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REPORT OF COMMISSION VII 89 
allows to direct subsequent reconnoitring of the ground to a few quite definite 
points. 
9) Savings by the Interpretation of Air Photographs as against Recon- 
noitring of the Ground: This question cannot be answered by us, as respective 
and comparable figures and statements are missing, and as these savings are 
dependent on the scope of the interpretation as well as on a good many acciden- 
tal circumstances. 
PART VII — REPORTS ON PHOTOGRAPHIC 
INTERPRETATION FROM ITALY" 
Section 1 by Major Giulio Schmiedt, Italian Military Geographic Institute. 
* NoTE: Because of space limitations it has been necessary to abstract very 
severely the excellent 80-page report which Major Schmiedt submitted for the 
World Congress. It also has been necessary to delete certain passages on grounds 
of military security. Finally, considerable liberty was exercised in translating 
a few passages from the Italian. Despite these limitations, the report in 1ts 
present form is believed to constitute one of the finest and most complete reports 
on photo interpretation submitted to the 1952 World Congress — R.N.Colwell. 
It is very difficult to supply in this brief space adequate information on 
the methods and techniques which are most suitable to follow in military 
photographic interpretation. In an effort to cover this broad topic in a brief 
but systematic fashion, this report will be divided into six sections as follows: 
1. Photo Interpretation Teaching Methods and Curricula; 2. The Preparation 
of Photographic Documents; 3. Types and Techniques of Military Photo Inter- 
pretation; 4. Photo Interpretation Equipment; 5. Films, Filters and Scales Suit- 
able for Photo Interpretation; and 6. Limits, Advantages and Disadvantages of 
Photo Interpretation. 
PHOTO INTERPRETATION TEACHING METHODS AND CURRICULA. 
The recent World War has shown that photographs taken either from 
airplanes or from the ground supply a source of information of priceless value 
and a powerful means of research and control. 
Together with other sources of information, they help to give a sufficiently 
exact picture of the operating activities of the enemy. The details given by 
“photo interpretation” may interest the Army, Navy and Airforce; therefore, 
it will be necessary that a specialized staff of three armed forces be trained for 
the delicate task of photographic interpretation. 
The training of photo-interpretation officers must be very well accom- 
plished through expressly established courses, and through selection of personnel 
who are considered most suitable because of their natural dispositions and intel- 
lectual qualities. 
The method to be followed in forming the above-named interpreters, there- 
fore, should be the object of careful study, and it is our belief that several years’ 
teaching experience may lead to more productive results. 
We consider that a good teaching method consists of knowing how to ap- 
portion equally the factors of cultural and technical ideas which form the theo-