Wargaming Fourth-Generation Warfare, September 2006
Information
Date
September 2006
Summary
Over the past few years, the Wargaming Department (WGD) at the Naval War College (NWC) has observed a trend: its game sponsors have been turning away from traditional force-on-force gaming, toward increased emphasis on exploring issues related to novel command-and-control structures, information operations, irregular warfare, maritime security, and inter-agency coordination. All of these new interests reflect, in one way or another, the emergence of what is termed “Fourth-Generation Warfare” (4GW), a networked, highly informationalized process in which enemies attempt to evade or neutralize the overwhelming conventional military superiority of the United States and its allies through irregular and asymmetric methods. The NWC asked CNA to work with its staff to develop gaming techniques to address these warfare issues more effectively. We approached this problem along several avenues of research.