NPS Wargaming Center - Naval Warfare Studies Institute

NPS Wargaming Center

Mission

The NPS Wargaming Center is committed to being the vanguard of wargaming education, equipping our nation's warfighters and international partners with the critical skills and analytical aptitude necessary to excel in the dynamic realm of modern conflict. Through the fusion of operational experience and cutting-edge research, the Center will tackle the most pressing challenges faced by our forces, delivering actionable insights and innovative solutions. As a key player within the Naval Education Enterprise, we will relentlessly pursue advancements in wargaming methodologies and technologies, ensuring our Fleet remains at the forefront of military wargaming innovation. Our unwavering focus will be on designing and executing data-driven, mobile wargames that provide our sponsors with the decisive strategic advantages needed to outmaneuver adversaries and safeguard our nation's interests.

Services

Provide DoD, allies and partners:
• Access to wargaming education through the NPS Wargaming Mobile Education Team (MET).
• The opportunity to sponsor an NPS student wargaming team to design, develop, conduct and analyze a wargame for their organization in the 11-week resident course.
• Support, advice, and assistance from NPS wargaming experts as organizations stand up inherent wargaming capabilities and capacities.
• Execute Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) directed, Title 10 wargames that explore opportunities to strengthen relationships with Allies and Partners.

Wargaming

Our unwavering focus will be on designing and executing data-driven, mobile wargames that provide our sponsors with the decisive strategic advantages needed to outmaneuver adversaries and safeguard our nation's interests.

o   Internal Red Cell Development
o   Cloud based system to future game expansion
o   NPS Adjudication Solution/Model
o   Exploring keeping some equipment forward

Executed Games

conference image

Northwest Pacific Wargame 2024 (NWPAC24) was a Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) directed, Title 10 wargame that explored opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance, enhance bilateral coordination mechanisms, and inform alliance naval campaign priorities. From July 2023 to June 2024, Naval Postgraduate School in partnership with the Naval War College designed and executed Northwest Pacific Wargame 2024, and provided data-driven results to meet Commander Pacific Fleet War Game objectives.

Upcoming Games

USAEUR (Germany)

C6F/NAVEUR (Italy)

NWPAC25 (Japan)

Student Opportunities

Travel to “Away” games to assist in execution
Assist in development of NPS Wargaming capabilities
Fulfill required credits through wargaming classes
Develop relationships with foreign military
Capstone and PhD Thesis

NPS Mobile Education Teams

The NPS Wargaming Mobile Education Team (MET) stood up in 2011 to provide organizations the opportunity to educate a wargaming cadre to design, develop, conduct and analyze wargames through the Basic Analytic Wargaming Course (BAWC). The BAWC is a 5-day course (40 contact hours) built around hands-on practical exercises coordinated with the sponsoring organization.
The BAWC provides two benefits to the sponsoring organization:
• Training a cadre of the organization’s personnel as analytic wargamers who can design, develop, conduct and analyze wargames for their command.
• Leading students through a wargaming workshop as they are learning basic wargaming fundamentals. The workshop is focused on a wargame that the sponsoring organization needs to conduct, and by the end of the 40 hours the students conduct that wargame as a graduation exercise.

NPS Wargaming Center - sub content

https://www.hybridcoe.fi/news/unique-hybrid-wargaming-course-launched/

Unique hybrid wargaming course launched - Hybrid CoE - The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats

During the month of August, the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) together with Hybrid CoE conducted two wargaming courses focussing on hybrid threats, in support of the Centre’s Participating States. This marked the first time that such a course was organized, where game-like simulations were conducted to train participants’ strategic thinking in the context of hybrid threat scenarios. Representing 10 Participating States, various national ministries, academia, and the private sector, […]

www.hybridcoe.fi

NPS Wargaming Center - Contact

NPS Wargaming Team

COL Jason Perry, USMC (Director)
NPS Senior Marine Representative

CDR Justin White, USN (Deputy Director)

COL Jeff Appleget, U.S. Army (ret), Ph.D. (Designer)
Senior Lecturer, Operations Research Dept

COL Rob Burks, U.S. Army (ret), Ph.D. (Data Manager)
Associate Professor, Dept of Defense Analysis

LCDR Hunter "Rhino" Marner, USN, MBA (Operations)

CTT1 Geoffrey Fosbrook, USN (Admin)

Contact Information

NPSWargaming@nps.edu

Wargaming trifold

For more information

NPS Wargaming Hub Tri-fold

NWSI Wargaming Center Overview Brief

Activities

Wargaming Activities at NPS

Wargaming Week is the culmination of an 11-week course in wargaming applications. Drawing on extensive research, sponsor interaction, and their own considerable military experience, NPS students designed, developed and executed eight different wargames in this latest iteration – classified and unclassified – to dive deep into a range of technical and conceptual scenarios. A more detailed article can be found here.

NPS hosted the Middle Planning Conference (MPC) for the NWPAC24 Wargame in December of 2023. During this event members of PACFLT, 7th Fleet, and the JSDF came to Monterey for a week to discuss game goals and objectives while also creating in person relationships.