AI Provides Strategic Coordinates
I have been using this site to reacquaint myself with technology and in the last week, Azure Maps was the new skill I wanted to better understand. I had a work situation where I wanted to convert lat / long to addresses.
To learn, I fired up my Azure instance and created a Maps Instance. I quickly used python to get where I needed to be. Then I wanted to do more, so I decided to mix a prompt with custom map creation. I walked away understanding AzureMaps and Postman for Visual Studio Code. A good time.
Prompt:
what are the 25 most strategic locations to the United States and what are their latitude and longitude
Response:
Certainly, here's the information in the requested format:
Pentagon, Arlington, VA - 38.8719, -77.0563 - Headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Fort Bragg, NC - 35.1415, -79.0077 - One of the largest U.S. Army installations, home to airborne and special operations forces.
Naval Station Norfolk, VA - 36.9470, -76.3089 - Largest naval base in the world, vital for maritime operations.
Cheyenne Mountain Complex, CO - 38.7432, -104.8456 - Houses the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Strategic Command.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM - 35.8782, -106.3095 - Key for nuclear research and weapons development.
Area 51, NV - 37.2350, -115.8111 (Note: Exact location not publicly disclosed) - Highly classified U.S. Air Force facility.
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), VA - 38.9600, -77.3690 - Manages reconnaissance satellites for national security.
National Security Agency (NSA), MD - 39.0968, -76.7601 - Responsible for signals intelligence and information assurance.
CIA Headquarters, Langley, VA - 38.9513, -77.1090 - Central hub for the Central Intelligence Agency.
NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL - 28.3922, -80.6077 - Launch site for human spaceflight and exploration.
Hanford Site, WA - 46.5497, -119.6385 - Former plutonium production site, now a major environmental cleanup area.
Fort Knox, KY - 37.9168, -85.9560 - Houses the U.S. Bullion Depository, holding a large portion of the U.S. gold reserves.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve, LA and TX - Various locations; no specific coordinates provided - Emergency fuel storage to address disruptions in oil supply.
Nellis Air Force Base, NV - 36.2360, -115.0344 - Primary training location for U.S. Air Force combat aircraft.
Grand Coulee Dam, WA - 47.9631, -118.9721 - Critical for hydroelectric power generation and water resource management.
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NY - 40.7069, -74.0113 - Financial hub with global economic significance.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH - 39.8256, -84.0560 - Important for research, development, and acquisition.
The Alamo, TX - 29.4259, -98.4861 - Symbolic historic site representing the fight for Texas independence.
Hoover Dam, NV and AZ - 36.0159, -114.7375 - Key for hydroelectric power generation and water resource management.
Fort Detrick, MD - 39.4189, -77.4109 - Center for biological and chemical defense research.
Y-12 National Security Complex, TN - 35.9786, -84.3077 - Enriches uranium for nuclear weapons and related activities.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, VA - 36.9662, -76.2578 - Critical transportation link for naval activities on the East Coast.
Port of Los Angeles, CA - 33.7427, -118.2611 - Largest container port in the U.S., crucial for trade and commerce.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL - 28.3922, -80.6077 - Launch site for military and civilian space missions.
The White House, Washington, D.C. - 38.8977, -77.0365 - Official residence and workplace of the President of the United States.
I then mapped out the top 10 with the help of Microsoft Excel and Postman to create the right URL. It’s not a great map, but here are the top 10 centered on the US.
I then saw 4 clustered in DC and decided to recenter, zoom and change pin sizes to show the 4 in DC:
All said, this took me a little time to learn, but I got there. I had to figure out Postman, the Azure formats and the deployment. I feel better about the shortening amount of time it is taking to learn this.
I am concerned about how easily GPT starts spitting out strategic locations and coordinates.
Last - the cover page photo was made in Adobe Firefly.
