REPORT OF COMMISSION VII 
GVII-9 
needs professional men at the helm. Basically a photo interpreter must first of 
all understand photogrammetry. (This is frequently overlooked.) A person 
trained in the fundamentals of the aerial photograph will make a better photo 
interpreter. 
For photo interpreters the military will accept persons without broad 
technical training. However they prefer candidates with technical background. 
The primary ambition is to build a nucleus, or cadre, of skilled military photo 
interpreters who will be continually combat ready and capable of producing 
sound military intelligence. To produce such a group, training must include 
basic intelligence, military tractics and techniques, and the basic principles of 
such diversified subjects as the natural sciences, engineering and manufacturing. 
Furthermore, the individual must be taught and encouraged to think both 
inductively and deductively. It must be realized that schools—civilian and 
military—provide only initial training for the task ahead. The individual must 
be broadened by field experience. He must be constantly tantalized with prob 
lems which will keep him keenly aware of his function and responsibility as a 
photo interpreter. 
It is assumed that in time of war the military will obtain the services of 
experts in various civilian professions by one means or another. There are, 
however, many skills unique to the military profession. The conversion of a 
civilian, even with excellent basic qualifications, into a first class military photo 
interpreter cannot be done overnight. Accelerated indoctrination in this field 
will not suffice. Time is required. During this hiatus the nucleus of professional 
military interpreters will have to do the job until help arrives. This is possible 
only if the military nucleus is of high caliber and is able to meet and solve new 
problems. 
During the post-war decade, while military PI training first was in a decline 
because of demobilization and then reached a relatively stable state, civil PI 
training has grown quite remarkably in certain areas. For example, at the end of 
World War II there were only two or three schools in the U. S. where a student 
could receive any formal training in photo interpretation for forestry purposes. 
Today such a course is required for graduation in the majority of the forest 
schools of the U. S., and is offered as an optional course in most of the remaining 
schools. A similar situation prevails in other professions which employ photos 
extensively. In addition, special PI field schools and “short courses” are being 
offered to various types of professional men who can afford a few days in which 
to learn PI techniques that might prove useful to them in their daily work. 
Basic courses in photogeology are given in most schools in geology. In addi 
tion advanced courses are optional. Several foreign students are sent to the U. S. 
under the International Cooperative Administration programs for training in 
photogeology. Such specialists are in great demand for work in oil exploration 
work in all sections of the world. 
Formal training should be followed by on the job training, since after such 
training the interpreter needs someone to take him over the bridge into the job. 
Most training programs forget this and send men to the job fully equipped, 
fully armed but not broken in. Like a new car the photo interpreter needs a 
breaking in period; this may make or break him. Improper breaking in may 
ruin an excellent interpreter. The breaking in period frequently is usually two 
to three times the formal training time. 
In Sweden, each surveyor and surveying technician receives a certain train 
ing in photo interpretation, in the course of his education. Continuation courses 
in photogrammetry i.e. including photo interpretation, have been arranged for