People under-estimate how difficult geography/ geodesy/ navigation used to be, pre-NAVSTAR GPS. This difficulty was "built-in" to the military defensive posture

People under-estimate how difficult geography/ geodesy/ navigation used to be, pre-NAVSTAR GPS. This difficulty was "built-in" to the military defensive posture/strategy/tactics of many countries, to the extent that simple possession of a GPS receiver was/is a crime. And not a misdemeanor, but a treason level offense. Keep in mind, the programs that evolved into NAVSTAR started in the 50s\60s and the tech specs were pretty much set by 1980, along with the legal framework and military policy regarding it's operation. Ironically, it was some of the systematic weaknesses if the original design that led to it being so much more useful (and accurate) than it was ever intended to be. But it is still a military program, with military style regulations, so it shouldn't be too surprised that some of the 1960's era rules haven't evolved too much. It's more surprising to me that so many of the restrictions have been relaxed. (Even if it's policy playing catch-up practice.)