The Environment as an Operational Center of Gravity

Abstract

The increasing influence of environmentalism on the military is analyzed with an emphasis on ecological trends and factors that effect the operational commander. An analysis is conducted to determine the ecological factors within society, government, and international law that impact armed conflict. The potential of means and methods of warfare to damage the environment is described from an historical and ecological domain (air, land, water, and living organisms) perspective. The importance of operational commanders making environmentally sound decisions is determined to be a key component of public support. The growing knowledge of the impact of environmental degradation and the decreasing global threat mean the operational commanders will need to consider the environmental ramifications during target and weapons selection. A list of ecological considerations is provided for the operational commander....DoD and the Environment in the 1990's, Ecological Warfare, Limitations on the Operational Commander.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 22, 1993
Accession Number
ADA264170

Entities

People

  • Thomas F. Bersson

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Birds
  • Climate Change
  • Ecology
  • Employment
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Groundwater
  • International Law
  • Law
  • Medical Personnel
  • National Security
  • Natural Resources
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Petroleum
  • Second World War
  • Treaties
  • Wildlife

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Economics
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Wetland-Land-Environmental Management.