Toward a History-Based Doctrine for Wargaming

Abstract

While most human endeavors must deal with adversity or overcome opposition, warfare holds a unique place. When people decide to wage war against one another, they enter into a "zero-sum game" (for one side to win the other must lose) where the goals are quite literally as important as life and death. Given the stakes and uncertainties, it's not surprising that those who contemplate war developed an early and abiding interest in gaming possible outcomes. In reviewing the evolution of wargaming, Lieutenant Colonel Caffrey shows that it too has been impacted by the familiar factors of fog, friction, and chance-often in ways the game designers or sponsors did not intend or could not envision.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA521381

Entities

People

  • Matthew Caffrey Jr.

Organizations

  • Air and Space Power Journal

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Combat Simulations
  • Doctrine
  • Military Education
  • Military Science
  • Military Training
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Schools
  • Second World War
  • Students
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • War Games
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Game Theory.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies