Newport, R.I. - The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) Wargaming Department hosted the 11th iteration of its “Wargaming 101” introductory course, onboard Naval Station Newport, January 16-25.
Designed to provide critical insight into how and why leaders make decisions in the context of maritime warfare, the academic course offers value to wargaming creators, contributors, and consumers.
“Wargaming is mostly used here as an applied research method to gain insights on complex military problems confronting senior military leaders," said Shawn Burns, Ed.D., Wargaming 101 course director and NWC Wargaming Department professor. He also added that it can be an educational method to reinforce classroom lectures on operational-level factors and functions. “Our Wargaming Introductory Course is intended to share with course students how NWC uses wargaming for analytic and educational purposes.”
Originally designed to introduce and train incoming faculty and staff, Wargaming 101 has been restructured to accommodate outside organizations, including non-DoD entities such as the U.S. Congress, State Department, and U.S. Coast Guard that recognize wargaming as a useful tool for analysis of national security issues.
This year’s iteration provided a forum for 36 participants - representatives from various Department of Defense (DoD) entities, NWC faculty and staff members, and government civilians representing various non-DOD agencies – to learn how wargaming can be effectively applied to gain insights into complex military problems of interest to senior decision makers.
“In an increasingly complex world, we need more wargames, and with this course, I am now better positioned to help leaders sponsor and integrate wargames into their operation’s activities, said Vice Adm. Gardner Howe III (ret.), professor with the College of Maritime Operational Warfare (CMOW) and an attendee of the course.
Participating organizations included entities such as U.S. Space Command, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF), Joint Staff J7, Office of Defense Operations and Policy, Naval Surface Warfare Center - Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD), Naval Sea Systems Command/Naval Surface Warfare Center (NAVSEA/NSWC), Joint Reserve Force of the Defense Logistics Agency (JRFDLA), Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport (NUWC-NPT), and others.
Several other attendees offered feedback on how the course would assist with their regular duties.
Stephanie Thompson of NAVEUR-NAVAF stated, “this course is directly related to my responsibilities in wargaming and planning. As such, it has given me a more realistic understanding of what a wargame is, why and when it ought to be a tool that is used, and how immense the undertaking can be.”
She plans to use the training to begin designing war games while reaching back to NWC faculty for continued guidance.
Andy Cox of the USCG Office of Counterterrorism and Defense Operations and Policy (CG-ODO) said, "I expect that this course will greatly help our ability to refine the kind of problems our leadership wants to get after for future games, tabletop exercises, etc.,” adding that he plans to keep building on knowledge and skills gained to give the USCG headquarters a base level of familiarity with wargaming and what it can do for homeland security in-house.
NWC delivers excellence in education, research, and outreach, informing today’s decision-makers and educating tomorrow’s leaders. The college provides educational experiences and learning opportunities that develop students’ ability to anticipate and prepare strategically for the future, strengthen the foundations of peace, and create a decisive warfighting advantage.