultimately responsible for training. A department of the further development group was responsible for the further development of the topography team. The topography troops never had their own military school .

The high demand of the topography team for skilled workers could not be met by recruiting appropriately (pre-) trained civilians , so that the topography team had to train surveyors , map technicians , screen printers , reprophotographers , photo lab technicians , offset copiers , reprographers , etc. themselves. Far more than other branches of the armed forces, the topography troops relied on civilian employees to carry out their tasks.

organization

classification

The topography troops were last assigned to the command troops of the army .

The other two branches of the armed forces also had comparable forces. The navy established the career path of officers of the military geographic service for the management personnel, who were identified by a corresponding career badge . These forces, however, did not belong to a type of service (or service area ) and were also not part of the topography force, which only included soldiers of the army. Technically, all forces belonged to the Military Geographic Service , which as a specialist service coordinated the joint management and further development of these forces on a technical level.

Troops

→ Main article : List of units of the topography troops of the Army of the Bundeswehr

The topography troops last consisted of the following troops in 2002:

	designation	place	Association	comment
	Topography battery 400	Prenzlau
	Topography battery 800	Muenster
	Topography battery 850	Ulm
	Topography battery 900	Koblenz
	Eurocorps topography train	Strasbourg	Eurocorps	Field army , French garrison
	Military Geostelle WB I	Kiel	Military District Command I	Territorial Army
	Military Geostelle WB II	Hanover	Military District Command II	Territorial Army
	Military Geostelle WB III	Dusseldorf	Military District Command III	Territorial Army
	Military Geostelle WB IV	Mainz	Military District Command IV	Territorial Army
	Military Geostelle WB V	Stuttgart	Military area command V	Territorial Army
	Military Geostelle WB VI	Munich	Military District Command VI	Territorial Army
	Military Geostelle WB VII	Leipzig	Military District Command VII	Territorial Army

uniform

Because of their origins from the artillery troops, the artillery troops and the topography troops shared the crimson color of the weapon and the coral color of the beret . However, the topography troops had their own beret badge . In the wreath of oak leaves , the beret badge stylized a compass over a globe with the inscription "GEO". Specialists in the topography troops could often also be identified using the "Military Geographical Personnel" job badge.

In accordance with the Central Service Regulations (ZDv) 37/10 “Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr”, the topography troop continues to exist with regard to uniform regulations. Army uniform wearers or troop units from the previous topography troops continue to wear the tried and tested beret and carry on their weapon color. Essentially, this affects the majority of those wearing army uniforms at the Bundeswehr Center for Geographic Information .

• 

  Beret badge

• 

  Collar Tabs

• 

  Job badge "Geoinformation staff"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Colonel a. D. Jochen Landmann: Topography Troop 1957 to 2003 . In memory of a branch of the army. In: Head of Geoinformation Service of the Bundeswehr (Ed.): GeoINFO Forum. Communications from the Bundeswehr's geographic information service . Born in 2013, No. 2 . Euskirchen 2013, p. 17–19 ( kommando.streitkraeftebasis.de [PDF; accessed on September 9, 2014]).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Delivery of ZDv 37/10 with attachments. In: FragDenStaat.de. Open Knowledge Foundation Germany , April 13, 2014, accessed on August 4, 2014 (request in accordance with IFG / UIG / VIG . The BMVg's response includes ZDv 37/10 as of January 27, 2014 and additions 01 / - and 02 / 2014).  In detail:
   Hartmut Bagger , Headquarters of the Armed Forces I 3, Federal Ministry of Defense , SKA DvZentraleBw (Ed.): ZDv 37/10. Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr . July 1996. Reprint from October 2008. DSK F110100003. Bonn, Euskirchen January 27, 2014, p. 293 ( fragdenstaat.de [PDF; 3.1 MB ; accessed on August 4, 2014] Reprint October 2008 replaces first edition from July 1996; last changed on January 27, 2014 (change no. 7) by SKA DvZentraleBw). Inner Guidance Center . Department of Law and Military Order (Ed.): Supplement / amendment 01/2014 to ZDv 37/10 . Koblenz January 28, 2014, p.
    16 ( fragdenstaat.de [PDF; 3.1 MB ; accessed on August 4, 2014]). Inner Guidance Center. Department of Law and Military Order (Ed.): Addition / amendment 02/2014 to ZDv 37/10 . Koblenz April 28, 2014, p.
    30 ( fragdenstaat.de [PDF; 3.1 MB ; accessed on August 4, 2014]).
3. ↑ On wearing, especially the color of the flag ribbon of the troop flag and the strands of the photos from Stephan Albrecht: New troop flag for the Center for Geoinformation. In: streitkraeftebasis.de. Federal Ministry of Defense , Head of the Press and Information Staff , Press and Information Center of the Armed Forces Base , March 27, 2014, accessed on June 21, 2014 .  in connection with the order on the foundation of the troop flags for the Bundeswehr of September 18, 1964 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 817). (PDF) The Federal President , the Federal Chancellor , the Federal Minister of Defense , September 18, 1964, accessed on June 21, 2014 (abbreviation: BwFahnAnO).