Defense geology

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Defense geology , also called military geology , describes the use of geology for military purposes.

Development of defense geology

Geological surveys have long been used as part of military operations. The importance of geological relationships for military actions was already known , for example, in the China of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). The first use of trained geologists for military purposes goes back to Napoleon , who took two geologists with him on his Egypt campaign in 1798. The Swiss geologist, chief miner and major Johann Samuel von Gruner (1766–1824), whose work Relationship of Geognosy to War Science was published posthumously in 1826, is called the founder of the scientific discipline of military geology .

In the 19th century, geology in a military context was particularly important for the construction of wells , especially in colonial theaters of war. In the First World War , the widespread tunneling of the trench warfare was added. Defense geology in the karst region of the former Yugoslavia was of particular importance . The often kilometer-long caves found here were in some cases used for military purposes or played a role in partisan actions - for example the Adelsberg Grottoes - so that their exploration and geological survey was of military importance.

At the time of the Second World War , special military geological units already existed in some countries. For example, the USGS's military geological department was founded in 1942. One of the tasks of military geologists during World War II was, for example, assessing the subsoil for navigability with tanks .

During the Cold War , defense geology in Western Europe was mainly used to prepare for military exercises and to plan the construction of bases and (including civil) infrastructure such as roads and railways. Environmental protection began to play an increasing role, and since the end of the century the analysis of data from earth observation satellites .

Defense geology has been important for European armed forces for foreign missions since the 1990s, including for the construction of drinking water and electricity supplies, wastewater disposal and road construction, as part of CIMIC contracts also for the civilian population. These services, as well as support in matters of agriculture and the protection of cultural assets in the country of deployment, make defense geology an element of psychological warfare .

Defense geology in the Bundeswehr

The term came up in Germany during the founding phase of the Bundeswehr in the 1950s and at that time mainly referred to the geological preparation when planning military exercises. In the 1960s, advice on the selection of locations and the construction of new military facilities was added. Since the end of the 1980s, the military geology of the Bundeswehr has concentrated on questions of environmental protection, in particular on reducing environmental pollution during exercises and on the detection and evaluation of old military pollution . After German reunification, I was also responsible for the old sites of the National People's Army and abandoned facilities of the Allied forces .

In organizational terms , the military geology of the Bundeswehr was initially assigned to the air force support units and the advice centers of the geophysical service. Since 1991 there have been seven defense geological offices (WehrGeolSt) in Eggersdorf , Fürstenfeldbruck , Glücksburg , Karlsruhe , Cologne-Wahn , Münster and Oldenburg . The superordinate body is the Office for Defense Geophysics (AWGeophys) in Traben-Trarbach .

Defense geology in Austria

As part of the Austrian Armed Forces, the Institute for Military Geosystems takes on, among other things, geological tasks.

In addition, a working group for defense geology of the Austrian Geological Society has existed since 1984 . The tasks of the working group are to provide basic geological information with military reference, such as information on off-road drivability for tracked and wheeled vehicles, on digging and the use of construction machines, on the extraction of building materials and finally on the emergency drinking water supply.

Defense geology in the Swiss Army

The Swiss Army uses the geologist as a job title. Geological expertise was and is essential in Switzerland's mountainous terrain. This concerns not only the geological consultancy in projects such as the Swiss redoubt , but also advice of special units such as the disaster relief battalion or support the construction of sappers and the Engineer Corps .

literature

  • Christian Wolkersdorfer: Current problems in defense geology . In: News of the German Geological Society . tape 50 , 1993, pp. 146–149 ( PDF document ).
  • Friedrich Teichmann: From Traditional Defense Geology to Civil-Military-Cooperation (CIMIC) . In: Reports of the Federal Geological Institute . tape 56 , 2001, p. 101 f . ( PDF document ).
  • Marko Zečević, Enio Jungwirth: The Influence of Geology on Battlefield Terrain and it's Affects on Military Operations in Mountains and Karst Regions: Examples from Ww1 and Afghanistan . In: Rudarsko-geološko-naftni zbornik . tape 19 . Zagreb 2007, p. 57-66 ( PDF document ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Leith: Military Geology in a Changing World. In: Geotimes. American Geological Institute, February 2002, accessed November 7, 2009 .
  2. ↑ Hermann Häusler and Ewald Kohler: The Swiss geologist, chief miner and major Johann Samuel Gruner (1766-1824) - founder of military geology . In: Minaria - Journal of the Swiss Society for Historical Mining Research . 23a / 2003, 2003, ISSN  1018-7421 ( abstract ).
  3. ↑ Karsten Plewnia: German "cave" research and National Socialism. (Working title) (dissertation) . In: Arbeitskreis Militärgeschichte e. V. (Ed.): Newsletter . Vol. 14, No. 1, 2009, p. 19-20 ( pdf ).
  4. ↑ Joseph M. Duracinsky: USGS Military Branch History. (PDF; 203 kB) Accessed November 7, 2009 .
  5. ^ Institute for Military Geosciences. Retrieved November 7, 2007 .
  6. ^ Gerhard L. Fasching: From military geography to the institute for military geology. Retrieved November 7, 2009 .
  7. ↑ Functions in the Swiss Army. (No longer available online.) Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport, April 2, 2009, archived from the original on November 22, 2009 ; Retrieved November 7, 2009 .

See also

Web links