Conversations with Wargamers

Introduction

The War Gaming Department (WGD) of the Naval War College (NWC) asked CNA to carry out the Wargaming Strategic Linkage project to explore new ideas for designing and carrying out wargames with significant play at two or more levels of the classic military trinity: strategic, operational, and tactical. The project team undertook to explore how other prominent Department of Defense (DoD) organizations and civilian contractors and consultants thought about and dealt with the issues related to this topic.

This paper documents the notes we took during several conversations with prominent wargaming practitioners as we explored the issues associated with wargaming strategic linkage. It also details the more substantive ideas and concepts we developed during those conversations. The major results and recommendations of the overall study are documented in a separate CNA research memorandum.

*Originally published in January 2009, this paper was reprinted in December 2024.