I'm looking for a website that can help me track/graph the movement of "defense forces" around the world.

November 6, 2009 4:23 AM

I'm looking for a website that can help me track/graph the movement of "defense forces" around the world.

Basically, I've been thinking/reading a lot about Lebanon lately, and as a sort of experiment in this sense, I want to see if there would be any way that I could check every few days on the UNIFIL dispatches there.

I mean, is this sort of thing public in any way? Are there creepy military-buff websites that do this sort of thing? Even if it's not too fancy--brief, one-sentence descriptions, even--it would help a lot. Of course, monitoring troop movements outside of Lebanon would be welcome as well.

Thanks!

posted by parkbench to Law & Government (2 answers total)

I suspect that you will have a hard time obtaining this information, as information about troop location and movement is usually privileged. Publishing it in anything approaching real-time would be considered a security risk by most military outfits.
posted by proj at 5:21 AM on November 6, 2009

It's definitely against OPSEC (operations security) for this kind of information to be published, until after movements have been completed - you'll probably be able to find out where troops/ships have been, but not where they are going or where they are currently. Summaries such as this are available, which describe the general location of ships underway. There is also a more detailed weekly map released to the public that visually depicts ship movement, but I forget where that can be found, looking for it now...
posted by illenion at 8:18 AM on November 6, 2009