In the benchmark publication American Geography: Inventory and Prospect (1954), Joseph Russell reported that military geography had long been recognized as a legitimate subfield in American geography. Despite the occasional controversy surrounding the subfield since his assessment (Association of American Geographers 1972; Lacoste 1973), and the general period of drought it experienced within American academic geography during the Vietnam era, military geography displays unquestionable resilience at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The subfield links geography and military science, and in one respect is a type of applied geography, employing the knowledge, methods, techniques, and concepts of the discipline to military affairs, places, and regions. In another sense, military geography can be approached from an historical perspective (Davies 1946; Meigs 1961; Winters 1998), with emphasis on the impact of physical or human geographic conditions on the outcomes of decisive battles, campaigns, or wars. In either case, military geography continues to keep pace with technological developments and seeks to apply geographic information, principles, and tools to military situations or problems during peacetime or war. Throughout the twentieth century, professional and academic geographers made enormous contributions to the US Military’s understanding of distant places and cultures. The vast collection of Area Handbooks found in most university libraries, serves as testament to the significant effort by geographers during wartime. Although some of the work remains hidden by security classification, a casual glance at Munn’s (1980) summary of the roles of geographers within the Department of Defense (DOD) enables one to appreciate the discipline’s far-reaching impact on military affairs. The value of military geography within a theater of war can hardly be disputed. The subfield has also been important during peacetime, however, providing an important forum for the continuing discourse among geographers, military planners, political officials, and government agencies, as each relies upon geographic tools and information to address a wide range of problems within the national security and defense arenas. Despite the subdiscipline’s well-established tenure, the Military Geography Specialty Group is in its infancy. The time-lag is attributable to the subfield’s tumultuous experience during the Vietnam era and the associated demise that ensued.
Geography in Spain: Fruitful Relationship between Academic Geography and Professional Geography