(1) Rural terrain is recognized from the air by virtue of its peculiar
checkerboard pattern. This is a result of the different types of crops and
vegetation found on most farms.
(2) Urban terrain is characterized by more or less uniform rows of
housing, interwoven with streets, and punctuated by carefully located trees
and shrubs.
(3) Wooded terrain is a natural, irregular work of nature unlike the
almost geometric pattern of manmade rural and urban terrain.
(4) Barren terrain.
Like the wooded terrain, barren terrain presents
the IA with an uneven, irregular work of nature, without the abrupt patterns
of rural and urban areas.
2. The enemy will normally select the most advantageous location or
position to hide troops or equipment.
The enemy will most likely take
advantage of natural cover, defilade, and conceal access to its positions
and avoid landmarks because they stand out. Where possible, concealment is
achieved with minimum construction. Figures 1-26 through 1-33 show sketches
of the right and wrong ways of camouflaging. As an IA you should be looking
for the enemy's mistakes.
3. Landmarks attract attention. Positions normally avoid terrain features
which are used as reference points for ground and aerial fires (Figure 1-
29).
4. There are three camouflage methods: blending, hiding, and disguising.
a. Blending can be accomplished in several ways.
For example, the
simplest way would be to blend into the background as much as possible, such
as parking vehicles along a tree line as opposed to parking against the sky
line or integrating a command post (CP) into a rural town (Figures 1-30 and
1-31).
Another method would be to paint equipment to blend into its
background.
NOTE: Tracks, spoil, and debris are the most common signs of
military
activity which indicate concealed or camouflaged objects
and are
normally avoided (Figure 1-32).
27
IT 0649
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