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A staging area is a location where organisms, people, vehicles, equipment or material are assembled before use.

[edit] Definition and usage

[edit] In construction

A staging area is a designated area where vehicles, supplies, and construction equipment are positioned for access and use to a construction site.

[edit] In ecology

The resting and feeding places of migratory birds are referred to as staging areas.

[edit] In entertainment

Staging areas are an area designated for setting up parades and other elaborate presentations.

[edit] In databases

Staging areas are used in databases as a place to store temporary data for import. By filling this staging tables with import data you can check and alter this data before committing it to the final production datatables.

[edit] In the military

USMC convoys staging prior to going north into Iraq in March of 2004

In military uses, a staging area is a place where troops or equipment in transit are assembled or processed.^[1] The US Department of Defense uses these definitions:

(DOD) 1. Amphibious or airborne-A general locality between the mounting area and the objective of an amphibious or airborne expedition, through which the expedition or parts thereof pass after mounting, for refueling, regrouping of ships, and/or exercise, inspection, and redistribution of troops.

(DOD) 2. Other movements-A general locality established for the concentration of troop units and transient personnel between movements over the lines of communications. Also called SA. See also airborne; marshalling; stage; staging.

—^[2]

Often and historically this military staging area has been termed a point d'appui, which point is often on high ground and sometimes coincident with a significant prehistoric monument, as in the case of Catto Long Barrow in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Unlike normal bases, the facilities of a staging area are temporary, mainly because for a certain time it will hold much more troops and material than would be reasonable in peacetime.

Militaries use staging areas to deploy military units, aircraft and warships plus their materiel ahead of an attack or invasion. In former times this used to be generally the border area of one's own country, but in recent wars (Gulf War, Kosovo War, Iraq War) it may also be the border area of another unrelated country granting access.

[edit] In incident management

Staging areas are established for temporary location of available emergency responder resources.

[edit] In space exploration

In space exploration, the area where final assembly is done on space vehicles before they are moved out to their launch pad.

[edit] See also

• Military logistics

[edit] References

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