Duty, Honor, Country — and GIS

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point was born of unique geography; more than 200 years later, it’s teaching modern mapping methods.

By Art Kalinksi, GISP

Last week, I had the privilege of meeting with members of the GIS Program of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The security guards at the gate greet visitors with the academy motto, “Duty, Honor, Country,” which permeates all endeavors at West Point. The Academy has produced distinguished graduates for more than 200 years, and is known for its extremely rigorous academic and military training program. The cadets may get a free education, but it requires dedication and a full-time commitment, as well as eight years of service as a commissioned Army officer upon graduation.

The oldest engineering school and military academy in the United States got its start during the Revolutionary War, thanks to the unique geography of West Point. General George Washington was concerned that the Hudson River could provide dangerously easy access to areas north of New York and New Jersey, where the British could group to split the colonies. However, a narrowing and S-curve in the Hudson at West Point made British ships vulnerable, forcing them to drop their sails as they slowly maneuvered the tight passage. Thus were born the fortifications at West Point, and ultimately, the U.S. Military Academy.

Today, West Point relies on GIS, which is focused in two Academy organizations: the Geospatial Information Science Program within the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, and the Geospatial and Environmental Services Division within the Department of Housing and Public Works. The operational GIS division is headed up by Kris Brown working through Essex, a Northrop Grumman business unit. Kris and his staff support significant public works projects, security, and emergency services. They also provide support for the military training ranges, as well as environmental and archeological efforts.

Tools and Training

The primary software environments used at the Academy include Autodesk CAD software and the ESRI suite of GIS applications. Pictometry oblique imagery and software seem to be the dominant choice for public works estimators, base police, and firefighters. The police frequently use of the oblique imagery for incident reporting, but only as simple annotated images. They don’t yet use the heads-up digitizing and shapefile creation ability, but are content to provide that information to the GIS staff for inclusion in the database.

The Geospatial Information Science Program uses many of the same GIS resources, but for a different goal — the education and training of Army officers and future leaders. The program is led by Dr. John Brockhaus, and includes Colonels Michael Hendricks and Steven Fleming, both of whom have earned their PhDs and have extensive field experience. In addition, the program includes three rotating military faculty members with master’s degrees, and this year includes Michael Tischler, who is on loan from the Army’s Topographic Engineering Center (TEC, recently renamed the Army Geospatial Center [AGC]). Michael also has an extensive education and strong hands-on experience.

All Academy attendees are exposed to GIS, but based on their major, some cadets expand their GIS education. Students learn GIS theory, but also have to complete hands-on projects that demonstrate their ability to accomplish tasks with the data and software. The program includes the traditional vector-based GIS of points, lines, and polygons, as well as grid/raster-based GIS with work in projections, topology, geodatabases, DEMs, LIDAR, and other topics. Since almost all graduates will be producers or consumers of intelligence products, there is a heavy emphasis on integration of remote sensing, CIR, radar, and imagery, both ortho and oblique. Although computer-based GIS forms the core of the program, cadets must also demonstrate the ability to use traditional paper maps, and even a compass.

The West Point GIS Lab.

The program includes training in GIS software and applications from vendors such as ESRI, ERDAS, TerraGo, Pictometry, LizardTech, Trimble, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe, and many others. In addition, training in cartography and the use of experimental equipment is offered, including 360-degree video capture systems, LIDAR point cloud analysis systems, and integrative survey collection tools and techniques (such as ike-504 and NOMAD).

Efficiency in Education

To be selected for West Point, a cadet must be among the top one percent in terms of academics, drive, and motivation. But the clock and calendar are the real limiting factors of the program. Not only do cadets carry a very heavy academic load, they also have extensive military, sports, and leadership duties. The program is so tight that almost every hour is planned, with each minute important and accounted for. The bottom line is that no one can afford to waste time. Even the dining hall is an example of efficiency; 4,400 cadets are fed during one 30-minute seating.

This highly disciplined use of time is apparent in the classroom as well. I sat in on a class Colonel Hendricks was teaching — what an eye-opener! In just one class, he covered three topics normally covered in three or more sessions at other schools: Boolean logic related to intersections, joins, and unions; SQL database selections; and grid cell input/output layer selections (map algebra). Covering this much material in one class is a challenge, but the handouts and the clear progression of the classroom session showed a thoroughness and forethought that I have rarely seen.

Led by Colonel Hendricks, cadets learn about the details of GIS operations.

Most of us have suffered through classes taught by inexperienced graduate assistants, and many PhD college professors, although knowledgeable, are not very good instructors. That’s not good enough for the tight timelines at West Point — delivery of clear and concise classes that maximize learning is mandatory. It was evident that a lot of planning and thought went into each aspect of this robust GIS program.

Colonel Fleming explained unique training elements that are part of the West Point curriculum, but not found in typical GIS programs. They include exposure to services and resources available to the military from sources like NGA, USGS, ACE, TEC (AGC), including tools such as GeoPDFs, BAE Systems’ SOCET SET, and others.

GIS Enables Future Combat Systems

The Army has always relied heavily on maps, and that has not changed. What has changed is the form those maps are taking, and the speed of communication needed to coordinate modern operations. So where is all this heading? Future Combat Systems (FCS). (For those of you unfamiliar with FCS, there are several compelling YouTube videos that show the concept; search for the phrase “FCS Vanguards.”)

The impact of FCS is apparent in the curriculum. Just as the Navy moved to Aegis systems that link every ship, aircraft, sensor, and weapons system into an integrated fighting machine, the Army is making each piece of battlefield equipment — and every soldier — a data collector and data user. FCS ties everything together, and GIS is the spatial data integration environment. For you old Star Trek fans, think of the Borg. The big difference is that although cadets are taught to work as well-coordinated teams, they are also taught to think for themselves and show leadership.

For more than two centuries, West Point has trained our military leaders. During that time, mapping and other technologies have changed significantly, and they continue to evolve rapidly. What hasn’t changed is the West Point commitment to excellence, and to “Duty, Honor, Country.”