There is always the low-tech alternative. Paper maps serve as the fallback when the wonders of modern technology fail. To ensure that soldiers have the maps they need when they need them, topographical analysts of the 1st Cavalry Division's 123rd Engineering Detachment create maps on demand in support of the brigade's needs.

"As long as data exists for the area in question we can create a map to any scale and size up to 36 inches x 106 inches, said Sgt. Eric Brown, the detachment's platoon sergeant.

Brown said that all of the information used to create the maps comes from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.

"All of the topographical information and street names come from NIMA," he said. "We use the information they provide to then include things like Forward Operating Base names, route names, brigade boundaries ... things like that."

The maps created by the detachment serve a variety of purposes. Larger maps hang from the walls of tactical operation centers with overlays indicating troop movements

and future battle plans. Smaller, 8 inch x 11 inch maps serve platoon leaders and convoy commanders as they use them to brief soldiers on future missions.

"We basically create two types of maps here," said Pfc. Richard Gateley. "We have the Controlled Image Base maps, which are the highly detailed satellite images. We can provide maps that can contain details all the way down to a particular building and the immediate surroundings. These types of maps are mostly used when planning raids and cordon and searches, so commanders on the ground have a visual idea of what the area they are going to look like."

Gateley said the other type of map the detachment creates, the Arc Digitized Raster Graphic, is the one most people would recognize.

"The ADRG is your basic topographical map," he said. "This is the map that usually hangs from the walls in the (Tactical Operating Center) indicating the breakdown of zones boundaries and high level overview type information a planning staff would use."

With only one year in the Army, Gateley credited the knowledge and experience of his platoon sergeant with making the team successful in dealing with the challenges such an environment creates.

"Sgt. Brown has been doing this for over three years," he said. "So he is able to help myself and other, less experienced members of our team. We are able to meet the demands of this environment."

"This is a good team, very hard working, and they have really stepped up to the challenge," Brown said. "But I think even more then their work ethic, my team is driven by the knowledge that the work they do is important.

"That missions can potentially fail based on the information we provide or if we failed to deliver a product in the time frame needed. That keeps them motivated to be the absolute best they can," Brown said.