00240015 UNCLASSIFIED 2431752 10-23-1945

0009 ENGINEER COMMAND

544.627A 8142 C5011 4 61 24 2447210 02-18-1988 THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE IX ENGINEER COMMAND BY ARRANGEMENT WITH THE CHIEF ENGINEER, 21 ARMY GROUP, DECIDED THAT, IN VIEW OF THE GREAT ASSISTANCE WHICH HAD BEEN GIVEN TO THE AVIATION ENGINEERS BY AIR RECONNAISSANCE, A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT IN AUG AND SEPT 45 TO DETERMINE THE VALUE OF AIR RECONNAISSANCE FOR THE MILITARY ENGINEER'S PROBLEMS IN GENERAL (AS OPPOSED TO THE AVIATION ENGINEERS SPECIAL PROBLEMS). A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS WAS CARRIED OUT COVERING BRIDGING, DEMOLITIONS, ROADS AND RAILWAYS AND SOME DEFINITE RESULTS WERE OBTAINED. THE REPORT FOLLOWING WAS BASED ON BOTH THE RESULTS OF THESE EXPERIMENTS AND UPON ACTUAL EXPERIENCES GAINED IN THE IX ENGINEER COMMAND OPERATIONS DURING THE WESTERN EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN. NONE PRACTICABILITY AND ADVANTAGES OF AIR RECONNAISSANCE FOR THE MILITARY ENGINEER