Army Map Service The Army Map Service of the US Army Corps of Engineers , was the premier map making agency of the US Department of Defense from 1941 - 1968 . The major task of the Army Map Service ( AMS ) was the compilation , publication and distribution of military topographic maps and related products required by the Armed Forces of the United States . The AMS was also involved in the preparation of extraterrestrial maps of satellite and planetary bodies ; the preparation of national intelligence studies ; the establishment of world geodetic control networks by both satellite and conventional triangulation methods ; and the logistic military planning of Corps of Engineer items . Another major responsibility of the AMS is to maintain the largest geodetic and topographic data libraries for the Department of Defense . World War I . " The Army Map Service had its inception in a warehouse located at Ft . McNair ( formerly the Army War College ) , where space was set aside in 1910 to accommodate a reproduction unit and lithographic school . The combined elements formed the Central Map Reproduction Plant ( CMRP ) . With the advent of World War I in 1917 , the CMRP was re - organized and expanded by Major Charles H . Ruth in anticipation of a map supply crisis and was renamed the Engineer Reproduction Plant ( EMP ) . " In 1910 , the Map Reproduction Plant was given warehouse space at Ft . McNair , to accommodate the map reproduction unit of the Corps of Engineers . Ultimately named the Central Map Reproduction unit , it incorporated a lithographic school and 18 assigned military personnel . After WWI , this would be renamed the Engineer Reproduction Plant . The ERP was noted for experimentation on cartographic and photolithographic process es and media . They also experimentation in aerial photogrammetry . A number of US Geological Survey employees were assigned to the US Army Corps of Engineers 29th Engineers , a map organization , during World War I . Major G . S . Smith commanded part of the 29th Engineers , a map making and topographical unit , with 53 officers and 146 men transferred from the US Geological Survey . Thirteen additional USGS topographer s were assigned to the Coast Artillery of the US Army as “ orienteur officer s . ” When the 2nd Brigade of Coast Artillery was formed , the military made a similar request for more USGS personnel , but the order was denied as these men were needed for the US Army Corps of Engineers . After World War I , the 29th Engineer ( Topo ) Battalion performed the Nicaragua Canal Survey . It was at this time that Benjamin B . Talley , later a Brigadier General , invented a portable stereocomparagraph for map making . World War II . The Army Map Service was formed during World War II from the consolidation of the Engineer Reproduction Plant , the Library and the Cartographic Section of the War Department General Staff . Initially , many of the maps produced were revisions of existing maps . By the middle of the war , the cartographic work was changed to medium and small scale maps utilizing larger scale native maps as source materials . By the end of the war , considerable effort was being applied to large scale mapping by stereo - photogrammetric methods . Between 1941 and 1945 , the Army Map Service prepared 40 , 000 maps of all types , covering 400 , 000 square miles of the earth ' s surface . Over 500 million copies were produced during the war . The North African Campaign alone required 1 , 000 different maps with a total of 10 million copies . The Normandy invasion required 3 , 000 different maps with a total of 70 million copies . Similar commitments were filled for the Pacific and Far East operations . Maps of all types were needed , from the strategic level maps to tactical level maps . " Indeed , General George S . Patton claims to have planned Third Army movements by using a Michelin tourist road map of Europe , his knowledge of terrain , and gut - level feeling that tanks could negotiate the ground William the Conqueror had crossed nine centuries before . " The Corps of Engineers mapping output differs from general mapping agencies , such as the USGS , in that it is usually at a much larger scale ( design / construction ) and is project - specific ; however , the mapping procedures used since WWII are not much different . Between 1949 and 1951 , standardization of military mapping was agreed to between Canada , Great Britain and the US , and was expanded to NATO , SEATO and CENTO countries as well . This involved the application of the UTM to over 10 , 000 different maps covering 400 , 000 square miles and the printing of over 90 , 000 , 000 copies . Korean War . The Army Map Service distributed 750 , 000 maps to all services during the first two weeks of the Korean conflict . In the following two weeks 5 million maps were printed , while in the first four weeks of the conflict , the Far East Command printed and distributed 10 million maps . In 1954 , the 29th Engineer Topographic Battalion assumed responsibility for Korea and Okinawa and moved to Tokyo , Japan . There it absorbed the 64th Engineer Battalion and continued its mission of providing topographic support to U . S . and Allied forces in the Pacific Theatre , particularly to combat commands in Southeast Asia . In May 1966 , the unit ( less its survey element ) moved to Ford Island , Hawaii and was the primary map production unit for U . S . Forces in Vietnam . In January 1969 , the unit was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation by the CINC , U . S . Army Pacific . A second Meritorious Unit Commendation was awarded in 1972 . Inter - America Geodetic Survey . The Corps of Engineers also participated in the Inter - American Geodetic Survey for mapping Central and South America . As part of this research many poorer nations could develop their resources . “ In Cuba , for instance , an extensive water table survey by IAGS made it possible to develop 500 wells . ” Vietnam Conflict . From the outbreak of the operations in Vietnam through December 1966 , the Army Map Service printed and shipped more than 200 million maps . " Mapmaking provided another area for engineer innovation in Vietnam . Up to date map and topographic information were key ingredients to military operations in Vietnam , especially the placement of artillery fire . During the early stages of the war , artillery units normally supported ground units from fixed positions into which ground control had been extended . Surveys enabled the artillery to ensure the accuracy of fire , but as artillery units moved to more remote areas it became more difficult to support friendly units because surveys were lacking . In early 1967 , Lt . Col . Arthur L . Benton , the former chief of the Mapping and Intelligence Section of the Engineer Sections , United States Army Vietnam , who had returned to Vietnam on temporary duty from the Army Map Service in Washington , DC , developed a system known as photogrammetric positioning . By tying aerial photograph s to base map s , artillery surveyor s could readily obtain azimuth and location of firing positions . Working with the photographs and overprint of a map , aerial observer s could give accurate references to targets . Tests proved favorable , and a system was in place after Operation Cedar Falls . " Special Foreign Activities . The Army Map Service special foreign activities are carried out by the 64th Engineer Battalion ( Base Topographic ) . Its assigned mission is to provide AMS with required geodetic , mapping control and field classification data which are used in the production of various scale topographic maps . The battalion operated in Iran , Ethiopia ( including the Ethiopia – United States Mapping Mission ) and Liberia , and some of the most rugged terrain in the world . Environmental conditions within the areas of operation created physical hazards such as miles of desert , blinding sand storms that imperil health and damage delicate instruments , mountains that range up to 15 , 000 feet above sea level , and steaming jungles with wild animals , dangerous reptiles and insects . These were routine field conditions for the men of the 64th . Space Age . During the early years of the Space Age , geodetic investigations by the USACE determined the earth ’ s size and shape , and included precise geodetic and astronomic surveys in many remote areas of the Pacific , the Arctic , Asia and South America . Work by Dr . Irene Fischer helped determine the parallax of the moon , and her geoid studies helped in investigation the lingering effects of the last Ice Age . The Corps of Engineers participated in the VANGUARD artificial satellite program with the US Army Signal Corps and US Navy to obtain astronomic , geodetic and gravimetric observations to determine the size and shape of the earth , intercontinental relationships and gravity fields . Continuing this work , Dr . Alden Colvocoresses ( 1923 - 2007 ) developed the Space Oblique Mercator projection , which was used with the Landsat satellite to make the first satellite produced map of the US . The AMS and other agencies , split off to form the US Army " Engineer Research and Development Laboratories ( UASERDL ) in 1947 ; then evolved into next into the " Geodesy , Intelligence and Mapping Research and Development Agency ( GIMRADA ) in 1960 ; then the " Engineer Topographic Laboratories " or " ETL " in 1967 ; and then became the Topographic Engineering Center ( TEC ) , which came to be housed at the Humphreys Engineer Center , Alexandria , Virginia . TEC did research in such fields as terrain analysis and geospatial data generation ; developed imagery exploitation , rapid prototyping , and other systems ; and conducted operations in areas such as geospatial information , crisis support , urban studies , and historical photo environmental analysis . Reflecting TEC ' s growing responsibilities in more diverse and technologically sophisticated areas , its name was changed to the Army Geospatial Center in 2009 . It continues to support both military and civil works activities . AMS was redesignated the U . S . Army Topographic Command ( USATC ) on September 1 , 1968 and continued as an independent organization until 1972 , when it was merged into the new Defense Mapping Agency ( DMA ) and redesignated as the DMA Topographic Center ( DMATC ) .