observation posts
Elevated watching points
Observation posts are positions from which military personnel or others monitor an area—watching for enemy movement, gathering intelligence, or directing fire.
The term applies to any designated lookout point, from a foxhole with a clear sightline to a fortified tower: The scouts established observation posts along the ridge.
Also used figuratively for any vantage point for watching.
- forward observersPersonnel directing remote strikes
- lookoutWatcher or vista point
- outpostRemote military station
- forward operating baseMilitary outpost near action
- scoutsInformation gatherers ahead
watchtower · guard tower · radar stations · reconnaissance · no man's land · enemy lines · situational awareness · sentinel · defensive positions · crow's nest · bird's eye view · high ground · blind · monitoring · early warning · garrisons · terrain analysis · security checkpoints
- military base partsmess hall, armory, barracks, watchtower, gates
- civil defenseair raid shelters, civil defense, fallout shelters, air raid sirens, bomb shelters
- Cold War SitesBerlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Iron Curtain, Brandenburg Gate, Kremlin
- Korean DMZDMZ, 38th parallel, demarcation line, armistice line, ceasefire line
- Reconnaissancerecon, scouting, recce, recon team, lookout
- Western Fronttrenches, battlefields, Ypres, Somme, Verdun
observation postsfiring positions
trench lines · battle stations · gun emplacements · command posts · supply depots
observation postscommand centers
Facilities directing large-scale operations
broadcast stations · command posts · headquarters · dispatch centers
observation, post, observe, observer, observed, observing, observable, observatory, observant