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ISP's Commission VII in bringing about such progress would be 
similarly apparent. . 
Specific Factors that have. influenced Progress in Photo 
Interpretation 
1. The impact of World War II's Photo Interpretation Trainees on 
the Post-War Era 
Shortly after the end of World War II a very significant develop- 
ment occurred in relation to the increased use of remote sensing 
throughout the globe. For example, in the United States at that 
time there were at least.1,000 photo interpretation officers 
(more than 600 of them from the Navy alone) released from active 
duty to return to their civil pursuits. These were individuals 
who had been recruited during the war, commissioned as reserve 
officers and then trained and given a great deal of operational 
experience in various aspects of aerial photographic intelligence. 
Upon completion of the war the vast majority of them returned to 
civil life to work in the professions from which they had been 
recruited. Most of these professions dealt, in one way or another, 
with the earth's natural resources-professions such as geology, 
forestry, range management, soil science, hydrology, and the 
agricultural and engineering sciences. Almost all of these indi- 
viduals had the following combination of attributes: (a) they 
possessed a B.S. degree in one of the above listed disciplines; 
(b) they possessed good qualities of leadership, much of it having 
been developed during their service as military officers; (c) by 
virtue of their military training and experience in studying 
aerial photos to assess "trafficability conditions" (i.e., con- 
ditions governing the movement of personnel and various kinds of 
mechanized equipment), they were well aware of both the uses and 
the limitations of aerial photos in assessing certain kinds of 
information that would be of interest also to the manager of 
natural resources (e.g., information with respect to terrain 
analysis, vegetation identification, and soil mapping); (d) they 
were young, vigorous and eager to build on their military-acquired 
experience, if possible, as they returned to pick up the threads 
of their pre-war careers; and (e) they were well qualified, and 
usually well motivated, to teach others how to interpret aerial 
photographs. 
The impact of these individuals on the developments of remote 
sensing in the United States during the post-war era can scarcely 
be overemphasized. Reportedly other nations benefited in a similar 
manner as their military-trained reservists returned to civil 
life. 
As listed below there were at least four other important training- 
related developments that occurred in a great many countries during 
the post-World War II era with respect to remote sensing. * 
  
*By this point in my paper it will be apparent that the term 
"remote sensing" is sometimes used. instead of "photo interpretation" 
for the following reason: photo interpretation pertains specifi- 
cally to the study of photographic images for purpose of identi- 
fying objects and judging their significance; the broader term, 
remote sensing, has come to mean all of this, plus data acquisition 
as well.