NATO MOUNTAIN WARFARE CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE www . mwcoe . org
Global Classification Of Mountains
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Introduction
Defining the characteristics of military operations requires a clear understanding of the players involved , operational environment and tasks given . When addressing the operational environment , planners include both the psychological as well as the physical perspective . Physical terrain analysis , combined with mission objectives and capabilities available , is an important element of pre-deployment activities . The following article focuses on mountainous terrain – a component which has been underscored in the past decades , as seen from the NATO military perspective . The main purpose of this article is to raise issues that should to be taken into consideration when planning operations in the mountains .
Classification of mountains is dealt with in many geographical sources 1 , however , for NATO military purposes , they are more or less irrelevant .
Mountains in general
Mountains have always been a significant part of the human environment . For a variety of reasons , people inhabiting mountainous areas were always strongly connected with them , knowing well how to live with the advantages and cope with risks . Mountains provide water , mineral resources and space for grazing livestock , and offer plenty of tourism opportunities . In addition , mountains “ often represent political and cultural borders , restrict
Figure 1 . Classical Humboldt profile of the latitudinal position of altitude belts in mountains across the globe and compression of thermal zones of mountaions , altitude or latitude . Grey is montain , black is alpine , white is the nival belt ( Körner 2003 )
transport to narrow corridors , and are refuges to minorities and political opposition . As such they are often focal areas of armed conflicts ” ( Körner & Ohsava , 2005 ). Common to all conflicts in the past , e . g . Asiago Offensive and the Isonzo Front in World War I , land battle at Narvik in World War II , Kashmir , Afghanistan , etc ., were difficult mountainous terrain and , in many cases , extreme climate conditions . What significantly differed , was the elevation and the steepness of slopes of the mountains . In this context , the question emerges of how to transform all mountain-specific features ( elevation , altitude , weather , geology , etc .) into military language , so as to be understood the same way by all personnel involved in an operation . Within NATO , classification could be a part of an answer .
Existing definitions
According to the Oxford English Dictionary , a mountain is defined as “… a large natural elevation of the earth ’ s surface rising more or less abruptly from the surrounding level .” Furthermore , within the NATO context , mountainous territory is referred to as : “… extremely uneven terrain , which has steep slopes and valleys and which covers a large area . Mountainous terrain includes built-up areas and lowlands between the mountain ridges , highlands and passes . Towns and other built-up areas are concentrated in the valleys . The weather conditions are extremely changeable .” 2
This , and several other definitions of mountains contained in STANAGs and national field manuals , offer similar explanations of a highly diverse and demanding environment . From the military perspective , mountains appear to be much more than the above-mentioned sentences convey , since the shapes of mountains vary around the globe as planets in our solar system are different from each other .
Pierce proposes a military definition for mountain and cold weather environment including the following characteristics : persistent ambient air temperatures below 21 ° C , persistent mean snow depths of approximately 50 cm , significant glaciated terrain and rugged , severely compartmented terrain ,
22LAND POWER