USAF SPACE WARFARE PLANS
Sun, 10 Nov 1996 23:16:05 -0500 (EST)
Source: SKYWATCH / Jim Hickman
Col., here's another article that you might like to see.
CSAF launches a new series of war games
by Michael Irish
Air Force Directorate of Modeling, Simulation and Analysis
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- A new series of annual war games will
bring warriors from all services together this month to look at how best
to employ air and space power in crises and conflicts of the 21st
century.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman and Secretary
of the Air Force Dr. Sheila E. Widnall will launch the inaugural
Strategic Force '96 war game Nov. 17 at the Air Force Wargaming
Institute, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
There, under the close scrutiny of former theater commanders in
chief, a joint force of warfighters and strategists recruited from
serving CINC staffs will work with intelligence and foreign policy
experts to tackle several crisis scenarios.
These scenarios were designed by internationally recognized
military strategists, long-range thinkers, the intelligence
community, regional experts and industry. The scenarios will
require the war gamers to think critically about future military
challenges.
Strategic Force '96 is also an integral element of the Air Force
long-range planning process. The exercise will be used as a
template to test strategies and operational concepts derived from
other long-range planning efforts. The war game will also show
how the Air Force of the future will support Joint Vision 2010 --
the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's vision for future joint
warfighting concepts.
"Future commanders must anticipate future crises, test concepts
and
create a structure that can respond with speed, efficiency and
accuracy," said Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Case, director of modeling,
simulation and analysis at Air Force headquarters.
"The Air Force was born of technology advances," he said. "Fifty
years later, even more highly evolved concepts and technologies
demand that we better understand the roles of air and space power.
Strategic Force will enable us to test our assumptions about the
future. It also gets us a 'hands-on' opportunity to employ future
weapon systems and solve a full range of contingencies."
The general said players will have to exhibit critical and innovative
thinking about the future to account for the ongoing revolution in
military affairs, accelerating technological change, advances in
information technology and political-military changes in the post- Cold
War era.
Computer modeling and simulation tools will make it possible to
integrate and test next-generation weapon systems in the play of
Strategic Force '96. War gamers will employ the airborne laser, F- 22,
the Navy's proposed arsenal ship and other next-generation weapons.
Teamed with future concepts, the warriors will be expected to
successfully manage and resolve the scenarios' crises.
To complement the game, the Air Force chief of staff, senior
leaders of the Joint Staff and well known futurists will deliver their
thoughts on the future, providing a top-level policy and strategy
framework for the war game.
In the end, the objective of the Strategic Force '96 war game is to
encourage warfighters from all services to think critically about the
future and increase their capability to deal with it.
"Strategic Force will require war gamers to 'think out of the box' as
they employ future operating concepts," said Case. "These include
asymmetric force, dominant maneuver, air and space dominance, precision
engagement and full-dimensional protection.
"Using weapons of the future, the warriors will have to
successfully manage, contain and resolve Strategic Force
scenarios."
For more information, see the Strategic Force '96 World Wide Web
page at http://www.sf96.hq.af.mil.
Jim H.
Oklahoma State Director
Skywatch International
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