287 Key Terrain in Cyberspace: Seeking the High Ground Abstract: In military doctrine, key terrain refers to areas which, if seized, afford an advantage to an attacker or defender. Originally published in the December 2008 issue of Military History. The smoothbore, muzzle-loading muskets of the 1700s were so inaccurate that the only way for infantry to achieve effective firepower was to stand in densely packed formations and deliver disciplined volley fire toward the enemy. But is a soldier who died in that battle any less significant than one who fell during the famous carnage at Antietam? Most people have heard of Gettysburg, and many know something about it. And the law of gravity always confers an advantage on the side that holds the high ground. Part B - Terrain Analysis Figure 7-3. This website is not affiliated with the U.S. government or military. The Terrain The area through which Hitler chose to launch his counteroffensive was, with the exception of the Vosges, the most difficult terrain on the entire line of the Western Front. Be prepared to justify WHY it is key. It is not necessarily the highest hill in the area. A prominent geographic feature—a mountain, a canyon, a swift river— that represented key battlefield terrain hundreds of years ago is likely to remain key terrain today. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. There is no such thing as a clean war with “surgical strikes” that shock and awe an enemy into surrender. Beyond the monuments and memorials, the world’s legendary battlefields hold valuable lessons for modern military leaders and historians. There are many differences between Wiki and Google. limit aircraft lateral movement, restrict air maneuver, or have elevations higher. Copyright © 2020 EducationDynamics. key terrain (*) Any locality, or area, the seizure or retention of which affords a marked advantage to either combatant. For a combined arms rehearsal (CAR), a good terrain model is necessary to enhance collaboration and dialogue requisite for good planning and unity of effort. Without it, we continue to be confused by the complexities of their culture, faith and society; oblivious to their desires, grievances and opinions; distracted by the lies and distortions of our enemies; and blind to opportunities to enhance our reputation. Menu Search. Can I Get An Extension On My Post 9/11 GI BIll So I Can Finish My Bachelor's Degree? Traditionally, it is purple (to differentiate from the rest of the overlay). It always has. Share on Twitter; Share on Facebook Key Terrain 1, Decisive Terrain 1, etc.). But evidently it was not so obvious at the start of the battle, and comprehending how American commanders and operational planners in 1944 failed to see that is a crucial lesson. If you would like to find more information about benefits offered by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, please visit the official U.S. government web site for veterans’ benefits at http://www.va.gov. A. Key Terrain and Decisive Terrain Key Terrain is any ground that must be controlled in order to achieve military success. Use the mountain heights for observation posts to reduce the effect of terrain masking. It is a conclusion rather than an observation; a prominent hilltop overlooking an avenue of approach, for example, may or may not be key terrain. A prominent geographic feature—a mountain, a canyon, a swift river— that represented key battlefield terrain hundreds of years ago is likely to remain key terrain today. Responsibilities, Authorities. Terrain was a crucial factor at Gettysburg. Also it can, in some cases, be used to protect a force from observation. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. Do Not Sell My Personal Information (CA and NV residents). Katherine Hepburn, actress (The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen). Key terrain in airspace analysis is any terrain feature which allows air defense. What changes are the tools of war, the ways they are fought and perhaps the reasons for which they are fought. Edmund Beckett Grimthorpe, lawyer and architect. Rangers lead the way! The U.S. Army defines key terrain as “any locality or area, the seizure or retention of which affords a marked advantage to either combatant” [3]. When the Confederate main body finally reached the battlefield, it was forced to occupy inferior positions on the parallel but lower Seminary Ridge. To contact ArmyStudyGuide, email us. Even with good maps, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the locations of key tactical actions. No one recognized this more quickly than Brig. The focus on key terrain by the Russians, British, Germans, and Chinese armies is analyzed in the third section. The sponsored schools featured on this site do not include all schools that accept GI Bill® funding or VA Benefits.For more information on how to choose a school, visit. The psychological forces acting on a soldier in battle at any point in history are very similar, whether he is a Roman legionary armed with a short sword and fighting an enemy shield to shield or a machine gunner on a Humvee rolling through Fallujah, wondering when the next IED will go off. However, our lack of focus on defensive operations is a tremendous gap in our ability to retain key terrain. What soldiers call “compartmentalized terrain,” such as dense forest or an urban area, favors the defender. What soldiers call “key terrain” is any piece of ground the seizure or retention of which will give a marked if not a decisive advantage to one side or the other. What soldiers call “key terrain” is any piece of ground the seizure or retention of which will give a marked if not a decisive advantage to one side or the other. buildings, steep slopes, rivers, lakes, forests, deserts, swamps, jungles, cities, minefield, trenches, andmilitary wire obstacles. What about the constants of military history? The belief in such fairy tales, despite overwhelming historical evidence, is one of the factors that got the United States mired in Iraq. To make matters worse, the streams, rivers and few trafficable roads run perpendicular to the axis of advance, further hindering attackers while allowing defenders good lateral communications. Also, because company commanders should plan the enemy’s disposition two levels down, there might be terrain that gives a squad-sized element a marked advantage that wasn’t identified by the battalion staff. A typical battlefield tour at Gettysburg might start on Seminary Ridge, tracing the line of departure for Maj. Gen. George Pickett’s famous charge and observing his objective across the valley on Cemetery Ridge, which is marked by the Copse of Trees. Even then it was two more months before the Americans took Schmidt, as the Allies spent much of that intervening time focused on the Battle of the Bulge. By the time it was over, the Americans had sustained more than 33,000 casualties and had nothing to show for it. Privacy Policy | About Us | FAQ | Terms of Service | Disclaimers | Do Not Sell My Personal Information (CA and NV residents). What relevance could an old battle fought with outdated weapons and ancient tactics possibly have for modern soldiers? From then on the Americans increasingly were able to hold their own against the British on the battlefield. If you lose control of key terrain, then that jeopardizes your hold on vital ground. Next you will add the Key Terrain layer package you created in Exercise 3. Protection from observation, either from the air or from the ground or both. Terrain management must essentially become its own planning effort. Our websites do not provide, nor are they intended to provide, a comprehensive list of all schools (a) in the United States (b) located in a specific geographic area or (c) that offer a particular program of study. To subscribe, click here. The battlefield I have used the most for staff rides is the Hürtgen Forest, just south of Aachen along the German- Belgian border. That is easy enough to grasp, but it’s also important to understand exactly why certain tactics did work in the past and why they won’t work today. Working with the Mobility Corridors service . This will extract the data to the map document. Sometimes he makes the supreme sacrifice in a famous battle that determines the outcome of a war. The platoon leader analyzes the terrain using the factors of OAKOC: observation and fields of fire; avenues of approach; key terrain; obstacles; and cover and concealment. Observation, on the other hand, is terrain dependent and is relatively permanent. What does Government & Military OCOKA stand for? After all, if the weather closely resembles that experienced during the actual battle, that contributes to a better understanding of the conditions in which the soldiers fought. Each time you identify Key Terrain, the method you use will be a little different. This is a private website that is not affiliated with the U.S. government, U.S. Armed Forces or Department of Veteran Affairs. Historically, societies, cities, and warfare evolved together. Surface materials (soil types and conditions that affect mobility). Terrain. His 1st Division held off Maj. Gen. Henry Heth’s approaching Confederate division long enough to allow Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds’ Union I Corps to reach the area and further slow the Rebel advance. Yogi Berra (Lawrence Peter Berra), baseball player and coach. They were unknown when they were buried, and today they are all but forgotten, surrounded by a quiet wooded battlefield almost no one has heard of and few ever visit. Bad weather compounds the effects of bad terrain. Vegetation (tree spacing and trunk diameter). DOD Dictionary of Military Terms (*) Any locality, or area, the seizure or retention of which affords a marked advantage to either combatant. But the terrain is not pristine. Many laymen have a hard time understanding the value of the BSR as a modern training tool. Two factors can render an area key terrain: how a commander wants to use it, and whether his enemy can use it to defeat the commander’s forces. Battlefield tours are big business these days. What does key terrain mean? All such groups draw different lessons from the same battle—and I never fail to pick up something new myself, every time. But more often than not a soldier dies on an obscure piece of ground preserved only in the memory of his immediate survivors, and when they pass from the scene, both the battle and the battlefield are forgotten. In certain ways technological advances make it easier to overcome the difficulties of bad terrain. Contesting Key Terrain: Urban Conflict in Smart Cities of the Future. Despite its stature as a revered national shrine, however, Gettysburg is not necessarily the best battlefield for a BSR, though it boasts some advantages. The protection from the effects of weapons fires, direct, indirect, and air to ground. When applied to geographic terrain, this definition is clear. “Visibility” is weather dependent or is a temporary phenomena. The outcome of the revolution was ultimately decided by the strategic realities of Britain fighting a ground war thousands of miles from its national base. Standing where Capt. by AcronymAndSlang.com Key terrain varies by echelon. An AoA is an air or ground route of an attacking force of a given size leading to its objective or to key terrain in its path. Check out this article on building a good terrain model. As a profound student of history and battlefields, Patton would have understood exactly the similarities and differences in the challenges facing the commanders in both battles. Compensation may impact where the Sponsored Schools appear on our websites, including whether they appear as a match through our education matching services tool, the order in which they appear in a listing, and/or their ranking. abbreviation; word in meaning; location ; Examples: NFL, NASA, PSP, HIPAA,random Word(s) in meaning: chat "global … Any natural or manmade terrain feature that stops, impedes, slows, or diverts movement. Time and again a single leader doing the right thing in the right place at the right time has changed the course of a battle—and with it, history. This is an offer for educational opportunities that may lead to employment and not an offer for nor a guarantee of employment. Key Terrain Obstacles Cover and Concealment _____ is a composite of the conditions, circumstances, and influences that affect the employment of capabilities and bear on the decisions of the commander . Obstacles (natural and manmade; consider obstacles to flight as well as ground mobility). Armed with this understanding, we can navigate the human terrain successfully. Ball’s Bluff is among the smallest of the 100-plus national cemeteries. Can You Answer Them? But cover and concealment do not always equate. How Do I Switch from the Montgomery GI Bill to the Post 9/11 GI Bill? The evaluation of observation and fields of fire allows you to- Identify … Abbreviation to define. The question of how to model cyber terrain is an area of active investigation. Key terrain is any locality or area that affords a marked advantage to whichever combatant seizes, retains, or controls it. General Helmuth von Moltke developed the staff ride in the late 19th century as a primary training tool for the German General Staff. Definition of key terrain in the Definitions.net dictionary. All that fighting permitted the Union to occupy and hold Cemetery Ridge. They often traveled on horseback to various vantage points to analyze the terrain, hence the expression “staff ride.” The term remains in use today, though on smaller battlefields the term “terrain walk” may be more accurate. Key terrain includes all those areas and positions that allow you to slow down or channel an attacker or challenger and that make the defence of vital ground that much stronger. A prominent geographic feature—a mountain, a canyon, a swift river— that represented key battlefield terrain hundreds of years ago is likely to remain key terrain today. So what does this mean for you? Fifty-four Union casualties are buried there—all but one unknown. All Rights Reserved. To designate terrain as decisive is to recognize that the mission depends on seizing or retaining it. by Andrew Garfield. Reconnaissance Reconnaissance is a mission to obtain information about the activities and resources of an enemy or characteristics of a geographic area.2 Restrictive terrain mandates dedicated reconnaissance assets to determine the best suited routes and key terrain for the ABCT. Vertical LOS. This site is not connected with any government agency. Throughout that phase of the battle the Germans controlled a huge knob of ground called Hill 400, which dominated almost every zone the 28th ID was trying to penetrate—a clear example of “key terrain.” As long as the Germans had observers atop Hill 400, the division’s attack was doomed. Observation is the ability to see over a particular area to acquire targets. The United States Army Rangers are the best-trained Soldiers in the world, and the Best Ranger Competition is held every year at Fort Benning to find the best of the best. By providing information or agreeing to be contacted by a Sponsored School, you are in no way obligated to apply to or enroll with the school. Key or decisive terrain must be controlled, not necessarily occupied. The nearly 1,400 monuments and memorials at Gettysburg indicate how important this ground is to Americans but make it difficult to visualize the terrain conditions and the ebb and flow of battle 145 years ago. In the Army Defense in Depth strategy, key cyber terrain includes “ physical and logical infrastructure and mission data ” [12]. Key terrain typically offers control of a local objective or an Hop on to get the meaning of OCOKA. Key terrain is any location or area of which the seizure, retention, or control affords a marked advantage to either combatant. Those that successfully completed the puzzle, could be recruited for a job with Army Cyber Command, said Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, chief of Army Cyber … Identify where maneuvering forces are most vulnerable to observation and fires. Key or decisive terrain must be controlled, not necessarily occupied. After the map is oriented then determine the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West). But the low ground also represents dead space for enemy gunners, thus minimizing— albeit briefly—an advancing soldier’s chances of getting hit. Another section provides a case study of the Gettysburg Campaign. Areas that. What is terrain analysis? U.S. government agencies have not reviewed this information. weapons to engage canalized or constrained air or airborne forces. Terrain. When conducting a staff ride through the Hürtgen, I usually concentrate on the central sector, through which the U.S. 28th Infantry Division tried to capture the town of Schmidt in early November, sustaining 6,184 casualties in just six days of fighting. 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