Wargames Are A Necessity For Addressing New Challenges

According to Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, today, the Defense Department faces a similar climate to the interwar years of the 1920s and 1930s, with technological change and confined spending, wargaming will need to be revitalized to address future threats.

Though wargaming is ongoing, the information garnered is not being used by the people in position to act upon it. Overall, current joint wargaming demonstrates a lack of cohesion and an absence of any direct link between the insights gained from wargaming and the department’s programmatic action.

As the United States faces growing threats from Russia, North Korea, and China, wargames will prove all the more necessary to prepare for strategic challenges requiring joint, multi-dimensional approaches.