The Dissertation: Mapping the Dhofar Rebellion

As my time in Scotland wanes, I've been both busy and distracted. I've noted some of my projects in some of my recent posts. I'm not done with the Operation Highlander blog by any means, but my posts will probably be lean over the course of the remaining weeks.

One of the projects I've worked on during Operation Bold Brigand, that I haven't really spoken of until now, has been an effort to use some of my favorite open source geographic information systems to map some of the locations of the Dhofar Rebellion. Most notable among these has been the Hornbeam Line, which I've mentioned previously. The first six of eight outposts were fairly easy to find, while the remaining two gave me a bit of trouble until I started thinking outside the box. I was able to find the remainder this weekend, and assembled a slide deck of the satellite imagery to use as a work sample. Pictured is the Reef patrol base, which is described thusly...

Location: PB Reef
Decimal Coordinates: 17.005118° N, 53.743272° E
MGRS: 39QYU9208782167
URL: (click)
Remarks: Displays distinct square seen elsewhere at PB Killi Candidate Site #1 and PB Bole.

... and posted primarily because it's the best photo from the various photos of the outposts in question. I've also been able to locate a couple of the small outposts from the accompanying Damavand Line (here and here), as evidenced by the adjacent helipads.

So, between mapping the Dhofar Rebellion, applying for jobs, enjoying my time in Orkney, preparing for graduation, finally getting around to adjusting to Google Reader's premature demise, working (slowly) on post-master's degree professional certifications, the Orcadian Gordon Highlanders Accountability Project, additional writing, and Arabic study, I've had less time for blogging than I'd prefer. I should have a few surprises for the next few weeks, though. Stay tuned.