The effects of weather and terrain - Essay Example

The effects of weather and terrain The effects of weather and terrain pose various challenges on military operations. Thus military commanders should put into account these effects when planning their operations as well as in their logistics efforts. Weather and terrain come together to dispute the efforts of moving war supplies and troops to other areas. Hence, there is the need to use alternative methods of transporting war material and troops when weather and terrain prove to be unfavorable.

The topography of an area may present challenges to military operations in various ways. These challenges include visibility, mobility and communication.VisibilityThe nature of a given terrain is likely to affect the visibility of certain areas. For instance, highly mountainous areas may not be easily to view. As a result, commanders may need to apply technology to enable viewing of such areas and make their operations possible. Similarly, some areas tend to have very tall trees and thick vegetations which are likely to hinder the visibility of a given region1.

Due to the challenges presented by this type of topography the commanders should invest in technology that enables them to avoid such challenges, for instance, satellite.CommunicationInvisible regions of electromagnetic continuum, magnetic forces as well as radiations affect the means of communication in the context of war. For instance mountainous areas may affect the issue of communication network. In such a case, military commanders are likely to face challenges when giving orders to their forces.

As a result, the concept of airmobile has been introduced to overcome the challenge of such terrains.MobilityThe transportation of war materials and troops is highly affected by the topography of an area. For instance, areas surrounded by oceans, that is, islands will not favor on-ground transport such as trains. Similarly, landlocked regions do not allow movement of troops by the sea or ocean. Moreover, mountainous areas require physically fit soldiers who can operate in such areas. This is because; the challenge lies in transporting the soldiers up and down in such steep and varied terrains areas as suggested by Keating2.

During the civil war, maps on the topography were regularly supplied in order to make operations of the war possible. This is because the presence of inaccurate maps would proof a challenge in planning and coordinating the operations of the war. However, knowledge of topography ensured the union blockade of ports, control of the Mississippi river and control of higher grounds.In the case of Verdun, the explosive munitions used in the war had great effects on the soil development of the area. Moreover, the topography of the grounds bedrock was highly affected by operations of the war due to the use of explosive munitions.

This further went to adverse effects on the war as the explosives influenced the storage of nitrogen, carbon and organic matter in the soil according to Sherry3. Therefore, the explosives affected operations of the war soldiers due to the polluted environment. Similarly, the jungle terrain of Verdun could not allow the landing of plains thus affecting the means of air transport. BibliographyNational Research Council. Division of Geology and Geography & Gregory,H. (1918). Military geology and topography: a presentation of certain phases of geology, geography and topography for military purposes.

New York: National Academies. N.d.Keating,T. Joint and National Intelligence Support to Military Operations. Philadelphia : DIANE Publishing. 2001. Sherry, V. The Cambridge Companion To The Literature Of The First World War. New Zealand: Cambridge University Press. 2005.