Friday Afternoon, January 2023, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
“You are in my ZOC–stop moving that counter!” My colleague Rob yelled as I pushed one of my Panzer units past a Russian-held hex. I was perplexed. I did not know what “ZOC” meant or what a “counter” was. Rob explained, “ZOC” means ‘zone of control,’ and if your counter enters my ZOC, it must stop moving.” He continued, “And a counter displays a unit’s information–how far it can move, its attack value, and so on.” In hindsight, I realized Rob was teaching me the basics of wargaming.
Before this point, I had never encountered wargames. I had recently retired as an infantry Marine-turned-8999 (sergeant major) and was now teaching at the Marine Corps Center for Learning and Faculty Development (MCCLFD). Outside of my infantry career, I spent many years teaching in military education and understood the importance of other tools to develop decision-making skills, like tactical decision games, ethical decision games, and decision-forcing cases. It did not take many turns playing Battle for Moscow, the game referenced above, to realize I had found another teaching tool that offered immense learning value.
Battle for Moscow
Credit: https://shorturl.at/oVUrs
I have learned much on my journey in wargaming, coming a long way since Rob yelled, “ZOC!”
Indeed, over the last year and a half of working in the educational wargaming space, I have had the opportunity to attend three different professional wargaming courses and to develop five original boardgames and wargames. I have also worked closely with several formal learning centers (FLCs) in the Marine Corps’ Training Command to help them implement wargaming. Unfortunately, what I have observed at these centers has been concerning. FLCs do not use educational wargames to their full potential. Furthermore, many educators at FLCs have little to no knowledge of wargames and their benefits, nor do they know how to implement wargames in their courses.
According to Appleget and Burks in The Craft of Wargaming, educational wargames exist to support the learning objectives of a course.[1] However, this is far from what I have observed at FLCs. Instead, wargaming is typically a “bolt-on” event that may or may not support materials taught in the classroom. Many attempts at implementing wargames seem frantic and half-baked. I have heard staff at two FLCs remark that they are “wargaming just because we were told to.”
This haphazard, uninformed approach may have resulted from then-Commandant David Berger’s tasking to Training and Education Command (TECOM), the parent command of Training Command, to implement wargaming no later than 1 July 2023, as outlined in his January 2023 Training and Education 2030.[2] Although a very tall order given the tight timeline, General Berger’s tasking breathed new life into wargaming in the Marine Corps. Still, implementation has missed the mark so far, at least at FLCs.
To address these challenges, the Marine Corps must educate the educators at FLCs, helping them see the benefits of wargames and devise ways to implement them at their schools. Otherwise, if things continue as is, we will miss out on precious opportunities for Marines to hone their decision-making and critical thinking skills. Before getting to solutions, it will help readers better understand the problem by first exploring the three major obstacles, as I see them, to successfully implementing wargames at FLCs. These are: (1) a general lack of knowledge about educational wargaming among FLC staff and faculty, (2) resistance from curriculum developers, and (3) using games that provide little or suboptimal learning value.
Lack of Knowledge among FLC Staff and Faculty
Over the past year, I have received numerous emails from FLCs and have been approached in person multiple times with questions about wargaming. These interactions highlight a clear lack of understanding among FLC faculty and staff about educational wargames and how to effectively use them. Below, I will define educational wargames and provide a few suggestions on how FLCs can incorporate them.
Educational wargames, first and foremost, are a teaching tool. They allow us to explore human decision-making within the context of a subject to meet desired learning goals. This statement reinforces what Appleget and Burks assert, that educational wargaming exists to increase student knowledge of the subject being taught.[3] Though educational wargames are intended to educate, they remain about decision-making.
As far as implementing wargames at FLCs, FLC staff can do this in two ways. First, a wargame can form the centerpiece of an entire curriculum and serve as the vehicle to meet learning objectives. Second, wargames can help meet or reinforce learning objectives. It is important to note that, as students meet learning objectives through educational wargames, they make decisions within the context of what they are learning. This is a unique feature of educational wargaming. For example, while teaching a class on the concept of friction, I used the game Air, Land, and Sea to help students understand friction as described in Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1 Warfighting. The students repeatedly experienced friction as they played, and I helped them connect these experiences to the learning objective. This is precisely how educational wargames increase student comprehension and demonstrate their value. Facilitators can literally see, in real-time, how students use information taught in the classroom to make decisions in a game. Then the facilitator can aid students in linking their experiences to the learning objectives.
Staff Resistance
Many curriculum developers hold a “this is the way we’ve always done it attitude” and resist adopting new ideas and methods. This view holds true for wargaming. Thankfully, we can start to address this challenge through wargaming “conversion” experiences, where naysayers and doubters experience first-hand the benefits of educational wargaming. It is key that FLC leadership, uniformed staff, and instructor cadres openly participate in these events and make them a priority. Otherwise, resisters will simply drag their feet until the next change of command or until the excitement for wargaming dies out.
Even if a conversion experience goes well, some curriculum developers may still argue that wargames consume too much time or are too complicated for students and staff. We must address this key point. When someone says the word “wargame” at a FLC, Marines often think of Sebastian Bae’s Littoral Commander. Littoral Commander is a great game with a lot of depth, but it often requires several hours to learn and play, and time is always a premium at FLCs. Therefore, we must explore less complex games to stay within the tight time constraints of the curriculum. FLCs can use titles like Archie’s War: The Battle for Guadalcanal, Onitama, or microgames like Sebastian Bae’s Callsign – all quick to learn and play.
Callsign
Credit: CNA
FLCs can also develop simple games tailored to their learning objectives, resources, and constraints. As one example, I developed the microgame Shoot, Move, Communicate (SMC) to teach players the importance of forward units maintaining communication with their headquarters. Players win by developing an effective communications plan while disrupting their opponent’s. This shows just one example of the game’s use. Additionally, you can tailor it to teach other valuable concepts like critical thinking, friction, and maneuver.
Shoot, Move, Communicate
Credit: Author
Games with Little or Suboptimal Learning Value
Despite the challenges described above, FLCs have incorporated some wargames. However, the games being played often provide little learning value or prove less than ideal for the target audience. For example, a staff member at a unit that trains pilots recently called me, asking whether the command’s wargaming program was meeting the mark. He explained that the students in their Marines Awaiting Training Platoon had been playing Memoir ‘44. Memoir ‘44 is a World War II game focused mostly on ground combat.[4]
I asked the officer, “Why did you choose that game? What are you trying to achieve by playing it?” He seemed unsure how to answer, but stated, “Well, we are trying to make our student-officers better decision-makers and critical thinkers.” I explained that many commercially available, air-focused wargames exist and that these would better suit his students. Such titles could kill two birds with one stone, teaching students about various aspects of air operations while still sharpening their critical thinking and decision-making skills. To that end, I recommended Undaunted: Battle of Britain, explaining that it was quick-to-learn, easy-to-play, and comparable to Memoir ‘44 in difficulty. I am unsure if he took my recommendation, but everyone at FLCs must understand: When we use wargames in an educational setting, we must link them to what we teach. Otherwise, we risk wasting precious learning opportunities and playing games just to play games.
Undaunted: Battle of Britain
Credit: https://shorturl.at/xyiVx
Where Do We Stand Now?
The Marine Corps has established a Wargaming Directorate at Marine Corps University (MCU) as part of the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future War. Led by retired Marine Colonel Tim Barrick, the directorate has made great strides in implementing wargaming at MCU. However, beyond its online wargame tournaments and Wargaming Cloud, the directorate’s reach generally does not extend far beyond Quantico. Similarly, according to Mr. Barrick, MCU will soon offer a course on wargaming, but it will focus primarily on MCU faculty development.
Also in Quantico, the Corps recently opened the General Robert B. Neller Center for Wargaming and Analysis. As the name suggests, the center focuses on analytical wargaming. Analytical wargaming differs significantly from educational wargaming. It is used to examine future concepts, test courses of action, or answer specific problems brought forward by a sponsor.[5] The center, it seems, will remain focused on analytical wargaming, while perhaps offering some Marines a chance to do experiential, or training, wargames.[6]
As for my own organization, MCCLFD currently teaches a small wargaming package in its Facilitate Learning Experiences Course. While better than nothing, it does not fully address how to use educational wargames or other types of wargames for that matter.
So, where does all this leave Training Command and its FLCs? I recommend the Marine Corps create a course available to all of Training and Education Command. This course would teach FLC staff and cadre how to create, facilitate, and implement wargaming in their settings. Such a course would greatly increase wargaming literacy, combat resistance, and help FLC staff make the most of wargames at their schools. Over time, the graduates of this course would not only support FLCs and Training Command but could also lend their talents to projects and efforts at Education Command, the Krulak Center, Neller Center, and even the fleet, helping develop all Marines. So, what are we waiting for? It is game time.
Author Bio: Nick Galvan is the Deputy Officer-in-Charge of the Marine Corps Center for Learning and Faculty Development-East. He retired from the Marine Corps in 2020 and cites his greatest accomplishment as leading a rifle squad in India Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, during Operation Iraqi Freedom I.
End Notes
[1] Jeff Appleget and Robert Burks, The Craft of Wargaming: A Detailed Planning Guide for
Defense Planners and Analysts. (Naval Institute Press, 2020), 5.
[2] David H. Berger, Training and Education 2030. (https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Docs/Training%20and%20Education%202030.pdf, 2023), 15.
[3] Appleget and Burks, The Craft of Wargaming, 5.
[4] An air expansion exists for Memoir ‘44. The core game costs around $50 and the expansion runs $40. Additionally, Memoir ‘44’s depth of gameplay is limited, and with the expansion comes more rules, which takes more time to learn.
[5] Appleget and Burks, The Craft of Wargaming, 6.
[6] Todd South, “New Marine Center Aims for Immersive, Realistic Approach to Wargaming.”
Marine Corps Times. June 5, 2024. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2024/06/05/new-marine-center-aims-for-immersive-realistic-approach-to-wargaming/.
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