115. 15 Layers Deep: Supporting Soldiers with Geospatial Intelligence

The Convergence - An Army Mad Scientist Podcast

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[Editor’s Note: As observed in TRADOC Pamphlet 525-92, The Operational Environment 2024-2034: Large-Scale Combat Operations:

“LSCO will be marked by the democratization and proliferation of advanced technologies and hyperconnected global communications, creating an increasingly transparent battlefield that makes it difficult to hide from the enemy.”

Today’s The Convergence podcast features Jason Feser from the U.S. Army Geospatial Center exploring just how transparent the contemporary battlefield has become. With the convergence of sensing technologies, democratized space, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML), this capability is empowering our Soldiers with a granular situational awareness of the Operational Environment, down to an eight-digit (plus!) grid reference. Modern LSCO is now a competition between the hiders and the finders — if a target can be seen, it can be killed! Our adversaries have similar sensing capabilities — but in the contemporary Operational Environment, warfare favors those who can innovate tactically. The tactical advantage offered by this granular level of battlefield transparency is lost if it can’t be shared with and used by Warfighters at the bleeding edge of the fight — Read on!]

CW4 Jason Feser (USA-Ret.) currently serves as Branch Chief for Data Generation and Production, Warfighter Support Division, within the U.S. Army Geospatial Center (AGC). In this role, Mr. Feser oversees a staff of civilians and contractors that enable geospatial data collection, processing, and dissemination to the U.S. Army’s generating and operating force. Mr. Feser is responsible for three critical product lines to meet the Army’s requirements for digital mapping and geospatial analysis for customers at all echelons — the AGC’s Engineer Route Study, Regional Terrain Planner, and Urban Tactical Planner. This includes updating the production pipelines, managing Army Geospatial Engineer Teams, and leveraging capabilities and tools found within the broader U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Research Development Centers and Joint Communities.

Prior to joining the AGC as a civilian, Mr. Feser spent 27 years in the Army as a Geospatial Engineer and Geospatial Engineering Technician, before retiring in 2019. Mr. Feser spent over fifteen years at the tactical level before moving on to Joint and Strategic assignments. His assignments included serving in multiple Engineer Brigade Headquarters in Heavy Divisions; a Branch Chief in the IDG at JAC Molesworth; NATO Special Operations Intel Branch at the NATO Intel Fusion Center; Senior Geospatial Officer and Commander at the 512th Geospatial Planning Cell; and Military Advisor to the AGC Director. Mr. Feser’s career included deployments to Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Jordan. He holds an Undergraduate degree in Applied Science, with an Emphasis in Geospatial Information Systems, and he has completed professional military technical training throughout his career.

In our latest episode of The Convergence podcast, Army Mad Scientist sat down with Mr. Feser to explore the AGC, the role advanced technologies play in battlefield transparency, and our adversaries’ capabilities to observe and sense the Operational Environment. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation.

Geospatial engineers are embedded within U.S. Army formations to conduct Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) analysis on elements of the Operational Environment that will impact operations, including cultural, institutional, and physical aspects that may challenge our forces across multiple domains. The Army Geospatial Center (AGC) supports these geospatial engineers by providing critical data sets and services necessary to support command and control systems, broad area analysis, and specialized products.

AGC uses numerous Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) to analyze imagery, tabular data, and unstructured data to build databases of information that are tied to the Earth’s surface. This information consists of many different categories of data – for example, vector data that can describe the road material composition and durability of a Main Supply Route (MSR), along with its width, changes in elevation (from laser Light Detection and Ranging [LiDAR]), and satellite imagery of choke points and potential ambush sites.

Terrain is of vital importance to any unmanned system employed in the Operational Environment. Unmanned Ground Vehicles and Aerial Systems (UGVs/UAVs) require a detailed, high–resolution understanding of terrain so that these autonomous systems can conduct specific missions — even with limited access by a remote operator. Unmanned systems will also enable the U.S. Army to collect extensive geospatial information — specifically from the intersection of modality sensing (e.g., Electro-Optical [EO], LiDAR, and radar) — to create an improved, granular understanding of the Operational Environment.

In the commercial space, efforts are underway to embed 15 modalities into a single satellite image (e.g., LiDAR, elevation, EO, radar, gravity, etc.) for every 10–meter pixel. This creates a 64-bit description of that 10m space that informs the Warfighter regarding battlefield conditions impacting on operations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will impact our ability to generate detailed data on key terrain features at a faster and cheaper rate. These capabilities will also provide discrete data classification and additional fidelity — enabling us to produce more accurate assessments for operations — at machine speed.

In Ukraine, both Russian and Ukrainian forces are employing Electronic Warfare (EW) to disrupt UAV and UGV operations. With increased fidelity from AI/ML support, autonomous systems can continue to operate in EW-jammed environments, relying on accurate geospatial information onboard to guide their navigation.

China and Russia have similar geospatial technology, but they do not have the same mission command mentality as the U.S. — Russian soldiers below the O-6 level do not have access to geospatial information or maps. Neither China nor Russia empowers their soldiers at the lowest echelons to make decisions. Geospatial information grants the U.S. Army and its Warfighters an operational advantage by empowering mission command in a LSCO fight.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next insightful episode of The Convergence on 28 August 2025, when we sit down with Dr. Mark Bailey, Department Chair, Cyber Intelligence and Data Science, National Intelligence University, and author of Unknowable Minds: Philosophical Insights on AI and Autonomous Weapons. We’ll talk with Dr. Bailey about the “black box” implications of AI, the legality and ethics of autonomous weapons, and how our adversaries are approaching and responding to these same issues.

If you enjoyed this post, check out the TRADOC Pamphlet 525-92, The Operational Environment 2024-2034: Large-Scale Combat Operations

Explore the TRADOC G-2‘s Operational Environment Enterprise web page, brimming with authoritative information on the Operational Environment and how our adversaries fight, including:

Our China Landing Zone, full of information regarding our pacing challenge, including ATP 7-100.3, Chinese Tactics, How China Fights in Large-Scale Combat Operations, BiteSize China weekly topics, and the People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces Quick Reference Guide.

Our Russia Landing Zone, including the BiteSize Russia weekly topics. If you have a CAC, you’ll be especially interested in reviewing our weekly RUS-UKR Conflict Running Estimates and associated Narratives, capturing what we learned about the contemporary Russian way of war in Ukraine over the past two years and the ramifications for U.S. Army modernization across DOTMLPF-P.

Our Iran Landing Zone, including the Iran Quick Reference Guide and the Iran Passive Defense Manual (both require a CAC to access).

Our North Korea Landing Zone, including Resources for Studying North Korea, Instruments of Chinese Military Influence in North Korea, and Instruments of Russian Military Influence in North Korea.

Our Irregular Threats Landing Zone, including TC 7-100.3, Irregular Opposing Forces, and ATP 3-37.2, Antiterrorism (requires a CAC to access).

Our Running Estimates SharePoint site (also requires a CAC to access) — documenting what we’re learning about the evolving OE. Contains our monthly OE Running Estimates, associated Narratives, and the quarterly OE Assessment TRADOC Intelligence Posts (TIPs).

Then check out the following related Mad Scientist Laboratory blog post content:

Nowhere to Hide: Information Exploitation and Sanitization and War Laid Bare, by Matthew Ader

Future Dynamics of Warfare: Everyone is a Player, Everything is a Target, by Team Sullivan’s Travels

Integrated Sensors: The Critical Element in Future Complex Environment Warfare, by Dr. Richard Nabors

The Future of Ground Warfare, and associated podcast

Timeless Competitions

Unmanned Capabilities in Today’s Battlespace

Revolutionizing 21st Century Warfighting: UAVs and C-UAS

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Army Futures Command (AFC), or Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)

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